Who were the "scholars" in ancient China? Something more famous and familiar to everyone. ...

Scholar-officials are the general name of the ancient bureaucratic humanistic intellectuals in China. This is an elite social group, and China's official selection system (referring to the "imperial examination system") is the institutional guarantee for its formation. They are not only direct participants in national politics, but also creators and inheritors of China culture and art, which is a unique social group of Chinese civilization.

Origin: spiritual origin

The class of "scholars" appeared very early, generally referring to folk talents with certain talents. They often come from poor families or declining nobles, relying on their own skills to attach themselves to the nobles and provide them with various services.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, wars were frequent. Princes and nobles of various countries, such as Chun and Zhou, all take "Godsworn" as their fashion, which can reach thousands at most, and they also compete with each other to show off. The allusion of "self-recommendation" shows that there was no special standard for "scholar" at that time, and even claiming to be talented, you could convince nobles to become "scholars".

It was Confucius who put forward the theoretical standard of "scholar". Zi Gong in The Analects of Confucius Luz asked, "How can you be described as a scholar?" ? Confucius said, "What you did was shameful, so that the four sides did not disgrace their lives. It can be described as a scholar. " In other words, people who are strict with themselves, loyal to the monarch and patriotic can be called "scholars". Confucius' concepts of "scholar" and "gentleman" basically coincide.

This "scholar" spirit is more of a "warrior" in practice. For example, Jing Ke, who failed to assassinate Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, once boasted before leaving: "The wind and rain are cold, and the strong men are gone forever." This kind of heroism and noble quality given by the king at the cost of his life is regarded as a spiritual model. This is also in line with Confucius' proposition.

Formation: institutional guarantee

Dong Zhongshu of the Han Dynasty persuaded Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty to implement the policy of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone". Since then, Confucianism of Confucius and his disciples has become the mainstream philosophy of later generations. (Note: Confucianism has different status and importance in each generation. )

Confucius' theory encourages intellectuals to "join the WTO", that is, to be officials and participate in politics and directly serve the king and the country. The system of selecting officials in Han Dynasty was not perfect, mainly because the royal family recommended some noble talents to join the government. For example, it is very common to be elected as an official because of "filial piety". Examinations are not necessary.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the famous "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest" appeared. They not only have high literary and artistic attainments, but also have noble moral integrity, but on the one hand, they are wild and unruly. Many of them would rather die drunk than work in a corrupt court. This spiritual temperament is a useful supplement to Confucius and Confucianism, that is, if politics is dark, it is also in line with the ethics of Confucianism, that is, "hidden" away from politics, because you don't want to drift with the flow and indulge in literature and art, and this spirit can also be found in the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi.

Although there was an imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the only way to really select government officials was after the Song Dynasty. The development of Neo-Confucianism in Song Dynasty further strengthened and developed Confucianism and occupied the mainstream position of philosophy. The perfection of the imperial examination system makes the cultural examination the only legal way to be an official. "Learning to be excellent is to be an official" and "everything is inferior, only reading is high" began to be called the motto that scholars believe in. On the other hand, government officials must also be literate people who have read Confucian poetry classics. This ensures from the political system that the "scholar-officials" group must be an elite intellectual class.

In this way, the inheritance of philosophical spirit is guaranteed by the system, and the "scholar-bureaucrat" class should be said to have been formally formed in the Song Dynasty.

Development: advance and retreat

The vast majority of "scholar-officials" have a lofty sense of moral mission (Fan Zhongyan) of "worrying about the world first and enjoying the world later". Therefore, politics is the first priority in their lives; But at the same time, their cultural accomplishment also determines that they are the inheritors and creators of China traditional culture such as literature, calligraphy, painting, seal cutting and antique collection.

A typical example is "literati painting". Because of Song Huizong's personal hobby, he urged the literati to devote themselves to painting creation. This further improves the cultural taste and artistry of painting.

After the Song Dynasty, most of the great poets, painters and calligraphers in the past dynasties were officials who held important positions in the imperial court. Such as Su Shi, Mi Fei, Cai Jing and so on. Like Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty, he had little political experience, and the "free intellectuals" who were famous for their poems almost disappeared. This situation continued until the late Qing Dynasty.

Decline: The Death of Imperial Examination

Because the scholar-bureaucrat class came into being with the "imperial examination system", the demise of the imperial examination system also means that the scholar-bureaucrat class lacks political system guarantee.

At the end of Qing dynasty (19 and the beginning of 20th century), politics faced a complete collapse due to internal troubles and foreign invasion. The imperial examination system is increasingly backward in the wave of western learning spreading to the east, which has become a "bottleneck" that binds talents. However, the forced opening to the outside world has enabled China scholars to see new knowledge and new ways to acquire knowledge.

1September 2, 905, the imperial edict of Cixi clearly stipulated: "From the afternoon of the third day, all provincial examinations will be stopped. The annual examinations of the provinces will stop. " This not only marked the Millennium swan song of the imperial examination system, but also greatly changed the education and culture of China. "Scholar-bureaucrat" has since become a historical term with an empty "scholar-bureaucrat complex" and no actual status. The monopoly of "scholar-officials" on knowledge, culture and art no longer exists.