A Research On Official Transposition System In Song Dynasty

In past dynasties, there were civilian officials who became military officers and military officers who became civilian officials. The official transposition of Song Dynasty had its own characteristics: of a small amount, continual and reversible. Overall the officials who change positions, there were more transposition cases from civilian officials to military officers than military officers to civilian officials. And in different period, the number fluctuated and had its own characteristics because of the policy and situation at that time.There were three approaches for officials who change positions: recommendation, application and emperor's favor. Generally speaking, officials who applied to transposition from civilian officials to military officers were less than those who applied to transposition from military officers to civilian officials. And some military officers who transposed from civilian officials always asked for resuming former position.The transposition system of Song Dynasty published late and changed frequently. In early Northern Song Dynasty, the qualification of transposition from military officers to civilian officials was strict in family background. But knowledge became more and more important by the advancement of transposition examination. The advanced examination system had many comprehensive prescriptions, and also the transposition law. But in fact, this system wasn't carried out strictly. To some degree, the transposition process and official position granting was random.From the research on the transposition case and system, we can find that in Song Dynasty, the training, demand of officials and positions which officials wanted were incommensurate.