On the Selection Practices of Chinese Government Officials in the Ancient Times

The feudalized enlightened monarchs in China in the ancient times worked out a series of ideological principles for attaching importance to talents, finding talents and selecting talents. The selection practices of feudal government officials are characterized by the recommendation of the chief official mainly before the Sui Dynasty and the imperial examinations covering open application and employment on the basis of competitive selection after the Sui Dynasty. The practices of guarantee recommendation of government officials dated back to the Warring States Period and in the Song Dynasty the responsibility system of guarantee recommendation of government officials was formed. According to the system, the guarantee recommender was responsible for the performance of the person he recommended. To some extent, it corrected the unhealthy tendency of abusive and selfish recommendations.