"Scholar-bureaucrat" is a new concept in the Warring States Period. Before that, doctors were ranked behind doctors. In the ancient books of the Warring States period, the rank sequence is still represented by "doctor". "Xunzi's Theory of Rites" says: "A doctor has a constant Sect." "Lu Chunqiu Shangnong" contains: "Therefore, the emperor personally led the princes to cultivate the land of the emperor, and all doctors and scholars had achievements." On the surface, the scholar-bureaucrat and the scholar-bureaucrat are just upside down, which actually reflects a major change: the scholar-bureaucrat emphasizes rank; Scholar-bureaucrat refers to stratum, which is characterized by a mixture of intellectuals and bureaucrats. In a word, no matter before the Spring and Autumn Period or the Warring States Period, doctors refer to people with certain official positions and titles, and their social status is higher than that of scholars. Why is it that from the Warring States period, scholars are often crowned before doctors? This is the result of the rise of bureaucracy and the talents of scholars. Some people who were born in a scholar, relying on their own talents, rose to the top, and a number of clothes and clothes appeared. On the other hand, doctors in the Warring States period are not the same as those in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Spring and Autumn Period, most doctors were enfeoffed by clansmen and were hereditary. Doctors in the Warring States period are evolving into a position and title in the bureaucratic system. Most doctors are no longer enfeoffed by clan, nor are they generally hereditary. Most of them are promoted by scholars. "Scholar-bureaucrat" is the conceptual reflection of the above situation. From the perspective of the times, this concept became popular only after the middle of the Warring States Period. In terms of connotation, scholar-officials mainly include the following two aspects:
First, they refer to officials and people with positions. "Zhou Li Kao Gong Ji" says: "Sitting and discussing the Tao is called the maharaja. Doing what you do is called a scholar-bureaucrat. " In modern terms, a scholar-bureaucrat is a functional official. "Mo Zi San Bian" criticized that "scholar-officials are tired of listening and treating". Here refers to all officials. "The Warring States Policy Qin Ce II" contains: "All the scholars and officials congratulate." The scholar-officials here refer to the ministers of the Chu court and the king. "Xunzi Wang Ba" says: "Farmers divide the fields and plough, Jia divides the goods and sells them, and all the workers divide the work and persuade them, and the literati listen to them." Scholar-officials here refer to all those who are in office. "Jundao" also said: "Judging by virtue and appointing officials according to their abilities make people do their own thing and do their own thing. The upper sage made it three, the second sage made it a vassal, and the lower sage made it a scholar-bureaucrat, so it was obvious. " Scholar-officials refer to officials below governors. Civil servants are called scholar-officials, and military officers are also called scholar-officials. "Xun Zi Yi Bing" contains: "The drums will die, and all the officials will die, and the scholar-officials will die." "Wu Zi Li Shi": "So (Wei) Wuhou set up a temple court, which was three lines for the literati."
There is no clear stipulation on which level of officials are called scholar-officials. According to some materials, they are generally middle and upper-level bureaucrats. "Xunzi Gentleman" said: "When the holy king is above and the righteousness is below, then the scholar-officials will not commit adultery, the officials will not neglect anything, and the common people will not commit adultery." Here, the scholar-officials are placed above the officials. "Jundao" lists the scholar-officials before the "officials and teachers". An official teacher is the leader of a hundred officials. The article "Powerful Country" says: "If great achievements have been made, you will enjoy their achievements, and the ministers will enjoy their achievements. Scholar-officials will benefit from the rank, and Shu Ren will benefit from the rank." "The Theory of Truth" says: "Jue Liezun, Gong Luhou, the situation wins, the upper is the emperor and the lower is the Qing Dynasty scholar-bureaucrat." All the above materials show that the scholar-officials are relatively high in the bureaucratic level. Because the scholar-officials are relatively senior officials, they enjoy different fields and cities. "Xunzi Honor and Disgrace" said: "It is the reason why the scholar-officials took Tian Yi that they are determined to practice and govern by officials, so that they can go up smoothly and keep their jobs down." In the Book of Rites, it is recorded that the number of fields and towns occupied by the scholar-officials is different, that is, "those who have the land of five times" and "those who have the land of three times". Some scholars seem to have private soldiers. "The Warring States Policy, Qi Ce V": "Armoured soldiers, officials' private places, scholar-officials' hiding places ..."
Secondly, it refers to literati with certain social status. After Qi Meng Changjun fell from power and influence, his public guests left one after another. These public guests were called "scholars" in Historical Records and Biography of Meng Changjun, and they were called "scholar-bureaucrats" when describing the same event in the Warring States Policy and Qi Ce IV. "Everything is done by Han Feizi, the emissary" says: "Today's scholar-officials are not ashamed of mud and ugliness." It means that a scholar-bureaucrat is an official without virtue. Here, a scholar-bureaucrat and an official have two meanings, and a scholar-bureaucrat refers to a literate person. It can be seen that a scholar-bureaucrat can refer to a bureaucrat in office, an intellectual who is not in office, or both. Scholar-officials formed a special group in the history of China from this time on. They are the product of the combination of intellectuals and bureaucrats, and they are the glue of the two.