How did China select officials before the imperial examination system?

First, the primitive society's "selecting talents and appointing talents"

Since the birth of human society, the selection of talents has always been a major issue of concern to various social forms and groups. In primitive society, in order to survive and develop, human beings must form a certain relationship and social structure in the struggle against the harsh natural environment. To solve these problems, it is necessary to choose a more suitable manager, that is, a leader. In this way, the problem of selecting, inspecting and appointing talents arises. How did leaders come into being? Li Yun, Book of Rites: "Choose the best and appoint the best" 1. "And" lift "and" lift ". The so-called election here refers to the situation in which people in primitive society elected leaders before the country came into being. In primitive society, the principle of "appointing people on their merits" and the democratic system of "selecting talents and appointing people according to their abilities" were implemented. Through democratic elections, all members with experience, ability, prestige and trust are elected as organizers, managers and defenders of clan tribes. Yao Shunyu's "abdication system" is a typical example. "Book of Rites Li Yun" contains: "The world is public, talents and abilities are chosen, and loyalty and harmony are emphasized, so the old man is both a relative and an only child." It shows that in the early days of human society, due to the harsh living environment and low productivity, the election was based on serving the people, and the selected talents were not privileged. He is mainly responsible for leading the life and production activities of people who live together and solving problems. In primitive society, the selection of leaders can be used as the main way to recommend leaders, which has long existed in clan society. The successor chosen as the leader of the alliance is not only talented, but also virtuous. It was in harmony with the social situation in this period.

Two, the slave society "pro-expensive unity" and "Shi Qing Shi Lu system"

After the country came into being, the electoral system began to change, which was a "gift for adults". From the summer to the Qing Dynasty, the hereditary monarchy remained unchanged, which had a great influence on the long development history of China and formed a relatively stable traditional hereditary system and social resource distribution form. In slave society, all the officials around the monarch, big or small, were filled by nobles with the same surname or different surname of the slave owner. If there is no gross negligence, the father dies and the son is passed down from generation to generation, and all officials take the land as their salary, thus forming the so-called "Shi Qing Shi Lu" system. In slave society, the election method is often that slave owners and nobles elect their relatives and grant different positions according to the distance of blood relationship. This election system with relatives as officials is "the unity of relatives and nobles." For example, "Book of Rites Li Yun" says: "The world is home, each family is close to its relatives, and each child has its own products. Adults think it is a gift." 4. In order to make the state machine work effectively, some slave owners and rulers implemented special measures of "promoting talents", and selected talents from humble people and even slaves to let them participate in political power. For example, in Shang Dynasty, Yi Yin and Fu Shuo were selected by the monarch from slaves: in Western Zhou Dynasty, titles and official positions above doctor level were hereditary, and junior positions below doctor level were selected by scholars. Taxis in the Western Zhou Dynasty were the lowest stratum of the nobility, the backbone of the army and the floorboard of warriors. Those who get low-level titles (scholars) and low-level official positions through strategic planning are called life scholars, and the initial level is called life. The basic method of scholars is to "raise in the countryside", which is the administrative unit of aristocratic residential areas, mainly in cities and suburbs; Lebanon, a grassroots residential area, is mostly divided by ethnic groups. The recommendation of township officials should be based on the opinions of all ethnic groups, and the person elected by the village is called "Shi Xiu". "Shi Xiu, recommended by the first class, contributed to the emperor and was admitted to the university after being approved by the emperor. After finishing his studies, Emperor Tiandi tested his shooting skills and then awarded him an official rank. The main criteria of the draft are "morality" and "Tao". However, the scope of selecting talents in the Western Zhou Dynasty was very limited, and these junior officials could not inherit it. Therefore, the election system of slave society is very closed and becomes a corrosive agent of the state machine. After the country came into being, the electoral system became a tool for the rulers to stabilize the political power.

Third, the conscription, training and military (military) performance system during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the hereditary office system of nobles was basically abolished. Except for the monarch, other official positions cannot be inherited, but are appointed or replaced by the monarch at any time. The ways to select officials are:

1. Recruitment. In order to maintain and develop their power in the political struggle and the war of military annexation, monarchs all over the world choose their officials by "respecting the virtuous and recruiting the talented", which is the so-called "recruiting the talented and recruiting the talented". "Guanzi" said: "It's almost impossible to smell the virtuous and not lift it; Smells good. Don't ask, almost; It is dangerous to see what you can do without doing it, so "the long-term solution lies in selecting talents and appointing people" 5. A typical example is Shang Yang, who successfully carried out political reform in the State of Qin.

2. Cultivate a scholar. Due to the rise of private schools, a large number of intellectuals have emerged, many of whom are descendants of nobles, and some of them are from ordinary people. They are generally called scholars. Taxis in the Warring States period mainly refer to people with certain knowledge and skills, which are different from warriors in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Due to the need for a large number of talents in wartime, monarchs, monarchs and prime ministers of various countries often adopt the method of cultivating scholars. Scholars come from different sources, some are recommended and some are self-recommended. Although these people have no official positions, they may be granted official positions at any time. For example, 3,000 people from Meng Changjun.

3. Military service system. During the Warring States Period, countries also selected officials from their military achievements: Li Kui said, "If you have food and work, you will have meritorious deeds, so that rewards and punishments can be clearly defined." 6. Shang Yang made a military knighthood system, and the rank of general knighthood was set at 20. From the male scholar, to the Shanhaiguan early in the morning, to the back of the car, each one occupies the number of farmhouses, male and female servants and clothing order according to the title. Soldiers cut the enemy first in the war and are awarded the rank of knight, which can be the official of fifty stones; Two beheadings, two ranks, can be the official of a hundred stones. Imperial clan aristocrats without military service have no titles. Those who have achieved can enjoy wealth, while those who have not achieved can't afford to be extravagant.

4. buy an official. Under the influence of commodity trading, official titles are regarded as special commodities, and rich people can spend money to buy officials and enter the official class. Han Feizi: "Official titles can be bought, and businessmen are not humble." seven

5. kiss. It was common to rely on kinship and nepotism to enter the bureaucratic ranks in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, especially in Qi and Chu at that time. Most of the officials of Qi came from Tian family, while the officials of Chu came from Qu, Jing and Zhao families.

Judging from the emergence of the above-mentioned officials, the main ways of selecting officials in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period can be summarized as follows: the system of selecting officials is nothing more than the hereditary system of nobles and the system of selecting talents to help the people. The first criterion for selecting officials is to attach importance to identity; Second, it takes talents as the center and relies on military achievements, but generally speaking, this election system of selecting talents and appointing people has not yet formed a complete system.

Fourthly, the system of Keqing in Qin Dynasty.

In the Warring States period, in order to meet the needs of the war, there were two main ways to unify China and Qin to choose officials. One is the military service system; The second is the guest-Qing system. After Qin unified China, it was practiced that "the monarch is not public, so he can understand his virtue." 8 policy, still attaches great importance to the selection of talents with practical political experience and military talent, that is, "the prime minister must start from the State Council, and the fierce will be sent to death." Most of the bureaucrats in the Qin Dynasty obtained titles and official positions by military achievements. Guest official system: in fact, it is a system of taking guests as guest officials. Qin Shihuang often promoted his generals from guests (guests → shed people → guest officials → ministers), and the standard for selecting officials was to attach importance to talents in order to stabilize the unified political power.

Fifth, the system of "inspection and collection" in Han Dynasty

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, officials were selected with meritorious military service, such as Emperor Gaozu and Hou Xiao He and Pingyang Hou as prime ministers, while Fenyang Hou and Guang 'an Ao were prime ministers and SS respectively. The second is to select from the Langguan. There are two sources of Langguan: officials with more than 2,000 stones have served for three years, and one of their sons and daughters can be promoted to Langguan in the capital, which is called "Ren Zi" (this is the remnant of hereditary system); If the assets are 100,000 yuan (changed to 40,000 when Emperor Jingdi was in office) and he is not a businessman, he can also be chosen as Lang, which is called "Ruoxuan" (that is, an official who earns money). Lang is the servant of the emperor, including negotiation lang, middle lang, assistant lang and doctor lang. Who keeps the door inside and rides the car outside; In the early Western Han Dynasty, many senior officials were Langguan. For example, Yuan Ang, who suggested that Jingdi kill Chao Cuo, was appointed as a doctor by his brother, and later elected as a surname of Longxi by the doctor, moved to Qi Xiang and served as a military officer; A famous writer once regarded Sui as assistant minister of Jingdi, and when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Lang worshipped him as a corps commander and sent him to the southwest. There are great limitations in selecting officials from the above two aspects. As time goes on, there are fewer and fewer soldiers. The scope of being a Langguan is limited to the children of high-ranking officials and rich people, so it is difficult to select real talents. In order to meet the needs of the increasingly autocratic Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established a new system of selecting officials in addition to the original system.

The first is inspection. This is a kind of bottom-up inspection to recommend talents to be officials, that is, after inspection, officials, liehou and county prime ministers recommend them to the court. The procuratorial system was formally established in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. At the beginning of the first year of Yuanguang (BC 134), the county was ordered to show filial piety and set up an upright official (that is, a dutiful son and an upright official). In the future, counties and States will publicize filial piety every year, and the inspection system will be formally determined. There are many themes in The Book of Tea, such as virtuous founder, scholar (Cai Mao), filial piety, Ming Jing and so on. The objects of teahouse are mainly government officials and local school students (called "students" and "students"). The imperial court sometimes gives certain examinations to the recommended people. The examination method for sages is mainly countermeasures, that is, the emperor asks political and economic questions and the candidates answer them. When the Eastern Han Dynasty was in the reign of Emperor Shun, Lian Xiao also tested: "All students try the family law, and scholars teach notes" 9. This is the bud of the imperial examination system. Most candidates have been awarded different official positions. Some give it to Lang Guan first, and then transfer to other posts. In the Han dynasty, the real power was in the hands of the public, officials, guards and ministers, and the things cited were based on morality. Although the exam is occasionally used, it is not taken seriously, and it is difficult to master moral conduct, which easily leads to various abuses. The Eastern Han Dynasty made some specific provisions on the standard of virtue, such as the imperial edict of Emperor Guangwu, according to "selecting scholars in four subjects: when you say virtue is noble and clean, you will be innocent; Second, apply what you have learned and get a doctorate; third, be familiar with laws and regulations, and be able to answer questions in case chapters; fourth, be resolute and resourceful, be puzzled when things go wrong, and distinguish between right and wrong, and be appointed as three assistant orders. -all have filial piety and honesty. " A few special official positions, such as Shangshu and Doctor, were also awarded after special examinations. Some junior clerical staff choose directly from students (reciting or calligraphy). Excellent students can be sent to imperial academy for further study, or a boy can be rewarded.

The second is the expropriation system. There are two kinds: conscription and recruitment. Recruit talents and scholars in the name of the emperor, directly recruit some prestigious locals to be officials in Beijing without recommendation, award more titles of doctors or servants, and prepare consultants. In the early days of Liang Wudi's accession to the throne, he recruited a number of celebrities, such as the famous Confucian scholar Shen Gong and ci writers Mei Cheng. Correspondingly, officials and people all over the world can get official positions by writing letters and suggestions. Central and local officials (with an annual salary of more than 2,000 stone) have the right to appoint scholars as aides. Although a large number of scholars were trained and selected in the Han Dynasty, in the whole state institutions, consorts and eunuchs controlled the power of state affairs, and scholars were still in a depressed position. The selection of scholars lacks objective standards and is mostly manipulated by powerful people. The examination method is still in its infancy, which is far from perfect and has not formed a complete system. Although the check-in system is better than that of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, it has also selected a large number of talents who have both ability and political integrity and are good at governing the country. However, due to the lack of objective talent selection criteria and the abuse of power by officials who have the right to recommend, there has been a phenomenon that "the children of powerful people are often promoted by personnel, while those who keep their ambitions in poverty are often retired from poverty" 10. There are even "scholars, I don't know books, I am filial, and I am separated from my father; The cold element is as pure as mud, and the staff sergeant is as timid as a chicken "1 1.

Six, Wei and Jin Dynasties "Nine Products Zheng Zhi System"

After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the imperial examination system in the Han Dynasty developed into a nine-level political system, which was based on the reflection and gains and losses of the imperial examination system in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Jiupin is to divide the objects of investigation into nine grades (namely Jiupin), and the government employs them according to the grades, which is called "Jiupin Official Law". In the first year of Yankang (220), Chen Qun, a senior official of Yingchuan clan, suggested that the central government should select wise and knowledgeable officials to take the post of "Zhongzheng" in this county (later adding Zhongzheng) and be responsible for visiting people in this county scattered all over the country. The officials of Chiang Kai-shek's government chose rural public opinion, combined their family background and talents, and judged whether the officials were superior, superior, inferior, superior, middle, inferior, superior, inferior and inferior, which served as the basis for the official department to dismiss officials. When the Zheng Zhi system with Nine Grades was first implemented, it continued Cao Cao's principle that "talent is the best choice" and played a very good role in employing talents. After the Jin Dynasty, with the expansion of the influence of aristocratic families, aristocratic families manipulated power, big and small. Judging people gradually only look at their family background, but they can't do it. They are completely "planning and ordering products". Therefore, the top-grade person "is not a descendant of the princes, but is Dangtu Kundi" 12. The corruption situation of "the top grade has no poverty, but the bottom grade has no right" is 13, and the Zheng Zhi system of Jiupin completely abandons the spirit of "meritocracy". Regardless of virtue or stupidity, it focused on family status, and the election power was almost completely monopolized by aristocratic officials occupying the court, which became a tool for aristocratic families to control elections and manipulate politics, while the Zheng Zhi system with Nine Grades was also transformed into a tool to consolidate the privileges of the family. In a sense, the Nine Grades System is a retrogression of the talent selection system. However, the examination method is still held irregularly. Generally speaking, candidates for the Central Committee recommended by local authorities can only be removed from office after passing the examination. Filial piety mainly tries classics, focusing on morality; The scholar tried to take countermeasures, focusing on language, or classics and justice. The recommended objects of Xiuxiao and Filial Piety were originally taken over by the gentry's children. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, recommendation often accommodated the children of the cold people. Especially in the subject of filial piety, the recommended candidates are mostly cold people. At the end of the Northern Dynasty, Yu Wentai clearly emphasized in his six letters that the election should be "not limited to capital, but only for people", which denied the old habit of taking people by capital for hundreds of years and had far-reaching significance. Scholarly filial piety gradually evolved into Jinshi and Mingjing in the imperial examination system of Sui and Tang Dynasties.

In the late Northern and Southern Dynasties, the focus of the procuratorial system began to shift to the examination, and the Jiupin Zhong Zheng system, which relied on the gate valve to fund the selection of Jinshi, could not meet the requirements of social development. After the reunification of the Sui Dynasty, in order to adapt to the development and changes of feudal economic and political relations, expand the participation of the feudal ruling class in political power and strengthen the requirements of centralization, the right to choose officials was restored to the central government, and the nine-product clock system and the county king system were abolished, and all officials were appointed by the central government. The selection of scholars does not need the recommendation of counties and counties, nor does it need the evaluation of Zhongzheng, but is screened and selected by the court through public examinations. Shen Jiji, a person in the Tang Dynasty, truly said this historic change: "The previous generation chose it and the counties tested it ... As for Qi and Sui, it was too bad. ..... is the right to strike the state capital and belongs to the official department. Since the Sui Dynasty, people from all over the world have gathered in the capital, spring is still autumn, and birds gather in the clouds. " The times call for a new and relatively reasonable system of selecting officials, which is the real beginning of the imperial examination system.

Throughout the ancient elections in China, it can be said that rulers choose rulers, or "sages" choose "sages", that is, a few people are elected through a few people, but it is quite objective and institutionalized, regardless of personal will and desire. This is a top-down choice. Although almost everyone is not excluded in theory, only a few people actually participate or are elected, and even a few people participate, and even fewer people are elected. The elected people are naturally a group of people, not a person, nor the highest decision-maker. They just become officials under the rule of the monarch or get the qualification to be an official. Participants or candidates are not choosing others, but actually being chosen or recommending themselves. Finally, or through the recommendation of others, candidates mainly rely on their own virtue, talent, fame, family expectations, or cultural accomplishment. Every time they are elected, they do not constitute a unified group, but are still some individual people. Every election has not brought about a change in national policies, but only injected new blood into the ruling class. Therefore, it is the activity of a few people from form to substance.

The structure of traditional China society is mainly hierarchical structure, which is always dominated by a few people. The official class always accounts for only a very small proportion of China's population, generally only over 10,000 people, but at most tens of thousands. Even with the "intellectuals" class, even the low-level intellectuals-students, together with all their families, the total number is only one million, often less than one percent or even one thousandth of the total population. It can be clearly seen from the official selection system in ancient China that the hierarchical structure exists in two parts, which is a dual structure, namely, the ruler and the ruled, the official and the people, the industrious and the laborer, and it also means respect, dignity and even the rich and the poor. Within the official class, there is a fine and strict hierarchy, which is determined by its nature as a political power.