The "test" lies in selecting and employing people. The earliest references to "Kao" and "Shi" should be quoted from Shangshu Yaodian. It is said that due to the flooding, Yao asked April for talents who can control water. April unanimously recommended Gun, but Yao was not at ease about Gun's ability and political integrity. April suggested, "Give it a try." Then, Yao wants to find an heir. Four days, I recommended Shun, and Yao said, "I'll try it!" After some "trials", before Shun succeeded to the throne, Yao said, "Ge Rushun, asking questions is a record." (1) "Inquiring about things and testing words is the bottom to be reached") These records reflect the employment situation at that time through investigation and trial, so some scholars think that Yao Shenshun is the origin of the imperial examination system in China. Although there is no final conclusion, it can be inferred that in the era of Yao Dian, the method of examination was first implemented. Huang Xinxian said in "A Brief History of Examination Development in China": "Examination is an inevitable product of the abdication era." "This is related to the underdeveloped productivity at that time and the poor living conditions of the original population. In order to effectively fight against nature and other hostile forces, primitive people need people with high moral character and certain organizational and management skills as leaders, but these people can't be inherited, and they can only be selected through relatively fair examinations, which further creates a social situation in which the world is public and people are their relatives and their only children. So there was the "activity of selecting talents through examinations".
In Zhou Li, Li Ji, Yi Li and other ancient books, a set of scholar-selecting systems, such as "selecting scholars in villages" and "selecting officials and princes", were recorded in the Western Zhou Dynasty, so as to meet the demand for talents for the huge political power construction in the Western Zhou Dynasty. "Zhou Li Emperor Stuart": "Three years is a grand contest, a test of virtue and art, and those who can promote sages ... make the people promote sages and make them long; Let the people get rich and enter the rule. " That is to say, every three years on Saturday, the township will have a big exam to determine the talented people in each township, register them and present them to the king, so that they can "grow their ambassadors" and "govern them". In addition, we should also select some people with superior moral character to teach in Chinese studies. The Book of Rites Wang Zhi contains:
"Life township theory show, Stuart, yue choose it. Si Tuleideng is talking about a scholar who is a talent in the draft, but he advocates learning (Zheng Note: learning, university) and is called a gentleman. Those who were promoted to Si Tuleideng were not recruited from the countryside, but promoted to scholars, not from Si Tuleideng, saying they were scholars. Yue Zheng worships four techniques, establishes four religions, and follows the poems, books, rituals and music of the previous dynasty to be a scholar. Rites and music are taught in the Spring and Autumn Period, and poetry books are taught in the Cold Summer. ..... Zheng said that those who were scholars appealed to Wang and rose to Sima, calling them "Jinshi". Sima distinguishes between officials and talents, and those who are scholars sue the king. On the appointment and then the official, the official and then the title, the post and then the post. "
Huang's "A Brief Introduction to the Official Selection System in Ancient China" holds that a scholar and a scholar, a gentleman and a scholar are appellations at different stages at the same level. Being a scholar is better than entering school in the same year and taking an examination in middle age; One year depends on distinguishing classics, three years on respecting orchestras, five years on learning, and seven years is called small achievement; After nine years of study, I will never return (Book of Rites). After Dacheng, Dale chose excellent builders to report to the king and promoted them to Sima, known as Jinshi, followed by Guan, Jue and Lu. And "small success" and "great success" are the standards set by the exam.
The selection of rural and Chinese scholars is carried out within Wang Ji. The vassal states outside Ji Wang also have the system of public office. "Book of Rites Shooting Righteousness" said: "At the age of 20, the vassal presented Gong Shi to the son of heaven." Zheng Xuan's note: "The New Year's dedication is also a book on state affairs and a set of things. Three years old and Gong. As the old saying goes: three big countries, two small countries. " The Emperor of Heaven has a corresponding reward and punishment system for whether the princes can land in the palace city in time with good quality and quantity. According to the regulations, in Gong's, reward will be given, otherwise, it will be given to a small place.
Both the taxis selected by the village and the taxis paid by the governor need to pass the "shooting" exam. Saturday's township elections should be evaluated three times (in Yang Kuan's words. For details, see New Exploration of Ancient History and New Exploration of Rural Drinking Ceremony). The vassal Gong's family must be checked by a great man. "Book of Rites Shooting Righteousness" records: "At the age of 20, the ministers presented Gong Shi to the emperor, who wanted to shoot at the palace." The selection of scholars in the Zhou Dynasty is a legacy of primitive society.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Gong Shi, a national scholar and warlord, initiated the ancient scholar selection system in China and the trial production of the national examination in China. The characteristics of the connection between scholar education and scholar selection, and the same way between scholar selection and official promotion constitute the basic framework of China's scholar selection system in past dynasties. Of course, the selection of scholars in the Western Zhou Dynasty was developed on the basis of the previous elections, which naturally had the democratic legacy of the primitive clans and tribes in selecting talents and abilities.