If you were born in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, what channels do you want to be an official?

As a "cumulative year of three generations", the most famous "story" connecting the preceding with the following is da ji's obsequious master in The List of Gods and The Legend of Cut Off.

However, China, as a real Shang Dynasty, has been the most "longevity" dynasty in the same strain for thousands of years, lasting for more than 600 years.

Summer-relieving decoction

The "civilization" left by Shang Dynasty is extremely rich, ranging from "black technology" bronzes to "the oldest writing" Oracle Bone Inscriptions, as well as the connotations of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, military, prison, law, war, astronomical calendar and meteorological medicine, which are all very rich and "advanced" precious treasures of civilization.

To govern a country smoothly, it is not enough to have a great and wise king. Most of the "government affairs" and "people-friendly" policies need to be implemented by lower-level officials. Only by going up and down Qi Xin can the Shang Dynasty perish after more than 600 years.

In this paper, the author wants to talk about the basis of governing the country in Shang Dynasty-the system of selecting officials and the extremely unique system of taking officials for internal and external use.

0 1 the system of selecting officials in Shang dynasty was "I was king in ancient times, but I only wanted to be the government of the old people."

-"Shangshu"

This statement shows the core view of selecting officials or "executors" in Shang Dynasty-"Let everyone be old."

Among them, this "old man" is the same clan, the same clan and the same generation who inherited the "family world" initiated by Xia.

Therefore, the selection of officials in the Shang Dynasty, especially those in the most "important" position, can be said to be cronyism, such as the father of the king, the elders of the same clan, the brothers of the same generation, and the sons and nephews of the younger generation (such as Prince Bigan). ).

Of course, these alone are not enough to form a huge bureaucratic group. After all, the "people" who made great contributions in the three major events of sacrifice, divination and conquest in Shang Dynasty can not be ignored. For example, Yi Yin helped Shang Tang to destroy the summer in the late summer, thus obtaining the "contribution of the dragon", and was knighted by a different surname and became a hereditary aristocrat.

Then, as a "blood relative", there are only so many official positions, and the weight is different. How do we choose them?

1. Distance of "blood":

Naturally, such as uncles, siblings, biological sons and nephews of immediate family members. , are the closest blood relatives, the best positions are generally theirs. Secondly, it is extremely "fair" to "arrange" the position according to the distance of blood;

2. Loyalty:

Of course, it is not enough to maintain blood relationship, and the key point is "submission." If you have second thoughts on Shang Wang and refuse to accept "rule", it is harmful for you to grant him an official position, so loyalty is a very important selection criterion;

3. Selflessness:

Since it is to choose an official, it is of course impossible not to look at his "official" ability. The most basic point is to always uphold the "public interest" of putting the country first, not for personal gain or forgetting the public for personal gain;

4. "Be kind to the people and love them":

After the "abuse" of the war in the late summer, the Shang king won the world and naturally learned the "lessons" of the previous generation, so "being close to the people" and "loving the people" became one of the criteria for selecting officials in the Shang Dynasty.

5. Keep "bending":

The most important duty of officials is to be "conservative", that is, to seek their own government in their own position. The most important thing for an official is to do his "work" well, and he can't slack off casually or "increase or decrease" government decrees.

Of course, if the Shang Dynasty only chose officials by cronyism, it would be impossible to govern the country well. After all, no one can guarantee that future generations will be "sages". Throughout the ages, under the framework of "family and the world", there are not a few "unscrupulous" descendants.

Therefore, although the Shang Dynasty took "consanguinity" as the focus of selecting officials, it added a "breakthrough" in it, especially in the period of "political reform".

For example, Yi Yin, the hero who destroyed the summer, was gradually discovered as a "mechanic" because of his superb cooking skills (some said that he was a "vegetable slave" as a dowry and some said that he was a "defender" as a defender). Later, Shang Tang wanted to destroy Xia Zhishi and was appointed as an assistant.

There is also the Wuding period of Shang Dynasty (Historical Records) during the Ninth Rebellion. Due to the difficult and chaotic environment at that time, all kinds of accumulated disadvantages were hard to change, so Wu Ding, who grew up in the "folk", wanted to make drastic reforms, but most of his relatives were incompetent, so he turned to the folk for talent.

At this time, there was a slave who built the city, named Fu Shuo, who lived in Beihai, dressed in brown and tied with ropes. He was built in the city of Mozi, and was "heard" by King Wu Ding of Shang Dynasty, who wanted to choose him as an official. But at that time, the Shang Dynasty was still using the system of cronyism, so it was difficult, and the clever Wu Ding began to use it.

Here are two additions. One point is a special policy of selecting officials in Shang Dynasty-"temporary officials". At first, the purpose of appointment was that the number of officials needed would increase because new "projects" or subdivided "responsibilities" sometimes appeared. However, due to the uncertain existence time of these temporary "projects" or "responsibilities", the selection and appointment of "temporary officials" came into being. (See "Imperial Affairs" recorded in Oracle Bone Inscriptions for details. Usually, there are many choices and conventions in the practice of divination. )

However, in the later period, it evolved into a "special" system that Shang Zhouwang used to fight against the "blood group" bureaucrats in order to consolidate his rule. Its purpose is to divide the "heavy power" in the hands of "group" interest groups and reduce the bondage and threat to kingship.

It is a bit like the county magistrate and county magistrate in the county system vigorously promoted by the countries headed by Qin in later generations. The king directly selected and appointed them, naturally obeying everything and being more obedient, and the rights in the hands of the king were also consolidated.

The second point is the extension of "temporary official", "idle official" and "guilty official".

The formation of "idle officials" is due to the fact that after the Shang Dynasty was passed down from generation to generation, although there were many more official positions, there were more and more descendants, so "not enough points", especially those "collateral" brothers and sons and nephews, whose status in the clan was not high, could only be assigned to "temporary officials", and it was not easy to be dismissed immediately after the "project" or "responsibility".

The term "criminal officer" is generally chosen by some particularly useful prisoners of war, criminals and slaves as "temporary officials" in "special" positions. For example, in Oracle Bone Inscriptions's collection, there is a record that "Qiang Zhou inspired the king" ("Qi" can sometimes be interpreted as a pioneer), that is to say, the prisoner Qiang Zhou was appointed as a "temporary official" as a pioneer.

The unique internal and external official system in Shang Dynasty "The more external posts, the more officials, officials, guards and officials;": "The more you take orally, the more you can be a servant, ordinary Yin, elegant, obedient, obedient, the more you can live in people's homes.

-"Shangshu"

Shangshu Shuying

In ancient times, the description of the appointment and position of officials was called "clothing", but today's widely used "clothing" is derived from this, which has a similar meaning, that is, what to do (duty) in what position.

Therefore, the meanings of "internal use" and "external use" obviously come from the division of the ruling areas of the Shang Dynasty. Oral administration refers to the area directly ruled by the king, and external use refers to the area indirectly controlled by the king. The same is true of relevant internal and external service officials.

Here, a concept of "scope" of the king's rule was added, that is, the "five-service map" advocated at that time, that is, with the son of heaven as the concentric frame, it was divided into five regions according to the degree of local "submission".