What can China's ancient imperial examination system learn from China's civil service examination system?

Abstract: China's current civil service system is closely related to the ancient imperial examination system. As an ancient system involving comprehensive content, orderly links, fair and strict examination and talent selection, the imperial examination system has a great influence on the current civil service system. This paper first introduces the civil service system and the imperial examination system, and discusses the inheritance and reference of the civil service system to the ancient imperial examination system, aiming at perfecting the current civil service examination system and promoting the benign development of public administration in China.

[Keywords:] civil service system; Imperial examination system; Inherit; use for reference

The ancient imperial examination system is the cultural product of China's political and economic development in a certain historical period. It is a political assessment system for selecting outstanding talents through examinations. In the development process of more than one thousand years, the imperial examination system has played an important role in selecting talents and maintaining political stability. Although the imperial examination system was a tool of autocratic rule in traditional feudal society, it also promoted the development of history to some extent. Many principles and means in the imperial examination system are of great significance to today's civil service system.

First, the civil service system and the imperial examination system

The popular word "civilservant" is translated from foreign civil servants and can be translated into "civil servants", so the civil service system can also be called civil service system [1]. In 2005, China promulgated the Civil Servant Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the first law and regulation on the management of personnel cadres in China. The following year, June 65438+1 October1day came into effect, marking the formal formation of China's civil service system [2]. In a sense, China's current civil service system is a product of learning advanced western management models and experiences, and it is also an "imported product", but in fact it is not the case. The civil service system implemented in western countries is also greatly influenced by the ancient Chinese imperial examination system.

In ancient China, an enlightened imperial examination system was implemented as early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties. This relatively fair examination and official selection system had a great influence at that time, which not only made Japan, North Korea and other neighboring countries in China follow suit, but also made some European countries learn from it. The influence of ancient Chinese imperial examination system on the political system of western countries can be traced back to16th century. Two Portuguese missionaries brought China's imperial examination system to the west for the first time, and described and affirmed the ancient imperial examination system in China in detail in their works Travel Notes of China and Greater China. At that time, these two books were published and widely circulated in Europe, which made Europeans pay close attention to China's political system. For example, Williams, a famous western scholar, once commented on the imperial examination system in China during the Sui and Tang Dynasties: "Although there was a similar system in ancient China, it can be regarded as an unparalleled political system in any big country [3]." Moreover, in 1983, when Alan Campbell, then director of the US Personnel Administration Bureau, came to Beijing to give a lecture, he also said, "When I saw the ancient civil service examination system in China, I was very surprised, because in all western political books and works, all the contents related to the civil service examination system came from China." It can be seen that the civil service system implemented in China at this stage is, in the final analysis, a cultural and political product of "exporting to domestic sales". As early as 65,438+0,000 years ago, our ancestors had built a superior system of selecting officials by examination, from which it can be judged that the ancient imperial examination system in China provided a reference carrier for the current civil service system.

Second, the civil service system inherited the ancient imperial examination system.

(A) the inheritance of the examination content

Analysis of the imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties in ancient China, there are usually "formal subjects" and "formal subjects", among which "formal subjects" is a more common form of examination. There are many subjects in the general examination in Tang dynasty, about ten. According to the relevant records in the history book Selected Records of the New Tang Dynasty: "Its subjects include scholars, Ming Classics, scholars, scholars, Ming Fa, Ming characters, the first history, the third history, Kai, Taoju and the boy. The difference between Ming Classics is that there are five classics, three classics, two classics, one pedant, three rites, three biographies and one history department, which is also the general choice this year [4]. " It is not difficult to see from these records that they are all scholars or examiners, but there are many exam contents, and different candidates can choose the corresponding contents according to their own preferences and specialties.

Today's civil service examination has more or less inherited this kind of examination content. At present, the civil service examination is basically divided into two main links: written examination and interview. In the written test, no matter what position you apply for, office workers or police officers need to take the test, which is of little practical significance compared with the actual work content of reference personnel. Although the content of the civil service examination is not a single form, we should learn from the diversified forms of the imperial examination system, expand the content of the civil service examination according to the actual post needs, and implement more targeted assessments, so as to better recruit useful talents.

(B) Inheritance of the employment system

Before the imperial examination system came into being, China used the hereditary system, the military rank system, the imperial examination system and the Nine Grades System in talent selection in ancient times. These systems all had some disadvantages, which had a negative impact on talent selection at that time. After the research and exploration of the rulers of past dynasties, the imperial examination system, an open and fair employment system for selecting officials, was finally found. The imperial examination system is different from the previous selection system It is mainly based on the examination results of candidates to hire or not, and it skillfully combines officials with learning, thus forming a situation in which you must win by virtue if you want to enter the official and enter the subject. Just like in the policy examination, it is necessary to conduct an all-round inspection of the candidates' morality, knowledge, talent and "behavior", especially the assessment of the national economy and people's livelihood. Such a civil servant examination system has played a positive role in the cultural quality of officials and the educational development of society. The civil servant recruitment system refers to the standards and norms for selecting people from the society to hold non-leadership positions in relevant organs and units in accordance with relevant laws and regulations by adopting an open and fair assessment method. In the current civil service recruitment system, the essence of the imperial examination system has also been absorbed. Not only the knowledge and skills of candidates are strictly assessed, but also the moral quality of candidates is assessed. Through interviews and written examinations, outstanding contemporary talents with high comprehensive quality are selected to better serve the socialist construction.

Thirdly, the civil service system draws lessons from the ancient imperial examination system.

(A) the legal examination system for reference

Through reading and studying the books related to the ancient political examination system, we can find that the ancient imperial examination system in China has a complete legal system, which not only has strict regulations on liberal arts examinations, but also has detailed regulations on religious subjects and martial arts examinations. By the Qing Dynasty, the relevant laws and regulations were more perfect. However, there are few rules and regulations about the current civil service system in China. Apart from the Civil Service Law, there is no special legal document on the recruitment of civil servants, which leaves a blank in the civil service examination and cannot guarantee the implementation of the civil service system according to law. After all, the ancient imperial examination system was a social product at that time, and it was inevitable that there would be defects. Therefore, we should learn from the relevant legal contents of the imperial examination system reasonably, take its essence and discard its dross. For example, lock the hospital to prevent missed questions in the exam; Search to prevent cheating; Copy and paste names to prevent human transactions; Measures to prevent cheating in re-examination such as tempering are important reference resources for the formulation and implementation of the current civil service examination law, and these methods should be fully utilized to ensure the openness and fairness of civil service examinations [5].

(B) the way to apply for reference

The imperial examinations in China in the Qing Dynasty were usually divided into three levels: after having obtained a local examination, general examination and palace examination. After the imperial examination students took the rural examination. If they pass the exam, they are called juren, and the first one is called Xie Yuan. The exam is a national exam that Juren took in Gong Yuan, the Ministry of Rites. The one who passed the exam is called Gong, and the one who won the first place is called Huiyuan. Gongkao is the last stage of Gong's participation in the imperial ladder examination. The number of applicants for the Palace Examination is three in Grade A, and several in Grade A and Grade B are all called Jinshi. The top three in Grade A are respectively called the champion, the second place and Hua Tan, and the examinations at all levels adopt the mechanism of equal competition [6].

At present, the civil service examination in China is to apply for the position first, and then take the examination after qualification examination. There are some disadvantages in the way of applying for this kind of examination, which makes the civil service examination appear uneven hot and cold, and this phenomenon has lasted for many years. Before the exam, there were too many candidates for many popular positions, and the phenomenon of "one in a thousand" was often staged. However, for some grass-roots positions, the number of applicants is very small and the positions are uneven, which leads to many candidates with strong comprehensive ability missing the opportunity to be admitted by relevant departments because of improper position selection. In addition, some reference personnel, in order to successfully enroll, applied for unpopular or their own specialties, which is not conducive to outstanding talents in various positions. In view of this problem, in the civil service examination, we should innovate and reform the registration system reasonably. You can take the written test first and then apply for the position. On the premise that candidates can't see the number of candidates applying for the position, they can pass the written test before applying for the position. With the implementation of this system, candidates can choose their own positions according to their written test scores and actual conditions when they meet the admission qualification standards. This system is also an innovation of equal competition mechanism in the imperial examination system. The implementation of this system can effectively alleviate the phenomenon of the concentration of hot positions in the national examination every year, and can "pre-divert" candidates in advance, while reducing the vacancies of some grassroots positions.

(C) the management model for reference

In the ancient imperial examinations, there were basically courtyards and imperial ceremonies, which reflected the importance of imperial examinations in past dynasties, and also showed the authority and seriousness of imperial examinations, which made many references feel incomparable glory. At present, there is generally no special examination room in China's civil service examination, and the temporary examination room facilities are relatively simple, which not only cannot reflect the authority and seriousness of the civil service examination, but also provides conditions for candidates to practice favoritism and malpractice. Therefore, in the current civil service examination, it is necessary to design a reference ceremony that can reflect the spirit of the times, improve the examinee's sacred sense of life responsibility, and reflect the majesty of civil service examination. At the same time, we should also set up a special examination room for the exam, improve the infrastructure construction, and learn from the monitoring system in the ancient "Mingyuan Building" to avoid cheating in the exam.

In addition, the ancient imperial examination attached importance to the examination of the four books, five classics and eight-part essay, which hindered the innovation of writing style and neglected the study of natural science, which stifled the germination of new ideas of intellectuals to some extent. Therefore, the civil service examination in the new era must scientifically absorb the contents of the imperial examination system. The quality of civil servants directly affects the realization of the functions of the civil service system, and the scientific management of the civil service examination system is an important embodiment of modern government personnel management. Therefore, the civil service system should conform to the trend of the times and carry out continuous reform and innovation to better meet the needs of the change of government management mode and the change of new environment. Under the imperial examination system, many intellectuals often choose a single career. If you can't be an official, you can only retire as a teacher. There is a big gap between the two. Now the social division of labor is clear, and there is no distinction between high and low. Under the market economy system, as a professional manager serving the public, it is necessary to strengthen the professionalization of civil servants. Government agencies should deepen reform, strengthen the management and training of civil servants, actively explore new mechanisms for civil servant management, and create a harmonious and relaxed environment that respects talents. Instilling the concept and thought of professionalization of civil servants in the new era, building a modern civil servant team with strong professional skills and high moral quality by optimizing the incentive mechanism, training mechanism and professionalization system of civil servants, and promoting the development of political and economic construction in China.

Conclusion: The reason why the imperial examination system can last for 1300 years in ancient times shows that it has certain existence value. By selecting officials, political stability is maintained and economic development is promoted. The rigorous examination process and strict organizational measures in the imperial examination system have important guiding significance for the current civil service examination. The principles of fairness, openness and transparency in the civil service examination are the inheritance of the imperial examination system. But at the same time, we should also see the limitations of the imperial examination system, the shackles of thought and the rigidity of content, which need us to take a warning. As a modern civil servant system, we must base ourselves on the national conditions, serve the public, constantly innovate and break through, improve the assessment content and mechanism, stand at the height of the times, carefully analyze the imperial examination system, treat the ancient Chinese imperial examination system correctly with a sublation eye, and better promote the construction of political and economic civilization in China.

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