The accurate and fair awareness of talent is something that China has a good tradition of. During the slave period of the Shang Dynasty, there were two slave prime ministers, one named Yi Yin and the other named Fu Yue, who later became famous figures in Chinese history.
Yi Yin was originally a slave in the household of the father-in-law of King Tang of Shang, and later came to King Tang's house as an accompanying slave. His duty was to be a cook and prepare meals for his master. When King Tang had not yet become king, he was anxious about defeating the tyrant Jie of Xia but did not know how to utilize talent. He thought the food prepared by Yi Yin, the slave, was very delicious and asked for the reason. Thus, Yi Yin explained the principles of selecting ingredients, controlling saltiness, and mastering the timing of cooking. He then extended this meaning to state governance and how to overcome strong opponents, telling King Tang to neither rush nor be complacent. King Tang was greatly inspired and felt that although Yi Yin was a slave, he was rare talent, so he appointed Yi Yin as the "Right Chancellor."
Indeed, Yi Yin was a great talent. Not only did he help King Tang overthrow the Xia Dynasty and establish the Shang Dynasty, but he also assisted King Tang in formulating a series of regulations and rules for selecting officials.
King Tang only ruled for 13 years before falling ill and dying. Yi Yin continued to assist King Tang's son and grandson. King Tang's grandson, Tai Jia, became quite bad for a period of time, so Yi Yin wrote three articles for him to read. At first, Tai Jia could still listen to Yi Yin's advice, but gradually he no longer wanted to hear this slave-born person nagging on and on, and subsequently did many wrong things. Yi Yin had no choice but to take over the court himself and exiled Tai Jia to the tomb of his grandfather, King Tang, forcing him to repent. Eventually, Tai Jia improved, and Yi Yin restored his throne.
Another prime minister of the Shang Dynasty who was born a slave was Fu Yue.
Fu Yue was originally a slave, but he was very intelligent. When he arrived at Wu Ding’s (the 22nd king of the Shang Dynasty) side, Wu Ding learned many labor skills from Fu Yue and developed thrifty habits. Moreover, he discovered that Fu Yue was a self-taught genius who understood many great truths that even the nobles did not know, so he made him the prime minister.
From the above stories, at least we are made aware of a very simple yet hard-to-express truth: appointing people based solely on their relationship with you. What does “xian” mean? In simple terms, it means both virtuous and talented.
Unfortunately, throughout thousands of years of China's habit of appointing people, there have been far too many examples that go against this principle. The most prominent is appointing people based solely on their virtue, which has led to appointing people based on their birth, titles, academic qualifications, fame, social relationships, etc.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a system of appointing people called the "Nine-rank System," which meant "no commoners in the upper ranks, no aristocrats in the lower ranks." In other words, officials could only come from the official network, and commoners would never have the qualification to become officials.
By the Yuan Dynasty, the hierarchy of people was set even more strictly: first officials, second clerks, third monks, fourth Taoists, fifth doctors, sixth workers, seventh hunters, eighth peasants, ninth scholars, tenth beggars. Even intellectuals were relegated to the lower class, much like the "stinking old nine" during the later "Cultural Revolution." How could true talent be selected?
After the reform and opening up, China's view of talent underwent significant changes, including valuing knowledge and talent. However, there is still a considerable distance from fully achieving the principle of appointing people based solely on their relationship, truly selecting people based on their actual morality, talent, ability, and achievements.
Even today, appointments based on family relationships, social connections, and interpersonal relationships still exist. Even overly emphasizing academic qualifications, degrees, titles, honors, and using them as standards for determining talent is quite common, almost taken for granted.
It must be clear that talent is not forcibly created according to some model, nor is it recognized through artificial methods. Instead, it must be tested by objective practice.
For example, some people may reach the passing line in the aforementioned aspects, but they can only be called qualified personnel, not qualified talents, let alone excellent talents. What are the true excellent talents? The main standard is the unity of morality, intelligence level, and practical skills.
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