resign from office and return to one 's native town(gào lǎo huán xiāng)

resign from office and return to one 's native town

"Returning home" is also known as "returning home". It is a kind of request, and "returning home" is a kind of early retirement system for ancient officials.

essential information

Chapter 20: "there is an official in Luoyang County, Xijing. His surname is Liu Hongjing, and his character is Yuanpu. He once served as the governor of Qingzhou. At the age of 60, he appealed to the old man to return home." To return home

system

There was also a retirement system in ancient China, but it was only limited to officials. The common appellations were "Zhishi", "Zhishi", "Zhizheng", etc. In the biography of Gongyang in the spring and Autumn period, it is said that "to be an official, return the salary to the king", which means to exchange power with the king. The retirement system of ancient officials was founded in the spring and Autumn period and Warring States period, formed in the Han Dynasty, developed in the Tang Dynasty, and improved in the song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. But the word "retired" first appeared in the literary books of the Tang and Song dynasties. Han Yu, a essayist of the Tang Dynasty, said in his preface to Fu Zhi that "retired in his residence and wrote Fu Zhi". In the biography of Han Zhi in the history of the Song Dynasty, there are some words and sentences like "retired for 15 years, declined personnel, read and wrote poems for self entertainment". retirement system is an important part of the bureaucratic system in ancient China. In ancient times, officials needed to reach a certain age when they retired. "The book of rites. Quli" said: "the doctor is seventy and does things." Later, the Han, Tang, song, yuan and other dynasties basically implemented the rule of 70 to be an official, but in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was stipulated that "those who have more than 60 civil and military officials will be subject to the rule of being an official". But before reaching the retirement age, they can also retire ahead of time. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, it was stipulated that "those who are old and ill and can't afford to be responsible for their duties should become officials", which means that those who are sick or injured can also retire before reaching the retirement age. In the Ming Dynasty, it was also stipulated that those who are old and ill and can't work, or officials who are weak and incompetent, can be ordered to retire at any time. It can be seen that in ancient China, it was also allowed for officials to resign from their posts and retire early. "Returning home" is a situation in which "the old sick can't afford to take care of their affairs" and "the old sick can't take care of their affairs" voluntarily resign, apply for resignation in advance, return to their hometown and retire early. In ancient times, it was relatively simple for officials to retire early. As long as the officials applied, the emperor would allow them. In the fourth year of Hongzhi (1491), the emperor issued a special edict: "voluntarily retire officials, regardless of age, all orders to become officials." In the TV series Prime Minister Liu Luoguo, Prime Minister Liu Luoguo of the Qing Dynasty plays the role of the emperor from the age of 18 to the age of 30. He asks for the return of his hometown. After obtaining the "grace permission", he employs a donkey and goes straight to his hometown in Shandong. This situation is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Three cases

As a matter of fact, in ancient China, there were three main situations when they asked for early retirement

Avoiding power struggle

The most typical example here is Fan Li, a senior official of the state of Yue in the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, which is recorded in the historical records of the family of Goujian, king of Yue, and the biographies of Huo Zhi in the historical records of Yue. Fan Li is an outstanding statesman, thinker and strategist. After the state of Yue was destroyed by the state of Wu, Fan Li spared no effort to help Gou Jian, the king of Yue, "ten years to get together, ten years to teach". After more than 20 years of hard work, Gou Jian defeated Fu Chai, the king of Wu, and revived the country. Fan Li, as a great meritorious official, was appointed a superior general by Gou Jian. At this time, Fan Li reached the highest level of being an official. But at this time, Fan Li knew well the truth of "when the cunning rabbit died, the running dog cooked; when the birds died, the good bow hid." so he resigned and took Xi Shi to escape into the "five lakes", which was a very clever move.

Unintentional involvement in officialdom

At this time, officials have no intention of officialdom, yearning to return to their hometown, so "home". For example, Tao Yuanming, the well-known magistrate of Pengze County in the Jin Dynasty, yearned for pastoral life and took the initiative to resign. In fact, according to Shishuo Xinyu. Shijian, Zhang Jiying founded the king of Qi, dongcaoyu. When he was in Luo, he saw the autumn wind rising. He thought about Wuzhong Zicai, Chuntang and perch, saying: life is so expensive, how can he stay for thousands of miles to become a nobility? I'll drive and return. " Zhang Han, the chief executive of the Jin Dynasty, was named Ji Ying. One day, when the autumn wind suddenly came up, he missed his hometown of Wudi (Zhejiang), where the specialties of wild rice cabbage, water shield soup and perch came. He suddenly realized that the most important thing in life is to have a good time. Why should he leave his hometown thousands of miles for the sake of an official name? So he went back to his hometown.

It's hard to be weak

Objective conditions, frail and sick, difficult to shoulder the important task, apply for "returning home" or "returning home". "Returning home" or "returning home from illness" will generally be granted by the emperor. For example, in the time of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, the retirement age of officials was 70 years old, and those who made great contributions to the imperial court could also postpone the retirement age. However, Li Jing, the founder of the country, was allowed to return home when he was 64 years old because he felt injured. However, the emperor did not approve. For example, Zhang Yu, a famous Confucian scholar in Han Dynasty, who collated the Analects of Confucius, wrote many times to ask for returning home, but he could not get the emperor's permission. On the contrary, "the emperor sent people to ask for the disease, send medicine, and force them to stay.". from a certain point of view, the ancient "returning home" will play a certain role in the virtuous circle of "from the outflow of human resources to the inflow of human resources" and promote the rural economic and cultural exchanges and development.

Chinese PinYin : gào lǎo huán xiāng