Those who are familiar with the novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties will not be unfamiliar with the word "outside". In "Water Margin", Lu Junyi's original identity was a member of the court, and Lu Zhishen saved Jin Cuilian when he beat the town of Guanxi, and finally married a member of the staff;
In Ming and Qing novels, the term "outside" is very common, and they usually give the impression of people from relatively wealthy families who have a certain amount of influence in the local area.
In fact, not only in novels, but also in ancient mainland China, the term "outsider" was also very common.
At first, there was no single title of "outsider", but in front of some common official positions, the name was "outside". During the Cao Wei period of the Three Kingdoms, the earliest position of "Outside the Rider Standing Attendant" appeared, and in the Jin Dynasty, there was also the "Outside Rider Attendant", all of whom were the emperor's attendants. In ancient times, the official positions of the imperial court were divided into principal and deputy, and the non-staff actually belonged to the deputy position.
Although these official positions with "outside the staff" do not actually have much real power, because they are close to the emperor and have many opportunities, people who are looking for jobs are still eager to find them. And those who can hold this position also need a certain background, either a child of a clan or a big family. Subsequently, the number of official positions with the title of "non-staff" gradually increased. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there were positions such as generals and Sima Governors in the palace.
By the time of the Sui Dynasty, the 24 divisions of Shangshu Province each set up a foreigner and became an adjutant of each department, and the status of the outsider was improved. In the dynasties after the Sui Dynasty, each department of the six ministries also had the official position of "Wailang". In addition to the six divisions, the Qing Dynasty's Lifan Yuan, Taifu Temple, and Internal Affairs Yuan also all had the official position of "Wailang". These "outsiders" were officials within the official establishment of the imperial court.
The original meaning of "outside the staff" is outside the official establishment of the imperial court. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial examination was carried out, although it was held every three years, and the number of admissions was very small, in addition to the imperial examination, the Tang Dynasty also allowed the promotion of officials, but the official establishment of government officials, the elimination speed was very slow. As a result, people who want to be officials but can't do it for the time being become alternate officials, as opposed to "regular officials", are called "non-official officials".
In the Tang Dynasty, the problem of "foreign officials" was more prominent, and Tang Suzong issued an edict to solve this problem: "Today, there are many officials outside the staff, and they are not responsible for affairs, but they are driven by empty effects...... For example, among the foreign officials, they have a lot of knowledge, and those who have served as envoys to the state and county are also retained. There shall be no more than five people in each upper state, no more than four in the middle state, and no more than three people in the lower state. There shall be no one person above the county. ”
Why, then, was the problem of "foreign officials" so conspicuous in the Tang Dynasty? The real reason for this is rather complicated. The relationship between various ethnic groups in the Tang Dynasty was relatively harmonious, and in order to win the hearts of the people, the Tang Dynasty government had many "foreign officials" who were feudal officials of ethnic minorities. In addition, officials who were demoted in the imperial court were also called "foreign officials".
"Zizhi Tongjian" recorded: "In the first year of Shengong (697), Li Qiao knew that the heavenly officials were elected, and thousands of foreign officials were initiated. "In March of the second year of Shenlong (706), there were more than 2,000 foreign officials from the capital division and Zhuzhou. "Tang Yao" recorded: "Outside the staff and the inspection and examination officials obliquely sealed the officials, all of them are after the dragon." In other words, during the Wu Zetian period, the problem of "foreign officials" was more prominent.
With the passage of time, more and more talents were admitted to the imperial examination, which also caused more and more "foreign officials". In order to fill the treasury, the imperial court allowed donations, that is, selling officials. And the rich people in the people, in order to improve their status, are also willing to spend money to buy officials.
Li Wei, a famous minister in the Yongzheng period, spent money to buy an official who was a member of the military department because he had money in his family. Unexpectedly, although his cultural level is relatively low, he is very good at being a man, and his official fortune is prosperous, and he finally occupies a high position. But there are very few people like Li Wei who have prospered through buying officials.
The ruler is shrewd, and although he sells officials, he also realizes that when there are more people who buy officials, he will corrupt politics. Therefore, most of the rich people buy "foreign officials". To put it bluntly, it's just a name. Even so, rich people are more than willing.
Some people believe that "Wai Lang" is the abbreviation of "Wai Lang," but is this really the case in history? In fact, "Wai Lang" is an official official of the imperial court, and although he is not a regular member, he is also part of the establishment. Later, more and more people bought officials, and the people became more and more common, so in some literary and artistic works, "outsiders" referred to rich people or landlords and gentry.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were a lot of "outsiders", probably because of the rapid development of the commodity economy in China's feudal society at this time, and even the emergence of capitalism, and the number of wealthy people in the people also increased compared with other dynasties. These businessmen, after having wealth, are eager to improve their status and status, so they do so by spending money to buy officials.
With the increase in the number of people buying officials, there are also more "non-staff" among the people. However, once something is no longer scarce, its status will also decline. This is why there were more and more non-employees in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but their political attributes became weaker and weaker.