From the establishment of the first unified dynasty in Chinese history by Qin Shi Huang to the abdication of the Qing Emperor in 1912, many dynasties have been born on the land of China for more than 2,000 years, and they almost without exception attach importance to the management of the first dynasty. There is a cloud in "The Book of Songs, Xiaoya, Beishan": "Under the whole world, it is not the king's land; On the shore of the land, it is not the king's minister", this sentence fully illustrates the importance that the dynasty attaches to the first. Especially in the Song Dynasty, the expansion of the first team and the complexity of the management system have reached an unprecedented level.
However, the cycle of history is often the relentless rhythm of the rise and fall of chaos. To keep the rule of the Song Dynasty enduring and become the ultimate pursuit of the ruler's life. "Han Feizi Foreign Prince" put forward the proposition of "governing the officials and not governing the people", and clearly pointed out that strengthening the management of the first is the key way to achieve this goal.
Since ancient times, there have been sayings such as "the general is outside, the king's order is not affected", "the sky is high and the emperor is far away", etc., describing the rule from top to bottom is very difficult. Therefore, successive rulers have restrained the behavior of ** through means such as "examination courses", in order to achieve social stability and prosperity.
The history of the Song Dynasty left the imprint of armistice agreements such as the Lanyuan Alliance and the Shaoxing Peace Conference, leaving the impression of a weakened national strength and an ineffective examination system for future generations. However, as Mr. Chen Yinke said, "The culture of the Chinese nation has reached its peak in the Song Dynasty after thousands of years of evolution", and the examination system of the Song Dynasty has had a profound impact on later dynasties and even modern society.
First, the military generals retreated into the background, and the rise of literati in power.
After the Anshi Rebellion, there were a large number of Jiedu envoys on the border and inland of the Tang Dynasty, who not only mastered the local financial and military power, but even did not obey the orders of ** in the later period, and selected ** on their own, forming their own independent systems. As Li Jingfang of the Wenzong period of the Tang Dynasty said: "In the forty-three prefectures in the southeast, the people are scavenged for fat and ointment, and the people's lives are difficult", which depicts the tragic scene of the people in the area from the Bianhe River to the Huai River being exploited by the Jiedu to extract the people's wealth.
In 960, Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao Mutiny, established the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to strengthen the centralization and imperial power, change the situation that the military generals were autocratic since the end of the Tang Dynasty and were only responsible for the feudal towns, and took a number of measures in the political, economic and military aspects.
In order to control the power of the generals, Song Taizu deprived the generals of the power to command the forbidden army through the banquet "cup of wine to release the military power", and implemented the policy of advocating literature and suppressing military force and weakening branches. This move led to the rise of literati, attracted bureaucratic landlords to participate in politics, and formed a political pattern in which the emperor and scholars ruled the world together, and the combination of centralization and bureaucratic politics.
The direct result of the implementation of this policy of advocating literature and suppressing military force was that the Song Dynasty attached great importance to scholars, coupled with the importance of the imperial examination system, the number of imperial examinations was constantly increased, the ranks of scholars and doctors were constantly expanded, and the political influence was also continuously improved, forming the politics of scholars and doctors.
Under this political influence, the rule of the Song dynasty created redundant officials. The Song Dynasty poet He Zhu mentioned in "Gift to Zhang Shiyuan" that "redundant officials are ashamed of Su Siye and must not send wine money from time to time", reflecting this phenomenon. At the same time, the criteria and methods of promotion have also become difficult problems for rulers to solve.
The examination system of the Song Dynasty combined the local assessment with the promotion of positions, which became the first innovation of the assessment system in ancient China.
2. "The capable go up, and the mediocre go down", the method of double perfection under the separation of official positions and dispatches.
The examination system of the Song Dynasty was not achieved overnight, but went through a process of gradual complexity and refinement, and in this process, it was constantly adjusted with the development of the Song Dynasty. The so-called "examination" refers to the evaluation of the performance of ** during their tenure, while the "class" is to verify their political performance, that is, according to the decree, regulations or orders of the emperor, ** to review the performance of **.
After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, in order to avoid the abuse of power by the high-ranking **, the system of separation of official positions and dispatch was implemented. This means that there are not only actual job responsibilities and powers, but also corresponding ranks, the former referring to the positions they actually hold and the powers they have, and the latter being their rank in the bureaucracy. In short, the actual duties of ** may differ from those prescribed by his rank.
On this basis, two corresponding assessment systems have been formed: one is the dispatch assessment system based on the calendar paper system, and the other is the official rank promotion assessment system based on the grinding survey system.
In the Song Dynasty, the paper calendar was used to record his political achievements and behaviors, as the basis for evaluation. These are white sheets of paper stamped with the seal of the competent authority and must be carried with you and must not be lost. The calendar is a bound version of these papers.
There are two types of printing paper: imperial printing paper and selection printing paper. The former is granted or announced by the emperor, and is distributed by the province or the Privy Council; The latter is issued to the electors by the Ministry of Officials, and most ordinary electors obtain printed paper calendars through this way. In the Song Dynasty, the selection of people represented the lower civil officials of the imperial court, mainly serving at the local level.
In the more than 300 years of history of the Song Dynasty, the calendar paper system has been continuously improved and developed, and gradually expanded to all walks of life across the country.
In the third year of Song Taizu Jianlong, he began to implement the system of daily approval of books and schools. Subsequently, Song Taizong strengthened the management of the first printing paper approval and expanded its scope, and even implemented this system for the Zhulu Supervision Division. During the Song Dynasty, the scope of printing and approval was further expanded, including middle and lower-level military attachés, medical officers and students of the Imperial Medical Bureau, and after the reform of Yuanfeng, it was expanded to **Zhusi**. A poet of the Song Dynasty depicted in his work the scene of "the imperial seal paper is given to the southeast state", which accurately reflects the situation at that time.
In the process of the development of the feudal dynasty, the corresponding reward and punishment measures will be implemented after the assessment of ** to improve their loyalty and centripetal force to the court. However, how to measure the performance of ** became a headache for the rulers.
Taking political performance as the criterion may lead to some mediocre administrative ability ** can only work in one place in their lives, and it is difficult to make a difference. Taking seniority as the criterion may lead to outstanding political performance and strong administrative ability, which may not be able to get due remuneration due to the limitation of official age, thus affecting their enthusiasm. Neither criterion can effectively mobilize the political enthusiasm of the state and is not conducive to the normal operation of the state apparatus.
In order to solve this problem, the Song Dynasty adopted a grinding system, which combined performance appraisal with seniority review. The grinding system is a re-assessment system, that is, after the qualifications of the first class reach a certain standard, they will be reviewed according to their political performance and rewards and punishments to determine whether they can be promoted. It can be said that the calendar system is the basis of the grinding system.
The regulations of the Song Dynasty on the grinding system also differed in different periods. In the initial stage, the qualifications can be honed after a certain number of years, and there are no strict performance requirements. In the period of Song Zhenzong, the civil and military ** stipulated that the grinding survey should be carried out once every three years. During the reign of Song Renzong, civil officials were surveyed once every three years, and military officials were surveyed once every five years. During Fan Zhongyan's Qingli New Deal, in order to prevent those who have no merit from being promoted according to their age, the system of changing officials with guarantees was implemented.
During the reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Song Dynasty, the official grinding and inspection method of the Beijing Dynasty was formulated, which limited the grinding and exploration years and the highest point of promotion of different **. The selection of people must be "three terms and six examinations", which means that it will take at least ten years to be promoted to the official of the Beijing Dynasty, and during this period they will be assessed by the calendar system.
When Song Shenzong Yuanfeng was restructured, the scope of grinding was further clarified, and new grinding years were stipulated for different categories. Although it has since been adjusted, it is generally based on this guideline. The age of grinding is 70 years old, and after the age of 70, the career of the first official career is over.
The grinding system has strict regulations on the rewards and punishments for the promotion of the first class, and the Song Dynasty Shenzong adopted the "four virtues and three most" assessment method. The so-called "four virtues" include "morality and righteousness, purity and clarity, fairness and commendability, and scrupulous observance". The "three most" refers to "no grievances in prison lawsuits, and no urging is the best way to govern affairs; Agricultural mulberry reclamation and water conservancy construction are the most persuasive; Eliminate the traitors and thieves, give the people a safe place, and give relief to the poor and the poor, so that they will not be displaced and will not be raised."
During the reign of Song Gaozong, he also introduced the "Law of Eight Things" assessment**, which involved eight aspects, including "whether officials should be promoted, persuading farmers to teach mulberry, increasing land reclamation, increasing household registration, promoting profits and eliminating harms, investigating cases of dereliction, rehabilitating unjust prisons, and detecting thieves".
From the perspective of the assessment content of the grinding system, from the initial "four virtues and three most" to the later "law of eight things", a comprehensive performance appraisal system has gradually been formed, which reflects the most concerned and valued issues in social development at that time.
During the period of Song Zhenzong, there was a ** named Zhang Xiang, who was deposed for corruption and joined the army in Jiangzhou. Later, he made a comeback and was promoted from the chief bookkeeper to the county lieutenant, and his results in three assessments were good. However, during the investigation, because he found that he had committed a crime, Song Zhenzong believed that he was not suitable to be the chief official and could only serve as a staff member, so he no longer promoted him.
In the Song Dynasty, under the joint effect of the calendar paper system and the grinding survey system, the local assessment system was gradually improved, playing an important role, standardizing the behavior of the first and improving administrative efficiency.
Third, the mountains and rivers are unharmed, and the fireworks are normal.
The local ** assessment system in the Song Dynasty lasted for more than 300 years, which played an important role in the stability of the political situation of the two Song Dynasty, which not only ensured the long-term stability of the dynasty, but also had a far-reaching impact on the development of later generations and even modern society.
The calendar system plays an important role in the annual appraisal of public officials in contemporary China, and the completion of the annual appraisal registration form is derived from this. In addition, calendar paper.
The system is also an important origin of the employee evaluation system for civil servants and various institutions in China.
However, the standards of the Song Dynasty's ** assessment system were mostly formulated according to the actual situation of the development of the dynasty, so there were certain limitations in the implementation process. In the assessment of printed paper calendars, local population, land and other factors are usually used as the measure of political performance. However, with the intensification of the economic weakness of the Song Dynasty, ** began to take the financial economy as an important indicator of assessment. This led to excessive attention to tax collection and neglect of people's livelihood, which was contrary to the "Heqing Haiyan" expected by the Song Dynasty.
For example, during the Southern Song Dynasty, Hu Ying, the governor of Pingjiang Prefecture, knew that according to the law, he should not increase the income of Yimi, but due to local financial pressure, he had to collect it illegally. Although he cares about the people, in the face of the livelihood of the ** and the soldiers, it is impossible not to take such measures. Although this move alleviated the financial difficulties in the short term, it also exacerbated the resentment of the people and violated the dynasty's philosophy of governance.
The Song Dynasty continued the remarkable characteristics of the ancient feudal system, and it was generally accepted that the power group headed by the emperor would often use its power to protect its own interests, which led to the prevalence of unspoken rules of officialdom, and money, power, interpersonal relationships, and even the emperor's personal interests could have a destructive impact on the evaluation system.
Although the local ** system has been affected by the unspoken rules of officialdom in the process of implementation, we believe that in China's long cultural tradition and the 300 years of practical experience of the Song Dynasty, the local ** assessment system has undergone a thousand years of evolution and will definitely create more eye-catching value on the road of China's development. The power may be small, but the desire for the mountains and rivers to be unharmed, ordinary fireworks still extend.
Epilogue. The Song Dynasty left a deep impression on later generations, not only on the side of openness and prosperity beyond the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but also on the side of seeking tranquility without longing for glory; There is both an enlightened and free side that transcends the foreign land of the kingdom, and a side that is seen as weak and incompetent.
Among Western and Japanese scholars, some consider the Song Dynasty to be a period of renaissance and economic development in Chinese history. We can't help but wonder how the Song Dynasty, which was so crumbling, survived three hundred years peacefully. Now we should understand that economic and cultural prosperity is always supported by superior institutions.
The British historian Toynbee once said that if he could travel through, he would like to live in the Song Dynasty in China. This is not only the yearning for the prosperous material life of the Song Dynasty, but also the desire for the free and open culture and society of the Song Dynasty.
If I can, I hope that every Chinese can experience the freedom and comfort brought by the Song Dynasty system, that the general trend of the world will be divided for a long time, and that the decision to maintain long-term peace and stability is not one-sided, but the correct decision that can still support the mountains and rivers after the vicissitudes of life.
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