The selection and management system of officials in the Song Dynasty

Author: Miao Shumei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1996-06-01
Features:
2. Inheritance of Official Positions
Those who entered the civil service through inheritance () obtained official titles based on their family status or the achievements of their fathers or elder brothers. Except for a few who possessed some cultural knowledge, most were pampered and unlearned. Those who suddenly acquired wealth through marriage into the imperial family or as clients or servants of high officials were "unrestricted by talent or stupidity, all occupying lucrative positions." They "came from farmlands or markets, yet retained the demeanor of servants," indicating their low competence. The Song government sought to maintain the overall quality of its bureaucracy and consolidate the feudal regime's rule but could not rely on such individuals. Therefore, since the founding of the dynasty, Emperor Taizu of Song pointed out: "Noble families know nothing but drinking wine and playing the pipa; how can they understand the suffering of the people!"
The Song dynasty relied more on officials who passed the imperial examinations () than on those who entered the civil service through inheritance (). This was primarily achieved through two methods to limit the advancement of inheritors:
First, the ranks they were assigned upon entry were low, and their promotions were slow. In the Tang Dynasty, inheritors were granted higher ranks, and their selection was relatively strict. Sons of first-rank officials could be appointed as officials of the seventh rank (), while those of second-rank officials could be appointed as officials of the seventh rank (), and even sons of fifth-rank officials could hold positions of the eighth rank (). Moreover, Tang Dynasty officials appointed through inheritance faced fewer restrictions and faster promotions. Powerful noble families often boasted, "With our family status, we can sit as high-ranking officials." At that time, there were no fewer than sixty or seventy officials who rose to the position of prime minister through inheritance, with dozens of families having successive generations holding the highest ministerial positions.
During the early reigns of Emperors Taizu and Taizong of Song, there was still a system of testing and questioning for inheritors. However, as the number of inheritors surged, in the Tianxi period of Emperor Zhenzong, this system was abolished, leaving inheritors unrestricted by talent and forcing them to accept lower ranks. For example, in the early years of Emperor Taizong, Shen Yilian and Lu Duoxun became prime ministers, and their sons were appointed as deputy directors of the Ministry of Waters and Land upon entering the service, a practice that became the norm. They were initially granted positions as court officials of the seventh rank. Later, when Lü Mengzheng became prime minister, he proposed that officials who passed the imperial examinations at the highest level should only be appointed as mid-level capital officials, while inheritors were granted court positions. He requested that his son be granted a court position of the ninth rank, and as a result, inheritors were thereafter limited to positions of the ninth rank in the capital. Before the fifth year of the Tiansheng period of Emperor Renzong (1027), when officials recommended their sons for inheritance, they were only granted military ranks. That year, it was stipulated: "Henceforth, civil officials may only recommend their sons for civil positions." Later, under Emperor Shenzong, the heads of the Bureau of Military Affairs could also recommend their sons for civil positions.
Generally, those appointed as civil officials could hold the highest rank of deputy director of the Directorate of Construction () of the eighth rank (), followed by positions such as the Assistant to the Grand sacrifices (), the Assistant to the Court Rituals (), the Chief of the Directorate of Construction (), and others. Most were long-term, non-promotion positions such as the Assistant to the Temple Rituals () and the Assistant to the Sacrificial Rituals (). Those appointed as military officials could hold the highest rank of the East and West Gate Attendants (、) of the eighth rank (), followed by positions such as the Left and Right Attendants of the Hall of Audience (、) of the ninth and tenth ranks (、), minor officials such as the Assistant to the Three Bureaus (、), or non-rank military positions such as the Attendant of the Hall of Audience ().
Due to the low ranks assigned to inheritors and the numerous restrictions on their appointment, officials who entered the civil service through the imperial examinations were considered "having a background," while inheritors had none. Therefore, they could not directly hold positions such as the magistrate of a prefecture (), the magistrate of a county (), or the deputy magistrate (). Their initial positions were usually minor roles such as the supervisor () or the chief clerk () or the county magistrate () in small or remote prefectures. They had to accumulate qualifications through performance and years of service to become eligible for positions closer to the people. Without serving as a magistrate, they had no chance of entering the middle and senior ranks of the bureaucracy.
In the sixth year of the Tiansheng period of Emperor Renzong (1028), it was stipulated: "Inheritors of court and capital officials must serve as supervisors for eight years without any criminal record, and if they have no performance issues, they may be granted the rank of officials closer to the people." However, whether they could hold such positions depended on other conditions, such as their performance and recommendations from high officials.
Examining the careers of officials who entered the civil service through inheritance shows that most spent their entire lives in low-level positions in prefectures and counties. For example, Bian Yun, the uncle of Lu Dian, entered the civil service through inheritance in the early years of Emperor Renzong and served for 50 years, holding various positions in different regions. Before his retirement, he was still in the rank of a minor official with no promotion prospects. Another example is Du Zongxiang, the great-grandson of Du Shunjin, the uncle of Emperors Taizu and Taizong of Song. He was appointed as an assistant to the Three Bureaus and served as the supervisor of the West Capital Directorate of Construction, the assistant to the Court Rituals, and the director of the tax office in Shangquan County. Later, he was transferred to the inspection posts of Jia and Mei prefectures, appointed as the supervisor of the Shaozhou Yongtong Directorate of Coinage, and then to the second supervisor of the Qi River Directorate of Weizhou. He later served as the commander of the southern gate of Shouzhou and the assistant to the floating bridge in Weizhou. In the Yuanfeng period, he was specially appointed as the commander of Xinzhou. From his entry into the civil service to his appointment as the Deputy Director of the Left Treasury (), he had served for over 30 years, rising from the assistant to the Three Bureaus to the 13th rank of the deputy director of the Left Treasury. The Deputy Director of the Left Treasury was the third-lowest rank among the deputy directors of various ministries and bureaus (), which was the seventh rank (). These two examples represent the careers of most officials who entered the civil service through inheritance, whether in civil or military positions. Due to their slow promotions, although the total number of inheritors far exceeded those who passed the imperial examinations, few could rise to the middle and senior ranks of the bureaucracy. Only a small fraction of them were recorded in the History of the Song Dynasty (), and even fewer became high-ranking ministers or court officials.
Second, the establishment of the Quan Examination and Cheng Examination systems, selecting officials based on talent. After the abolition of the testing and questioning system for inheritors in the late reign of Emperor Zhenzong, the Song government no longer tested inheritors but gradually established and refined the Quan Examination and Cheng Examination systems, which required inheritors to pass examinations before being assigned positions. This ensured that those without cultural knowledge or military skills could not obtain actual positions. The establishment and refinement of these systems were of great significance in curbing the advancement of noble offspring ().
The inheritance system was a means for the highest rulers to use the granting of official titles to politically win over the bureaucracy, making them more loyal to the feudal dynasty. This system was a major reason for the direct increase in the total number of officials in the Song Dynasty. Throughout the dynasty, scholars and officials repeatedly requested the reduction of redundant officials, but their efforts had little effect.
Inheritors and officials who passed the imperial examinations came from different strata of the landlord class. Inheritors primarily came from imperial families, noble families, and landlord households. Granting them positions and salaries was a way for the Song government to share political privileges with the landlord class and gain their support. Officials who passed the imperial examinations primarily came from non-bureaucratic or low-level bureaucratic families. The Song government relied on them to select capable individuals, strengthen the regime's ruling ability, and expand its ruling base. The Song government vigorously improved the imperial examination system and relied heavily on the scholars selected through it. This compelled talented descendants of scholars to disdain inheriting positions through their ancestors' titles and instead actively participate in the imperial examinations. Some even took the Suoli Exam after inheriting positions to obtain the status of an imperial examination graduate.
The rising status of officials who passed the imperial examinations and the declining status of inheritors made the Song bureaucracy non-hereditary and open, marking a sign of the transition from aristocratic politics to the maturation of bureaucratic politics.
### 3. Roots of Changes in the Official Selection System
The strengthening of centralized autocratic rule was the political foundation for the changes in the Song Dynasty's official selection system. The Song Dynasty was established after the turmoil of the late Tang and Five Dynasties period of fragmented warfare. To rectify the abuses of military commanders who wielded excessive power, maintained private armies, and engaged in factional conflicts, and to prevent the Zhao regime from becoming the sixth short-lived dynasty, brothers Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi implemented a series of measures while conducting unification wars, leading to the highly developed nature of autocratic institutions.
In the administrative system, power was centralized: the authority of prefectural military commanders was transferred to counties, the authority of counties to prefectures, and the authority of prefectures to supervisory commissions, with all power ultimately residing in the central government. As a result, the central government's control over local regions was "a system of mutual support and checks, like the body commanding the limbs, with all punishments and rewards above the death penalty and fines above gold originating from the emperor. Commanders of frontier regions ruled numerous cities, entrusted with armies spanning thousands of miles, yet a single envoy and a scroll of orders could summon them from dawn to dusk."
By dividing powers among different government agencies and emphasizing deputy officials within agencies, officials were made to supervise and restrain one another, weakening the independent authority of bureaucratic institutions and strengthening the autocratic emperor's power. The centralization policy of the early Song Dynasty was inherited by later rulers as the "ancestral law," maintaining domestic stability and unity for over 300 years. Thus, no major fragmentation occurred in the feudal society of China thereafter.
The Song Dynasty successfully established a centralized autocratic system, and the more developed this system became, the greater the need to expand its ruling base. The most important means for the Song autocratic regime to expand its ruling base was to expand the imperial examination system established since the Sui and Tang dynasties. By suppressing the ambitions of bureaucratic offspring and transforming the imperial examination system to favor the entry of common landlord offspring into the regime, the Song rulers aimed to select outstanding individuals from all social strata, even the upper echelons of the ruled class, to join the ruling group, thereby strengthening the ruling class's power and securing broader support for the regime, consolidating autocratic centralized rule.
At the same time, the Song rulers vigorously expanded the number of imperial examinations and developed the system, which was also a result of their lessons from Tang Dynasty history. The Tang imperial examinations suffered from abuses such as xunjuan (submitting essays in advance), gongzhen (official recommendations), qiu jizi (seeking connections), tong guanjie (bribing examiners), mo ju (illicit recruitment), and tai tong bang (early announcement of results). During Emperor Wenzong's Kaicheng period, the emperor even ordered: "Children of meritorious officials who qualify for the shi (imperial examinations), mingjing (Confucian classics), or other subjects should be given preferential treatment by the relevant authorities." This legalized the appointment of officials through privilege.
Due to the small number of imperial examination candidates and the unfavorable examination system for marginalized scholars, those who failed the exams repeatedly either joined local warlord administrations as assistants to regional separatist forces or took desperate measures and rebelled. Leaders of the late Tang peasant uprising, such as Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi, were their representatives.
The Song Dynasty learned from this lesson, ensuring that scholars from all strata could compete more equally through the system and even granting special exemptions to elderly candidates who failed the exams through te zouchengming (special appointments). This allowed "disgraced scholars who failed the exams to covet a position and die without success," and "heroes and geniuses were lost in the system without realizing it, so rebellion did not arise in China but in foreign lands—was this not the key to governing the world?" Cai Tao also praised the Song Dynasty's special appointments as "recruiting disgraced scholars in the examination halls to win the hearts of all scholars with a single official appointment."
By raising the political status of imperial examination graduates and increasing the admission rate, the Song rulers compelled scholars to wait patiently for official positions throughout their lives, eliminating their rebellious tendencies and thus contributing to the long-term stability of the Song Dynasty.
### 2. Selection Procedures for Regular Officials
Regular officials, though part of the middle and lower ranks of the Song bureaucracy, numbered many, and managing these grassroots officials was a significant personnel issue at the time. Moreover, the central government's unified assessment and appointment of mid-level and lower-level officials were also one of the measures to control local regions and prevent regional separatism.
The greatest contradiction in the selection process of regular officials was the disparity between the number of officials (yuan) and the number of positions (que). In the Quan Examination system, yuan referred to officials who entered the bureaucracy through various means, including those listed in the personnel registers of the Ministry of Personnel, qualified for different assignments based on their conditions. Que, also known as kē que (fixed vacancies), referred to the various specific positions in the actual governance system, similar to the in-house positions set by modern government agencies and administrative units based on actual needs.
In the Song Dynasty, the number of yuan was generally not strictly limited, although there were occasional restrictions on the total number of imperial examination candidates or the frequency of inheritance appointments. However, the total number of officials was not fixed, while que were limited. Therefore, the total number of officials in the register increased indefinitely, while the number of positions remained relatively stable. As a result, the growing number of officials in the register clashed with the limited number of positions available.
In the Song Dynasty, where officials and assignments were separated, the continuous recruitment of new officials was politically necessary for rulers to expand the class base of the regime. However, the governance of the state was carried out by officials who had been assigned to positions and filled various roles. Therefore, the Song government placed great importance on controlling the number of que. Although the number of que increased with social development and tended to rise, it remained relatively stable compared to the continuously increasing number of yuan, with a limited growth rate.
Because the relatively fixed number of que could not accommodate the continuously increasing number of yuan, the phenomenon of officials waiting for positions (dai que) became increasingly severe. For example, in the third year of the Zhenghe period of Emperor Huizong (1113), the total number of officials in the Ministry of Personnel's four selections was 43,000, while the number of que was only 14,000, a ratio of about 3:1, meaning that on average, more than three candidates competed for one position. Another example is in the 28th year of the Shaoxing period of Emperor Gaozong (1158), the Ministry of Personnel's Right Selection had over 800 officials waiting for assignments, but only 219 positions remained. There are many such comparative figures. To alleviate the contradiction between yuan and que, the Song government adopted measures such as increasing tian que (additional vacancies) and ci lu que ( positions), shortening officials' terms, using que in advance, and borrowing tang que (hall vacancies), but none of these fundamentally resolved the issue.
Therefore, the contradiction between yuan and que was an "insurmountable prominent obstacle" for the Song Dynasty's personnel department and the officials competing for positions.