Knowledge, ability and moral character are the main criteria for selecting officials, but the problem is that these are internal and must be tested in actual combat. If you want to "fight", you have to be an official, and this is a circle. Therefore, when assigning positions to Jinshi and Juren, we can only look at external performance. For example, test scores, calligraphy writing, and appearance requirements. The above article "Selecting Officials and Beauty Pageant: The Imperial Examination Rebellion under the Cracks of the Tang Clan and Officials" has already talked about the rationality of officials' appearance and the political considerations behind it.
in my opinion and that of many people, as long as the appearance is not particularly ugly, the ability is the most important. In the Tang Dynasty's "Party Struggle between Niu and Li", Li Deyu, as the representative of a big family, and Niu Monk and Ru, as the representative of the imperial examination, had a higher historical contribution than Niu Monk and Ru. However, Niu Sengru occupies the highland of literature and knowledge, and it seems that they are all "culprits" in evaluation.
The Tang Dynasty was different from the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties (the Yuan Dynasty was an unsuccessful Confucian dynasty, so it was omitted). The aristocratic families have lost the ability to control politics, and the imperial examination system has become the main body. In this case, the problem of selecting officials and talents under the imperial examination system has also emerged. Especially in appearance. Because of his ugliness, Luo Yin was unfavorable in the imperial examinations all his life.
In the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the problem of imperial examination system became more and more obvious. When the regime entered the final stage and the bureaucracy began to corrupt, there was a pathological change in the whole system. But you have to maintain it, so in many cases, "exams" that rely solely on theoretical rankings, such as the imperial examination system, tend to pay more attention to "form."
what's good in the world is bad in the world!
Because the imperial examination system pursues external performance, such as appearance, writing, dressing, etc., it is necessary to know etiquette when waiting for officials, so people who have no "relationship" or "power" or are not too hard can only work hard in this respect. Therefore, a "painful" juren appeared in Wanli period of Ming Wan.
in the Wanli period, Suzhou's commercial economy has been very developed. Suzhou is also a land and water transportation hub, and all kinds of merchants in the north, south, east and west have to pass through Suzhou. Therefore, shops and businesses in Suzhou are prosperous. Not only during the Wanli period, but also during the hongzhi emperor period of Xiaozong, Suzhou was already very prosperous. Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan, Zhang Ling and many other shocking figures were born. The entertainment industry, calligraphy and painting culture industry represented by the brothel industry in the city are very developed and even deformed.
During the Wanli period, Suzhou became more prosperous, and both officials and ordinary people were very extravagant and self-centered. One day, a juren Li Le came out for fun. That day was the time of the famous Tiger Hill Book Fair, and scholars from Suzhou and its surrounding cities would come here to study and compete. Li Le also wants to go to help.
walking forward, he suddenly found a piece of hongxia in the distance. He was surprised and rubbed his eyes. It turns out that that piece of hongxia is the color of clothes that people wear. Because there are many people, it looks red.
while he was hesitating, Li Le found not only a piece of hongxia, but also purple clouds. Just ask, it is known that the scholars of various academies in Suzhou, such as red, purple, white, green, and so on, are in droves. Not only are the clothes colorful, but every scholar has been carefully dressed, and there are not a few people who paint.
Li Le looked at it and could not help sighing softly. Tossing and turning at night, he wondered: if this goes on, the world will not know simplicity, but will all pursue luxury. Where will the benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith stay? Scholars are supposed to be poor, but now they follow the fashion. Alas ...
The next morning, Li Le, who stayed up all night, wiped her tears and couldn't help singing a poem, saying: I arrived at the city wall yesterday and came back with tears in my eyes. Those who are covered in women's clothes are all scholars.
Many people in later generations think that Li Le is too old-fashioned and rigid in his thoughts. But the problem is, if Li Le laments that the Ming Dynasty still exists a hundred years later, you can call him rigid. But the problem is that in less than half a century, the apparently prosperous and powerful Ming Dynasty was overthrown by the peasant uprising. He pointed out the problem rather than being rigid.
People like Li Le are very similar to Mao Yuanyi and Ling Mengchu mentioned in the last two articles. They all belong to the traditional Confucian children and belong to the minority in society, and they can't stop the change of social trends at all.
some social trends are good and some are not. Therefore, the social trend is not irresistible. As an intellectual at that time, Li Le also used poetry to carry out his own resistance, and did his duty as an intellectual.
why did people work hard and pay attention to "appearance" in the late Ming dynasty? In the late Ming Dynasty, its deformed economy had reached the point where "God and Buddha" could not be changed, and it could only be changed by changing dynasties. Politically, the "party struggle" is fierce, and all the people and officials take "luxury", "ego" and "material" as their energy, and the traditional moral order collapses.
In this case, corruption leads to all kinds of related households in the scientific field. But there are so many official positions and too many people want to squeeze in. Although many people can only work hard in Qingshui yamen, there are so many officials, especially hot positions and hot yamen, and all kinds of good positions are occupied by related households.
In fact, people are only chasing Qingshui yamen and departments. Those who compete for these positions are not well connected, so they have to work hard on the outside. If we can't do it again, we can only work hard on crooked ways and lose our dignity. Finally, in the face of the overthrow of the regime, people will open the city to meet the king for the sake of future prosperity.
a general trend cannot be stopped by individuals or even a certain class. In particular, the "late Ming society" was formed because the commercial economy conquered people's hearts in a way that people prefer. Its form of expression is more pleasing and more acceptable. When resisting some bad trends, as the ruling class, whether to resist is the key. It was hongzhi emperor who resisted the impact of commodity economy and solidified the Hongwu system that delayed the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
So, the commodity economy was underdeveloped in the early Ming Dynasty, so this situation was rare? Obviously not. Because the election of officials involves not the trend, but the people's heart. The question of who can enter the ruling class.
from the era of Zhu Yuanzhang in the early Ming dynasty to the era of Chongzhen, it is not uncommon for people to lose their status as top scholar because of their poor appearance. For example, Chong Guo, Wang Gen and Fengxi, the top scholars of Zhu Yuanzhang in Hongwu four years (1371), Jianwen two years (14) and Hongzhi twelve years (1499), were replaced by Wu Zongbo, Hu Guang and Lun Wenxu, respectively, because of their ugly appearance or lameness.
among the above three people, Wang Gen is the most praised. He didn't feel jealous for this. When people angrily denounced the prince's rebellion, Wang Gen remained silent. As a result, Hu Guang and Jie Jin, who took the lead in scolding Zhu Di, ran faster than anyone else. When they fawned on the winner of the "imperial hegemony", Wang Gen committed suicide by taking poison.
therefore, ugliness means nothing. Ugliness is given by parents, and no one can help it. People's virtue and knowledge are formed by hard work. What people want to pursue is virtue and knowledge, not appearance and color. When the commodity economy is underdeveloped, people's choice of appearance and color is an act that appeals to their own interests.
who doesn't like beauty? Don't think that only women can dress up. In ancient society, women were attached to ancient men because they didn't love "personal independence", so there was a saying that "women are pleasing to themselves". But men will also cater to the appreciation pursuit of the "powerful" for their own happiness and career prospects. This is "men are busy with their careers".
To a certain extent, many people are busy with "official career", so they begin to move like "dirty". For example, the problem of "masculinity". "Masculinity" has existed since ancient times, and so did the Ming Dynasty. According to the emperor, Ming Yingzong and the viceroy knew Ma Liang together. There are Zhong Zhang, Laoer Jingang and Laoer in Wuzong, and child molestation is not counted. The most famous one is 8 people. Ten people were selected by Wanli to build a male harem. And so on, and so on.
emperors are like this, and so are ministers, such as Yan Shifan and Jinfeng.
There are also many grass-roots officials, such as county magistrate Xie Yusi.
As the saying goes, "fish begins to stink at the head", the upper level, the middle level and the grassroots level, then the imperial examiners at the bottom will change. As a result, the "feminine tendency of men" in Wanli period continued until the early Qing Dynasty.
from the late Ming dynasty to the early Qing dynasty, this trend is obvious among all kinds of novels and literary artists. This is the case in "San Yan Er Pai". A Dream of Red Mansions, the most advanced literary work in Ming and Qing Dynasties, is also characterized by feminization of men. Behind this "feminization" performance is economy and luxury.
In the end, when the feminization of intellectuals became more and more obvious that night, the problem would change from "normal quantitative change to qualitative change". Since you can please people for material benefits and status, then others will do. Don't think that a small amount can't reach the point of qualitative change. Sometimes the "last straw" is often a small person, a small act and a small phenomenon. The result of a long time is that the whole social atmosphere will only have its own interests, and there will be no court value.
This is why during the Jingkang Revolution in the Song Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty, many people who were educated by Confucianism, benefited from the imperial court, and supported by the people, or who were not ashamed of opening the gate to win the king or bow down to the Qing army, appeared in large numbers.
In the "late Ming society", most people live with the ruling class, ordinary people and intellectuals who are the "last bottom line of human civilization". There are also some people with "conscience" among them. They ushered in the "earth-shaking" big change in "happiness" and were condemned by their conscience after the "big change".
Just as Zhang Dai (1597-1684), a famous writer in the late Ming Dynasty, wrote an epitaph for himself when he was alive-the epitaph for himself said: Little dude, extremely fond of prosperity, good house, beautiful maid, good child, good clothes, good food, good horse, good lanterns, good food.
what was the result? He gave himself a similar comment in the hardship of "Ming Wu Qing Xing": if you can't learn literature and art, if you can't learn martial arts, what about loyalty, filial piety and benevolence? I don't have the courage to commit suicide, and I can't learn anything. (I) am a waste!
Selection of officials and beauty pageant: Imperial Examination Rebellion between aristocratic families and officials in the Tang Dynasty
Ling Mengchu's Surprise at the First Moment: The late Ming society behind nuns and scholars
Died after drinking elegantly, accompanied by beautiful women in Qinhuai: Mountain Man Mao Yuanyi and Wu Beizhi.