1. Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties: "Shi Qing Shi Lu Shi system" prevailed in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. At the end of primitive society, after the demise system of "the world is public" was destroyed, the hereditary system of "adults take it as a gift" appeared. Hereditary system is characterized by the unity of kingship and clan power. It determines the appointment of government officials at all levels through family blood relationship, and determines the rank and rank according to blood relationship. As an official, aristocrats of all sizes must receive Chinese studies education and learn relevant etiquette knowledge before taking office. That is, "I don't go to school for more than three generations." Anyone who sets up titles and official positions has enjoyed fiefs and fiefs from generation to generation. From the perspective of historical development, it is historical progress, and its root lies in the development of productive forces.
2. Qin State: The title was awarded with military exploits, which broke the hereditary title system of slave owners and nobles and was conducive to the growth of the emerging landlord class.
3. Han Dynasty: The Han Dynasty established a set of official selection system, including inspection system and collection system.
Chaju is election, which is a system of selecting talents as officials from bottom to top, and it is the most important way of selecting officials in Han Dynasty. The early inspection system was based on "village election" and paid attention to the villagers in order to judge the authority of a scholar's ability and political integrity. With the gradual decay of the official selection system, a group of rich children who have been officials for generations and controlled the central or local political power have emerged, and aristocratic landlords who have been officials for generations have also formed and developed. In the later period, eunuchs mastered the power of employing people, and the system of selecting officials became more decadent, resulting in "a scholar who doesn't understand books;" Cha Xiaolian, father separated. In addition, the Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty recruited talented people to accompany officials to Beijing and awarded them official positions.
Expropriation is a top-down official selection system, which mainly includes two ways: emperor recruitment and state and county recall. Emperor recruitment is to select some prestigious people with excellent academic performance, prepare consultants or appoint political affairs through characteristics and recruitment. The recruitment party has a long history. If Qin Xiaogong publicly orders the recruitment of talents, it is of a recruitment nature. When Sun Tong, the uncle of Qin Shihuang, took literature as the symbol and Wang Cizhong took Cang Xie's old prose as the symbol of official script, it also belonged to the nature of conscription. In the Han Dynasty, in the eleventh year of Gao (BC 196), he also inherited this method. Later, from the Western Emperor Wudi to the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xiang Yan became an example. For venerable old scholars, special treatment is given. For example, at the beginning of Liang Wudi's accession to the throne, that is, "making the emissary bundle silks and add jade, loading and wrapping the wheels with simplicity, and driving the chariot to meet them" can be said to be the first example of loading and loading the wheels to meet the wise men in the Han Dynasty. The emperor's conscription was the most honorable official career in the Han Dynasty, and conscripts came and went freely. Although the court can urge them, if they refuse, they cannot be forced. Moreover, the status after the levy was different from that of ordinary courtiers, and most of them were treated with courtesy.
Expulsion is a system in which senior officials appoint lower-level officials. In the Han Dynasty, there were two situations except for officials: one was that after the county trial, court officials or foreign ministers could recommend them for inspection and supplement, so the official positions of the three official houses were low, but they were easy to be prominent. One is to abolish states and counties, where officials are assisted. Because of their qualifications, contributions, or after probation, they can recommend or inspect their talents, or they can be promoted to court officials or local officials.
4. Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties: Implementing the Nine-product Zhengzhi system and attaching importance to family background.
The establishment of Zhongzheng officials not only retained the tradition of rural appraisal in the Han Dynasty, but also changed the situation that celebrities in the late Han Dynasty talked about the countryside for advice and local clans manipulated elections, and placed the power of evaluating and selecting officials under the central government. This has played a certain role in putting an end to cronies' interference in politics and breaking the door valve. Especially in the early stage of implementation, it played a positive role in consolidating the Cao Wei regime. At first, this system was dedicated to unifying the election of officials in the imperial court and the discussion in the countryside. This is the continuation of the tradition of selecting officials in Han Dynasty and the inheritance of Cao Cao's employment policy. However, at the turn of Wei and Jin Dynasties, officials of all sizes were monopolized by "gentry" in all counties. They are partial to the gentry when evaluating grades, and the division of nine grades has deviated from the principle of "regardless of family status" In the next 300 years, there was a situation of "no poverty for the top grade, no family for the bottom grade", and the Nine-grade Zhengzhi system has always been a bureaucratic selection system to protect the hereditary political privileges of gentry. Therefore, after the decline of the gentry, the nine-product system was completely abolished.
5. The imperial examination system: from Yang Di to the late Qing Dynasty (the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty) (the Tang Dynasty was the heyday of the imperial examination system).
(1) Historical evolution: Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty abolished the Nine-Grade System and began to select officials by means of subject examination; When Yang Di was in the Sui Dynasty, the imperial examination system was formed. The Tang Dynasty inherited and improved the imperial examination system: during the Zhenguan period, examination subjects were added, mainly Jinshi and Mingjing; During Wu Zetian's reign, the number of candidates in imperial examinations increased, and martial arts and palace examinations were initiated. During the Kaiyuan period, senior officials were appointed to preside over the examination, which improved the status of the imperial examination and was later customized. The imperial examination system in the Northern Song Dynasty developed further than that in the Tang Dynasty: the examination was divided into three levels: provincial examination, provincial examination and palace examination, and the imperial examination procedure was strict. Jurors have to pass the examination of the Ministry of Rites to qualify, and the admission right is directly controlled by the emperor, and the court examination has become a custom; Examination subjects gradually decreased, and Jinshi became the most important subject; The name system is implemented, and the name and place of origin on the test paper are sealed by "sealing" and "copying" to prevent examiners from cheating; The admission quota is greatly increased compared with that of the Tang Dynasty. The Ming dynasty followed the imperial examination system of the previous generation. In order to strictly control the thoughts of scholars, the imperial examination papers only put forward propositions from the four books and five classics of Confucianism, allowing only the views of Cheng and Zhu Neo-Confucianism and not giving full play to personal opinions; The style of the answer sheet is strictly regulated and divided into eight parts, which are called "eight-part essay". The stereotyped writing system of taking scholars has seriously bound people's minds. At the beginning of the 20th century, due to the drastic changes in the domestic situation, the feudal imperial examination system could not meet the needs of the situation. 1905, the Qing government abolished the imperial examination system.
(2) Evaluation: The emergence of the imperial examination system is essentially the product of social and economic development and changes in class relations.
Positive influence: the public examination attracted many poor scholars to enter the political power, which was conducive to expanding and consolidating the political foundation of feudal rule and changed the situation in which nobles dominated the political affairs in the early feudal period; The majority of ordinary landlords entered the imperial examination and became officials, which injected vitality and vitality into the feudal regime. Since then, the selection of officials has an objective basis for the level of cultural knowledge, which is conducive to the formation of high-quality civil servants; Reading, examination and being an official are linked together, and power, position and knowledge are integrated, which has created the tradition of respecting teachers and attaching importance to teaching and the atmosphere of diligent study in the Chinese nation; It promoted the prosperity of literature, such as the selection of scholars by poetry and fu in the Tang Dynasty, which promoted the prosperity of Tang poetry.
Negative influence: the implementation of stereotyped writing in Ming and Qing Dynasties has seriously bound candidates from content to form, which has made many intellectuals not talk about practical knowledge or bound their thoughts; The style of study divorced from reality brought by stereotyped writing has a very negative impact on the development of academic culture; The imperial examination system in the late Qing Dynasty seriously hindered the development of science and culture, which was one of the important reasons for the backwardness of natural science in modern China. The imperial examination system is not conducive to knowledge innovation and the cultivation of innovative talents; Eight-legged essay writers in Ming and Qing Dynasties were loyal servants trained by feudal rulers, which seriously restricted the growth of talents and was an important means for rulers to strengthen autocratic imperial power.
Second, the prime minister system.
The feudal dynasty in China established a system in which the prime minister (Zaifu) assisted the monarch in handling state affairs. It is the product of autocratic monarchy and centralized government. The prime minister is the "head of a hundred officials" and the general name of the chief executive who assists the monarch, prime minister and state affairs. "slaughter" means trusteeship; The original meaning of "phase, help" is "assist" and "help", and later it is extended to assist the monarch in managing political affairs. At first, he was called the best man at a monarch's banquet or on behalf of the monarch. Later, he was called the supreme consul who assisted the monarch and prime minister in handling government affairs.
The formation and establishment of the post of prime minister evolved from the killing of ministers in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the political system of joint dictatorship of hierarchical nobles headed by the king was implemented. Wu Shi, Gong Qing and other nobles assisted the king, served as the king's adviser, participated in decision-making, assisted in the management of state affairs, and held great real power. But their positions are hereditary, and the king can't change them at will, which is difficult to control. Therefore, kings often regard the executioner in charge of royal affairs as their cronies. They are the courtiers of the king, with low status, and most of them are slaves. Later, these traitors gradually went beyond their original duties and often participated in government affairs. After the Spring and Autumn Period, the royal family declined, the system of "Shi Qing Shi Lu" became increasingly dilapidated, and the struggle between vassal States and vassals became increasingly fierce. In order to make the country rich and strong, some monarchs began to manage state affairs with low-ranking retainers and talented literati instead of Shi Qing. For example, Qi Huangong appointed Guan Zhong, a humble prime minister, as the national government. Since then, in the Spring and Autumn Period, every country has set up the position of minister, but the names of officials in different countries are different. Chu called Lingyin, Song said, Wu called Taizai, and Qi said Xiang.
During the Warring States period, with the formation of autocratic monarchy and centralized bureaucracy, the prime minister system was generally established in major countries. Ministers of Wei, Han and Zhao are all called Xiangbang, while Chu is still called Lingyin. Because the prime minister assisted the monarch in governing the country, in the Warring States period, "prime minister" became the general name of this official position. Influenced by Sanjin, the State of Qin was placed late. Shang Yang entered Qin from Wei, first as a left matriarch, and then as a scholar. Although it is not called Xiang, its status is equivalent to Sanjin, and it is called Shang Yang in history. The earliest recorded phase in the Qin Dynasty was that of King Huiwen in the tenth year (328 BC), with Zhang Yi as the phase. Qin Wuwang replaced the left-wing and right-wing prime ministers, with the right-wing as the first. "Success" means assistance, communication with "commitment" and commitment. The prime minister "is the son of heaven, assisted by various machines", with a high position, but not hereditary. He was appointed and removed by the king and did not enjoy fiefs.
After Qin unified the six countries, the left and right prime ministers were still divided, and eunuchs served as "middle prime ministers". Qin set up the Prime Minister's Office. There is Cao rafter in the house. The prime minister has the right to choose hundreds of officials, execute rewards and punishments, and participate in the highest decision-making of military affairs, which occupies a decisive position in the whole bureaucratic system. The establishment of the prime minister system completely abolished the "Shi Qing Shi Lu" system, consolidated the bureaucratic system and strengthened the imperial power, which was an important part of authoritarian centralization.
Development and Evolution From the Han Dynasty to the Opium War, the prime minister system experienced complex changes, which can be roughly divided into the following stages: the prime minister system in the early Western Han Dynasty, the three-product system from the middle Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the three-governor system from Sui Dynasty to Song Dynasty, the one-governor system in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the cabinet system in the Ming Dynasty and the dual-track auxiliary government system between the cabinet and the military in the Qing Dynasty.
The Han dynasty inherited the Qin system. At the beginning, the prime minister or the left and right prime ministers were the prime ministers (the right prime minister was still the right prime minister and the left prime minister was the deputy prime minister), and Yushi was the deputy prime minister. Before Liang Wudi, almost all prime ministers were held by the founding heroes, with great power. In order to consolidate and strengthen the imperial power, Liang Wudi promoted literary scholars shortly after he acceded to the throne, added middle-level and middle-level attendants to official posts, allowed them to enter and leave the Forbidden Palace, learned about major policies, and moved the decision-making center of actual government affairs from the Prime Minister's Office to the Imperial Palace. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also used eunuchs as diviners in Chinese books and took charge of the post of minister. Shangshu is a junior official in charge of sending and receiving official documents, and has the nature of the emperor's private secretary. After Emperor Wudi, the position of Shangshu became more and more important, and the functions and powers of the prime minister were gradually transferred to the chief Shangshuling of Shangshutai (eunuch called Zhongshuling). Sometimes, the emperor, together with the generals, teachers and other senior officials in the imperial court, is titled "leading history" or "recording history" and always dominates historical affairs. Shangshutai is also divided into Cao, each with a specific division of labor. Later ministers in charge, ministers in charge, ministers in charge, ministers in charge actually played the role of prime minister, and the prime minister's office was reduced to an executive body. The Western Han Dynasty proclaimed himself emperor, changed the suggestion to general, and together with Fu (Emperor Wudi changed Qiu to Fu) and Prime Minister * * *, they were called "three publics". The three public offices are not related to each other, and they are all directly responsible to the emperor, thus canceling the position of the prime minister as the highest official since Qin Dynasty. When mourning the emperor, he further changed the prime minister to Da Situ. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Qiu, Situ and Si Konggong all served as butchers, but they were only nominal prime ministers, and the power of state affairs was actually held by Shangshutai. Shangshutai takes the preface of Shangshu as the positive, "the main praise plays things, the general discipline, all-encompassing", and Shangshu servant shoots as the deputy. Shangshuling, Servant Shooting and Six Cao Shangshu are collectively called "Eight Pieces".
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, although Sangong was named Prime Minister, he did not participate in politics personally and became an honorary title. Since then, the three fairs and prime ministers have appeared alternately. Before the power ministers of the former dynasty usurped the throne, they often stopped the three fairs, bribed the prime minister and pretended to be the prime minister to show their power. After usurping power, he canceled the prime minister and restored the three fairs. At that time, Shangshutai (changed from Nanliang to Shangshu Province) was independent from the Shaofu system, and Shangshuling, Shangshu Servant Shooting and Shangshu Affairs were all prime ministers. The authority and status of Shangshutai (province) is roughly similar to that of the Prime Minister's House in the Western Han Dynasty. In the process of the imperial court's transformation to the central administrative center, the clerical work in the hands of Shangshu was gradually transferred to the hands of Zhongshuling (known as Zhongshuling in the Western Han Dynasty, it belonged to a less political system, and Cao Wei set up a secretary order, which was changed to Zhongshuling in the time of Emperor Wen). The status and strength of China's calligraphy order have been continuously improved, and China's calligraphy institutions have also developed into China's calligraphy province in Wei and Jin Dynasties. In the Western Jin Dynasty, the power of "the cashier ordered the king to play all kinds of machines" was gradually transferred from Shangshutai (province) to Zhongshu province, and the supervisor of Zhongshu and Zhongshuling also became prime ministers. With the expansion of the power of Zhongshu Province, the emperor was afraid that it would infringe on his autocratic power, so he took the method of serving China (a low-level government in Qin and Han Dynasties, the emperor's attendants) to participate in major policies in order to muzzle Zhongshu Province. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the organization in service developed into a province under the door, with the main official in service and the assistant minister of Huangmen as the deputy. The province under the door mainly considers the imperial edict drafted by the Chinese book, and the power of the Chinese book is restricted by the door. At this point, the three provinces system was formally formed. In the Southern Dynasties, servants were prime ministers when they did not hold other posts, and vice versa. During the Northern Dynasties, he was attached to the province under the door, and was called "Little Prime Minister". The formation of the "three provinces" system makes the post of prime minister belong to the ministers of the three provinces, that is, Shangshu, Zhongshu and Menxia, which restrict each other. Basically, the book takes the purport, the door refutes it, and the ministers execute it. The strength of the three is not exactly the same.
From Sui and Tang Dynasties to the early Tang Dynasty, the governors of the three provinces were still prime ministers, and then they changed constantly, with various names, but Zhongshu, Menxia and Shangshu provinces were still the norm. Because Emperor Taizong had served as a minister before he ascended the throne, he no longer set up this position. Shangshu Province is headed by left and right servants. After the middle Tang Dynasty, the left and right servants were not prime ministers if they did not add titles such as "three things in the same book" and "things in the same book". Assistant has a high official position and is usually used as the title of minister. Without the title of "Zhang Shi of Tongping", a servant is not a prime minister. In addition to the governors of the three provinces as prime ministers, other lower-ranking officials often serve as prime ministers in the names of "participating in politics", "participating in gains and losses" and "participating in politics". After Emperor Gaozong, it gradually tended to be simplified, with stable names such as "things under the same book" or "three products under the same book" (later changed to two products). In the Tang Dynasty, the prime minister's organization was originally located in Shangshu Province, and later it was changed to Zhongshumen, and then a "yamen" was set up to let the prime ministers discuss and decide the affairs of the army collectively. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, the prime minister system was greatly destroyed, which was mainly manifested in the following aspects: ① The implementation of the phase system, that is, our guards were often sealed as "the same three products" or "the same chapter" because of their weight. (2) Kutie usurped the right to photograph, that is, he added the title of "knowing patent" to the Hanlin bachelor, which was called "inner photograph". (3) During the reign of Emperor Zong, the eunuch was appointed as the "envoy of the Inner Tang Dynasty", who was responsible for playing secret chapters, announcing imperial edicts, and then participating in military affairs. Although he is not the official prime minister, he has great power.
Before Song, Yuan and Five Dynasties came to Song Shenzong, although there were three governors, they were not prime ministers. In addition to the three provinces, there is another prime minister's office, called "yamen", also called "under the door of Zhongshu". The prime minister is "discussing peace with the book" and the deputy minister is "participating in and discussing state affairs". After the restructuring in the first year of Song Shenzong, the system of three provinces was restored, and the ministers were the prime ministers, and at the same time, they served as assistant ministers under the door and assistant ministers in Chinese books. Filial piety, the left and right servants were changed to the left and right prime ministers, in charge of Zhongshu Province, while Shangshu Province only took six, and was ordered to carry out government affairs, thus abolishing the door and saving the province. At this point, the three-province system exists in name only. In the Song and Five Dynasties, the Privy Council was established as the highest military organ, and its officials, envoys and advisers were all called consuls, with the same status as the prime minister. Bachelor of Hanlin is responsible for drafting imperial edicts, which is still called "internal system"; The official letter of the prime minister is called "external unification" or "two systems"
In Yuan Dynasty, the prime minister of Zhongshu Province was in charge of six government affairs, and the prime ministers were Zhongshu Order, Prime Minister and Pingzhang Affairs.
The inheritance system in the early Ming and Qing Dynasties. With the development of autocratic imperial power, in the thirteenth year of Hongwu (1380), the Chinese book was abolished and the prime minister was abolished. Six ministries were directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor, and the traditional prime minister system was abolished. Cheng Zu ascended the throne and ordered the editors, revisers and other officials of the Hanlin Academy to join the cabinet to participate in the maintenance, which was called the "cabinet". College students who entered the cabinet gradually became the actual prime ministers and were called "assistant ministers". The chief college students are called "first assistants" or "Yuan assistants", and the rest are called "second assistants". At this time, the eunuch's power is expanding day by day, and the eunuch of Silijian has the power of cabinet, so it is called "Taishange".
In the fifteenth year of Shunzhi (1658), the inner third hospital was changed to the cabinet, and the duties of the cabinet college students generally followed the Ming system. However, in the early Qing dynasty, there were ministers in charge of discussing state affairs, and all military affairs were discussed and played, so the cabinet university students could not make their own decisions. During the Yongzheng period, the military department was established, and the trusted minister was selected as the minister of military aircraft, who was in charge of confidential affairs and gradually replaced the power of the cabinet. The cabinet is only responsible for handling a large number of public daily affairs, forming a dual-track auxiliary political system between the military and the cabinet. In the early years of Qianlong, the military headquarters was established and the king was abolished.
The reason for the evolution of China's ancient prime minister system is the product of feudal monarchy and centralized bureaucracy. Frequent changes in the prime minister system are the inevitable result of internal contradictions between autocratic monarchy and centralized bureaucracy, the most important of which is the contradiction between imperial power and relative power. From the institutional point of view, the power of the prime minister is second only to that of the emperor, the monarchical power is absolute, and the relative power is attached to the imperial power. The monarch cannot leave the prime minister, but he is afraid that the expansion of power will threaten the imperial power. In fact, from time to time, countries with equal power appeared, and the emperor kept using court officials or eunuchs to contain the relative power until he replaced the prime minister, from the inside out, from the outside in, and so on. This is the law of the continuous evolution of the ancient prime minister system in China, thus forming an unstable state of the name, position, responsibility and power of the prime minister.
Third, the local system
Before Qin dynasty, the enfeoffment system was implemented, and Qin Shihuang was unified. The enfeoffment system was abolished and the county system was implemented.