Sima Guang's Research On Talents

Sima guang is a famous statesman and historian of the Northern Song. During his political career, the talent problem was one of the most important issues he paid attention to. Sima guang regarded the talent problem as the key point of the governance of the country which he always reported to the new emperor. His discussion on the talent problem accounts for a large part in his memorials to the throne, his masterpiece Zi Zhi Tong Jian and his articles. Sima guang thinks that the prominent talents'virtue and ability can contribute to govern the country greatly. And Sima guang thinks that to govern the whole country orderly, the emperor can't and mustn't take care of every single thing personally. Instead, the emperor should depend on talents. In addition, he inherits "the thought of ruling by man" of Confucianism and draws experience and lessons in history by reading lots of historical books. These are the reasons why Sima guang attached great importance to the talent problem.In the aspect of talents selection, Sima guang argues that the country should appoint people by abilities, not by pedigree, age or relation. To be specific, the country should judge people from two aspects:virtue and ability. And the virtue is more important than ability. Sima guang thinks that the supervisors shouldn't judge people too harshly. And he proposes recommendation and probation. The imperial examination system was the most important way to select officials in the Song Dynasty. And the regular subject Gong Ju select the largest number of officers. To solve the serious problems of the then imperial examination, Sima guang suggested to reform the content of the examination and geographic restrictions. And he put forward two methods of selecting talents combined with imperial examination:the method of recommendation and the method of school. The aim was to make the imperial examination can check the candidates' virtue and talent in a long time truly and roundly.In the aspect of talents usage, Sima guang always highlights eight principles in his articles:(1) The minister is upright when the emperor is sagacious. (2) Using people according to their specialities. (3) Clear division. (4) Encouraging the free airing of views. (5) Emperor should make a decision decidedly on the basis of hearing various opinions. (6) Do not suspect the man you use. (7) Do not transfer officers'position frequently. (8) Assessing officers justly.The Chapter Five discusses Sima guang's thought of rewards and punishments. Sima guang thinks that rewards and punishments are means of urging the ministers which can praise virtue and punish vice. Don't neglect the means of reputation. The right way of rewarding and punishing is very simple that is giving rewards and punishments based on the actual. This chapter's content belongs to The Chapter Four. The author write this part as one separate part because the part has many contents which are very important.Sima guang inherited the Confucianism so that his talent thought reflected Confucianism's attaching more importance to talents than laws. His talent thought also reflected his "historical viewpoint of heroes" as a traditional historian, reflected his pragmatic spirit and great attention to the virtue. Through the research on Sima guang's talent thought, we can understand the people Sima guang and his thought more fully and clearly. This research can provide beneficial enlightenment for the education, selection and use of talents today.