The word "Hanlin" first appeared in Han Dynasty. Yang Ziyun in the Han Dynasty said in "Chang Yang Fu": "Liao became an article because of his pen and ink, so he came from the Imperial Academy and regarded himself as his master." The original meaning is the forest of literature, that is, the place where writers and Han Dynasties gather. In the Tang Dynasty, "Hanlin" officially became the official signature. Since the Tang Dynasty, Hanlin Academy has been established in all dynasties. In the early days, the Hanlin Academy was "the place where those who issued orders for the world's arts and technology" recruited talents from all over the world to meet the needs of the emperor. Later, it gradually became a key institution that participated in politics and compiled history.
In the Ming Dynasty, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established the Hanlin Academy very early, and its function was positioned as a think tank to assist the government. However, due to the existence of the Prime Minister at that time, the Hanlin Academy was actually just an empty frame. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang improved the status of the Hanlin Academy after abolishing the Secretariat of the Central Committee and the Prime Minister. Since then, the functional positioning of the Hanlin Academy has undergone some changes: first, it took over the administrative work of the prime minister and shared the emperor's work pressure; second, as an independent political force for the emperor to drive, strengthening the imperial power; third, as the official chronicler , history compilation institutions, and have an important voice in national public opinion.
In terms of the election and establishment of officials, the Hanlin Academy system of the Ming Dynasty was more complete than that of the Tang, Song, Yuan and other dynasties. It can be said to be a collection of achievements from all previous dynasties. The selection of Hanlin officials in the Ming Dynasty was closely related to the imperial examination, especially the establishment of the Shujishi system, which ensured the quality of Hanlin officials. In the early Ming Dynasty, because Hanlin officials were mainly selected through recommendation and recruitment, their quality varied and was even a mixed bag. In the eighteenth year of Hongwu's reign, the Shujishi system was formally established, which formed a close connection between the Hanlin Academy system and the imperial examination system, and eventually formed a situation in which "non-Jinshi cannot enter the Hanlin".
The Shujishi system is also called the Guanxuan system. Simply put, the imperial court selects outstanding talents to become Shujishi through the imperial examination and specially trains them. In other words, being selected as a Shujishi means that you have obtained the preparatory qualifications to become a Hanlin official. After three years of study and training "with courtiers as teachers and classics and epic poems as lessons", you can participate in the "Sanguan" "Exams, those with excellent results will be awarded the position of Hanlin official.
In the Ming Dynasty, people first passed the imperial examination to become shujishi, and then became Hanlin officials through study and inspection. This was the only way for talents to enter the Hanlin Academy, and it was also an important way to join the cabinet as an assistant minister to a large extent.
However, this system that the Hanlin officials are proud of seems to have encountered a small challenge - a person who is only eight years old, has a yellow mouth, has no fame, and pretends to be a scholar, but he has become an official of the Imperial Academy. .
The news came yesterday and the Hanlin Academy was quite shocked, and there were a lot of discussions, which led to several lecturers who came from the Hanlin Academy to return to the academy and were almost scolded to death as traitors.
Except for Shen Shixing, who also knows the banquet, and is the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Gu Yangqian, the lecturer, who is the doctor of the Ministry of Industry, the remaining five people, Chen Jingbang, Shen Li, Xu Guo, Zhang Wei, and Chen Yubi, because they are The official was in the Hanlin Academy, and there was no way to avoid it. A group of Hanlin officials blocked the door to "visit" him.
Several lecturers with Hanlin backgrounds repeatedly explained that Gao Jingshi was only a nominal official in the Hanlin Academy. In fact, he was not a permanent official and had no rank. They advised everyone not to be too excited. They also used Gao Pragmatic's "Long Wen Whip Shadow" as an example to prove that they and others were by no means uncharacteristically supporting the emperor. It was indeed because Gao Pragmatic "although he is young, he is worthy of the use." Anyway, I finally saved my life and fortune.
Why did a mere prince accompanying him to study and pretending to be a bachelor actually made these noble and civil servants so angry? In fact, in the final analysis, the root cause is still the positioning of Hanlin officials: noble!
In the early Ming Dynasty, following the Yuan system, the Hanlin Academy was called the Hanlin Academy of National History, with a rank of three grades. Although major changes have taken place after the restructuring, the basic structure is roughly similar. Its official officials include one bachelor, with a rank of five, and two bachelors and two bachelors, each with a rank of five. They are officials, including two attendants and two attendants, who are in the sixth rank. Its historians include editors, from the sixth rank; editing, from the seventh rank; review, from the seventh rank. In addition, there are Shujishi, who have no rank and no quota.
The Hanlin Academy of the Ming Dynasty was indeed not of high grade, lower than the previous Hanlin Academy or similar institutions. However, because it was close to the center of power, it was an important central secretarial agency dedicated to the emperor and directly provided services to the emperor, so it was highly valued by the emperor. There is a very close connection between it and the cabinet.
The above can be said to be "expensive". What about "Qing"?
The Hanlin Academy was directly ordered by the emperor to undertake responsibilities such as preparing for emperor's consultation, compiling books and writing history, drafting imperial edicts, attending readings for members of the royal family, and serving as imperial examination examiners. The bachelor is responsible for writing and correcting documents, examining the system, etc., and also serving as advisors to the emperor; the attendant readers and lecturers are responsible for reading scriptures and history for the royal members; the editors, editors, reviewers, etc. are responsible for compiling actual records, jade certificates, historical records, etc. Books etc.
In addition, the Hanlin Academy's responsibilities also include managing imperial examination affairs, teaching common people, organizing major ceremonies, inspecting vassal archives, etc. In theory, all these are errands with great reputation but little profit, so they are "clear".
As we all know, the salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty was the last among all dynasties. Originally, this "top spot" should have been in the Qing Dynasty, but since Yongzheng, the system of double salary for Beijing officials and the system of keeping honest silver for foreign officials were implemented, and the treatment of officials has been greatly improved. Big improvement. The officials in the capital of the Ming Dynasty were notoriously poor. If it were not for the local filial piety such as Bing Jing and Tan Jing, the officials in the capital would not even be able to support their families with their own salaries alone. Among them, the Hanlin officials were the poorest among them. fighter.
The fundamental reason why Hanlin is the poorest is that it is not actually an administrative agency. It has no power and can only rely on wages to survive. Strictly speaking, the Hanlin Academy of the Ming Dynasty cannot be regarded as a formal yamen. It seems more accurate to say that it is a training institution. The Hanlin Academy is actually the reserve talent of the Ming Empire - high-level reserve talent.
But poverty is temporary, and Hanlin's identity contains endless potential. Because the Hanlin Academy was a gathering place for the imperial examination elites of the Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, all Hanlin officials were specially appointed or recommended by the emperor. During the Hongwu period, a large number of Hanlin officials were selected from other sources. Since then, it has gradually been monopolized by Kejia Jinshi.
From then on, there were only two situations in which you wanted to enter the Hanlin Academy: first, the top three in the Imperial Examination, that is, the number one scholar, the second best, and the top three were directly awarded to the editors, editors and other officials of the Hanlin Academy; the second was the imperial selection, also It means to select those who are excellent in literature and good at calligraphy from among the second and third grade scholars as Shuji scholars. Of course, the prerequisite is that they must pass the examination, that is, the "Chaokao". Those who are admitted to the examination will enter the Hanlin Academy to study for three years, and those who are outstanding will stay in the Hanlin Academy.
Although Hanlin officials usually have a "clean" job, once they are promoted, they will have advantages that ordinary people do not have. For example, the official system of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the ministers and ministers of the Ministry of Rites in the northern and southern capitals, and the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel, must not be appointed to the Imperial Academy. The six ministers were born in the Imperial Academy, and they were both Hanlin bachelors, and the ministers were both ministers and lecturers.
In addition, the officials of Zhan Shifu (left and right Chunfang) and Economic Affairs Bureau who serve as tutors for the prince must have Hanlin official titles regardless of their rank: Zhan Shi and Shao Zhanshi have the title of bachelor. Chunfang bachelor is not permanent. If you are virtuous, Zhongyun, praise good, and wash horses, you will be awarded the title of bachelor's degree. In other words, these officials who assist the prince can become important members of the new dynasty when the new king takes the throne.
In addition, the Imperial College, which is in charge of national education, also has a close relationship with Hanlin. Although the Imperial College was also a Qingshui yamen, it was responsible for the national education plan. Therefore, the official system of the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the highest official of the Imperial College, the wine-sacrifice and the secretary-general, could not be transferred unless they were from Hanlin.
According to Gao's pragmatic understanding, the Hanlin officials of the Ming Dynasty not only influenced all aspects as a subordinate organization, but also shouldered the task of transporting talents to important departments of the country. If the Imperial College is a place for nurturing and storing talents, then the Hanlin Academy is a place for raising and storing officials.
At this point, readers must have understood that during the three years that Hanlin students studied in Hanlin Academy, they were truly poor, but why did Jinshi people want to squeeze into Hanlin Academy even if they broke their heads? The reason is simple, because after graduation, their employment prospects are much higher than those of ordinary Jinshi.
If a Jinshi is released as a seventh-grade county magistrate, it means that he has to be promoted slowly one level at a time. Once a Shujishi graduates, he may move several times a year, and he will have a great chance of joining the cabinet in the future. , became an auxiliary minister of the country.
Finally, there is another, perhaps more important reason, which is that officials with Hanlin background are given a great honor after their death: they can use "Wen" as their posthumous title. For example, the highest posthumous title for civil servants is "Wen Zheng" - you are not a Hanlin official. If you have no family background, don't even think about it. This is also one of the purposes of many Jinshi trying their best to become Hanlin.
It is precisely because they are accustomed to this kind of "nobility" that Hanlin officials have a strong sense of psychological superiority even if they are poor and smoke. Of course, they will be particularly dissatisfied with an "unqualified" "colleague".
