"Pay more attention to family status than virtue". During the Cao and Wei Dynasties, the Nine-product system was in the middle. Why did it begin to be alienated in the Western Jin Dynasty?

In the process of dynasty change, in order to consolidate the political power and improve the ruling effectiveness, the rulers of past dynasties will take the election and appointment of talents as the top priority. During the prosperous period of China, political clarity and social stability were closely related to the enlightened rule of the government and the monarch, and the good ruling effect was also inseparable from the effective operation of the bureaucratic system of the dynasty.

Jiupin Zhengzhong system is a talent election system that lasted more than 4 years, starting from Han and Wei Dynasties and ending in Sui Dynasty. However, compared with the "imperial examination system" that later influenced the Millennium, it will inevitably be eclipsed. However, the background of its implementation, the alienation in the implementation process and the duality of its influence are all worth exploring, which is an indispensable link to clarify the evolution and evolution of China's historical employment system.

The Jiupin Zhengzhi system was founded to adapt to the changes of the times

1. The war in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty made it difficult to continue the procuratorial system

The procuratorial system and the expropriation system were the employment system throughout the entire history of the Han Dynasty. The so-called "inspection" means that local officials inspect local "well-known" talents at any time in their respective jurisdictions, recommend them to superiors or the central government, and give them official appointments after a certain period of trial and assessment; The expropriation system means that the emperor or local bureaucrats directly invite local celebrities with fame and talent and introduce them into the imperial bureaucracy, but it is not as extensive as the procuratorial system.

however, the premise of the normal operation of the procuratorial system is that local officials can distinguish between public and private affairs and can really recommend talents to the court according to the employment standards of the procuratorial system. However, the turbulent social environment in the late Eastern Han Dynasty made this system lose its objective environment to play an active role.

during this period, the central government's authority was greatly reduced due to wars and political turmoil. The ancients said: if the central government has no power, the world will fall apart. This also means that the system of serving the central government to elect talents and the functions of official personnel will also fail. During this period, the corruption of state and county officials was rampant, blindly clinging to local dignitaries to serve their interests, and even providing them with deviant ways in the process of inspecting and prospering. The inspection system has essentially declined.

On the other hand, social unrest, especially after the Yellow turban insurrectionary uprising, led to people, including scholars, going into exile everywhere. "Most of the gentry in clothes are far from home, and it is difficult to find out their origins.". The destruction of grass-roots organizations such as townships, pavilions and villages in counties has caused great difficulties in household registration management, and naturally it will also inconvenience local officials to inspect local talents.

2. The procuratorial system itself has many limitations and shortcomings.

The procuratorial system was abolished in the Cao Wei period because of its election standards.

in the early years of the western Han dynasty, under the suggestion of dong Zhongshu, emperor Wu of the Han dynasty established the guiding ideology of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" in the ideological field, thus establishing the mainstream position of Confucianism in China culture. Changes in the ideological field will naturally penetrate into the political system. Confucianism advocates the ruling thought of "ruling the country by virtue" and "governing by virtue". Influenced by it, the procuratorial system takes "virtue" as the fundamental criterion for judging talents.

However, with the great changes in the world at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, corruption and bribery prevailed inside and outside the government. State and county officials hold the power of procuratorial personnel in one hand and lack supervision, and the corruption of personnel within the central government is also very serious, so the proper meaning of procuratorial system of distinguishing between public and private is also going to die.

Wang Fu also pointed out in "On the Latent Husband": "Those who raise scholars by the masses, or be stubborn, should be filial, be greedy, be honest, and be cunning ... are not worthy of their names, and do not deserve their tribute."

It can be seen that the corruption of the procuratorial system and the malpractice of election officials and candidates have become an open secret, and such an election method is even more harmful to the ruling class than beneficial.

3. The rulers of Wei urgently needed talents

From the time of the Great Struggle in the Three Kingdoms period, the social atmosphere was corrupted, scholars were "gentle and sweeping the floor", and there were many fierce people in troubled times. The political pattern of "Wei, Shu and Wu" was formed in the world, and in order to consolidate the political power, the rulers of the three kingdoms spared no effort in the investigation and selection of talents.

As the most powerful country at that time, Cao Wei directly broke the talent selection standards since the Han Dynasty. Under the current troubled times, "ruling by virtue and being benevolent" is no longer enough to solve the urgent need for Cao Wei to survive in the struggle. What Cao Cao needs is a hero in troubled times with a strong iron fist and strong appeal, who can be used as a think tank in the war.

He broke the rigid recommendation standard of so-called "filial piety" and advocated "meritocracy". No matter whether he is a hero or a lean man, as long as he can help consolidate Cao Wei's regime, Cao Cao will not refuse.

Therefore, the procuratorial system of "employing people by virtue" has also declined under the historical trend and the political needs of rulers. The "Nine-product Zhengzhi System" evolved from Cao Wei stepped onto the historical stage.

Long-term development has distorted the original intention of the Nine-product Zhengzhi system

As an important part of the development of the employment system in China since the Millennium, the Nine-product Zhengzhi system has been criticized in the history circle because it pays too much attention to family background. However, this result is actually the result of the alienation of the system with the changes of the times. Only by combing the context of the times can we fully and objectively understand the nine-product system.

1. At the beginning of its establishment, the talent level was the main selection criterion.

As mentioned above, the Nine Grades Zhengzhi system originated from Cao Cao's struggle for talents in the Three Kingdoms Wei and Jin Dynasties, and it pursued the principle of "meritocracy is the promotion". "At the end of the Han Dynasty, Wei Wu was the base, and the army was in a hurry, so it was right to establish nine grades. It was based on the merits and demerits of talents, not for the nobility."

At this time, the system of Nine Grades is not used to distinguish the rank, but to raise and lower the rank under the comprehensive consideration of talents' morality and other aspects, and to award officials according to this. The selection of "Zhongzheng" is also extremely strict, and the evaluation of talents must also be based on the prescribed standards, that is, paying attention to the level of moral integrity rather than the level of family.

Therefore, compared with the decaying procuratorial system in the past, it is more helpful to restore and rebuild the chaotic order of selecting talents, and it inherits the tradition of "village discussion" since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which is more conducive to consolidating the Cao Wei regime. So this is also a kind of American politics.

at this time, the history books also praised it. "Biography of the Book of Jin" says: "It was first created, and the township and city discussed it clearly, regardless of the title, and it was enough to persuade and encourage, and there was still a lingering wind in the countryside." "The Story of the Stone Jilong" even calls it "the pure Tianjin of the gentry and the mirror of human relations."

2. Gradually turning to attaching importance only to family background

The alienation of "Nine-product Zhengzhi System" began in the Western Jin Dynasty. As for its reasons, it should be combined with its historical background.

the establishment of the country and its legitimacy in the western Jin dynasty can not be separated from the material and even moral support of the noble family for Sima regime. In order to further build the foundation of the legitimacy of the regime, it is necessary to give preferential treatment and comfort to the supporters of the regime, including facilitating their promotion and promotion.

In the Western Jin Dynasty, the criteria for selecting talents changed quietly, from virtue to family status, which fundamentally changed the nature of the "Nine Grades" system. Although the ruler knew about this situation, he kept his mouth shut. There have been many ministers who criticized the unfair phenomenon of the system of "taking an examination of the world and then appointing it" and asked the emperor to intervene in it and restore the original election order of "no title".

The emperor knew this very well, but he didn't put the minister's performance into practice. Because these measures will directly threaten the interests of the gentry, and then endanger the foundation of the Western Jin regime. With the indulgence and acquiescence of the rulers, the pattern of attaching importance to family status and neglecting ability and political integrity has taken shape.

3. Finally, it became a tool for the door clan to monopolize.

Under the alienation, Jiupin was being made in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, which has lasted for decades. It seems that the selection of talents based on family status has gained the knowledge of public opinion, and the class solidification has further intensified under this circumstance. The symbol is the prevalence of "the distinction between scholars and ordinary people".

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the influence of the gentry had formed and firmly controlled all aspects of society, such as politics, economy, culture and so on, and dominated the discourse power of the whole society, as well as the official career.

it's just a routine for them to decide who can enter the imperial court according to their family status, so they don't have to worry about whether they are competent or not. In this way, the monopoly on the selection of talents makes them firmly control the top of the social stratum pyramid and continue from generation to generation.

On the other hand, the common people, because of their humble origins and narrow connections, have no talent, so they can only live in the humble role of others forever. Zuo Si wrote in "Ode to History": "The bottom of the gloomy valley is loose, leaving the seedlings on the mountain. With a diameter of one inch, I can shade this hundred feet. " In Chinese, the metaphor of "pine at the bottom of the cave" and "seedling on the mountain" is used to compare the children of noble families and poor families respectively, which reflects that the class hardening has taken shape during this period, which in turn leads to the solidification of thinking, thus further hindering social mobility.

The Nine-Graded Zhengzhong System still played a certain role in history

1. Effectively consolidated the newly born regime of Cao Wei

The Nine-Graded Zhengzhong System originated in the world of great struggle. Cao Wei was established to attract talents from all over the world, and its initial selection criteria were quite strict and standardized. "The right to establish nine products is based on the advantages and disadvantages of talents, not for the family."

Taking "having both ability and political integrity" as the selection criteria of talents is undoubtedly in line with the reality and historical trend. Therefore, it selected a large number of talents to enter the Cao Wei ruling group and made important contributions to the consolidation and prosperity of the Cao Wei regime.

In addition, after decades of paralysis of the procuratorial system, scholars finally have a way to become officials, which is also of great significance for wooing and appeasing domestic intellectuals, easing social contradictions and expanding the social foundation of political power.

2. An effective political system has been established.

The Nine Grades System has also made important contributions to the institutionalization of talent selection. The essence of this system is actually a talent evaluation system, which divides talents into three grades according to their moral ability, which is beneficial to the central and local governments to award officials at their discretion. The normal operation of feudal bureaucratic system can not be separated from high-quality bureaucrats, and Jiupin Zhengzhi introduced a steady stream of talents to Cao Wei management system in the early stage.

In addition, this measure is also of great significance for improving centralization of authority. It dealt a heavy blow to the behavior of state and county governors to create their own subordinates and cronyism, and further restored the power of personnel appointment and removal to the central government, thus perfecting the central political system.

3. It has promoted people's ideological and moral construction to a certain extent

Under this system, officials in the Central Government are responsible for commenting on scholars, and these comments will serve as the basis for scholars' entry and promotion.

It is worth mentioning that, as early as the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the folk in China began to comment on the countryside, that is, to invite respected celebrities from the countryside to participate in the evaluation of scholars. These evaluation activities often attracted the attention and even participation of court personnel, and from this evaluation, scholars who met the court's wishes were selected to enter the court for examination.

After the establishment of the Jiupin Zhengzhi system, the function of the judges was gradually transferred from the folk to the official, and the so-called "Zhengzhi" played a similar role to the folk critics in the past, and the evaluation process became more institutionalized and standardized, and it was more qualified to evaluate all officials in the imperial court.

Folk scholars will strengthen their ideological and cultural cultivation in order to obtain the qualification of being appraised well by Chiang Kai-shek and successfully entering the official position, and the official personnel will also constantly strengthen their ideological and moral quality under the pressure of the supervision of Chiang Kai-shek officials and for the purpose of official promotion.

In a word, Jiupin Zhengzhi system corresponded to the political purpose of enriching the country and consolidating the political power at the beginning of its establishment. Therefore, in the early stage of its implementation, Jiupin Zhengzhi system played a role in making up for the shortcomings of the inspection system, restoring the order of material selection, providing opportunities for scholars with knowledge, morality and ambition to become officials, and also having positive significance for changing customs.

However, with the changes of the background and political ecology, this system began to be alienated, and gradually became a tool for the elite to monopolize political power and seek political privileges, and this system also began to become narrow and exclusive. Therefore, it is an inevitable result of historical development that the imperial examination system replaces the nine-grade system in the end.