Editor note’s: This is Part 1 of Stephen Ng’s take on new emerging young elected representatives to be part of Malaysia’s political landscape. Keep up with his views on Part 2 coming your way.
WHILE I agree that fresh faces have to be injected into the political landscape in Malaysia, instead of the tainted politicians, it is not always the best decision.
Allow me to elaborate. As I was doing my assignment in partial fulfillment of the requirement for my doctoral degree, I had to read up about Ancient Chinese history. There are many lessons one can learn from 2,500 of Chinese history.
Bad advisors
The collapse of the Sui Dynasty was attributed to the “deceit practiced on each other by both high and low officials, the emperor’s own arrogance and complacency, the fawning attitude of his advisers and their failure, in terms of loyalty, to criticise the emperor’s mistakes.”
Subsequently, the Tang Dynasty attempted to keep the balance between the scholars (Ru) and the non-scholars (Li).
Keeping the balance of Ru and Li
From as early as the Han Dynasty, tension had existed between Ru and Li.
With the moral compass provided by Confucius’ teaching, the scholars (Ru) were known for their corruption-free reputation, but their bureaucratic efficiency could not be matched by the non-scholars (Li) who were, unfortunately, also more easily corrupted.
The biggest challenge for any emperor was to know who to appoint to occupy senior positions in the administration. It was important to keep the correct balance, and being able to capitalise on the strengths of both classes of administrators yet maintaining the harmony of both groups.
Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty attempted to introduce the checks-and-balances by trying to “exploit their (both military and civilian officials) respective talents and so errors can be corrected.” His attempt was, however, unsuccessful due to a deep seated distrust between the two groups.
The Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) experimented with a new criterion in the selection of its administrators.
Young administrators not necessary the best
During the Song Dynasty, the biggest mistake made was to appoint the younger Imperial scholars who were less competent due to a lack of practical experience in governance. This resulted in incompetence in the Government and a resentment of the non-scholarly administrators.
When the Yuan Dynasty (AD1279-1368) took over, a remedy was sought, which gave rise to the power of the non-scholarly staff and bodyguards. This caused further tension between the Ru and Li to reach its peak; as a result, the imperial kingdom started to disintegrate.
There is a saying, “…the Song (Dynasty) fell because of scholarly officials, while the Yuan (Dynasty) collapsed because of non-scholarly staff.”
Meritocracy did not solve the issue of corruption either
The Chinese, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasty had a very good system of recruitment that ensured that only the Imperial scholars (minimum qualification) were selected to join the administration.
As early as Ming dynasty, they had a few stages in the recruitment process, from internship (these interns were known as Jin Shi) to finally becoming the ‘recommended‘ people (Ju Ren), who form the pool of people who qualify for more senior positions.
By the time of the Qing dynasty, the selection of the best administrators was done using the casting of lots so that the invigilators had no opportunity to be bribed.
However, this system never solved the problem of corruption. The Imperial scholars who were supposed to be morally upright, having memorised the Confucius Classics, were no longer the same breed as those who initially followed the teaching of Confucius during the early Han Dynasty.
For example, Gao Shiqi’s jewellery and other gifts purportedly came “from ten thousand countries.” Xu Qianxue’s wealth was said to have “piled up to the sky.” A common saying during the Qing Dynasty was, ““being three years a Qing Government official is of equal worth to 100,000 taels of silver.”
In fact, these Imperial Scholars became the sore points that brought about the Taiping Rebellion in 1850 and the high level of corruption caused the eventual downfall of the Qing Dynasty. – Oct 17, 2022
Stephen Ng
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main photo credit: AFP
