As early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial court issued officials with "fish symbols" similar to ID cards, which were refined from wood or metal. It is shaped like a fish, divided into left and right pieces, with small holes on it to tie it. The "fish symbol" is engraved with the name of the official, the location of the yamen and the rank of the official residence. At that time, the "fish symbols" used by princes and ministers above the third class were all made of gold, which shows their high grade and status. The "fish symbol" of officials with five or more products is silver; The "fish symbol" of officials below level 6 is copper. Officials with more than five items also have bags for storing "fish symbols", which are called "fish bags". The main purpose of the "fish symbol" is to prove the identity of the official, and it is convenient to enter and leave the palace gate and make a phone call to verify.
In the Song Dynasty, the "fish symbol" was abolished, but the "fish bag" was still worn. In the Ming Dynasty, it was changed to a "tooth card", which was made of ivory, animal bones, wood, metal, etc., and was engraved with the name, position, resume, yamen, etc. of the holder, which was very close to the card-type ID card in the modern sense. The identity of all classes in the Qing Dynasty was proved by hat tops (hat beads), which were made of precious stones, corals, crystals, jade and metals. If you are a scholar, you can wear a bronze crown; If you are a senior official, you can wear a big ruby crown. Ordinary people have no hats, so they can only tie a hat knot with satin. In order to gain a high position, some wealthy landlords often donate a crown with a considerable amount of silver, which leads to strange things such as "Dandingxing businessman" and "Dandingxing squire".
The confession system in the Tang Dynasty, the 55th chapter of The Water Margin, describes the encirclement and suppression of Liangshan by Daxing and Gao Qiu. Hu Yu, commander-in-chief of the former enemy, made great contributions and ordered Ling Zhen, who had served as a deputy gunner in Tokyo Depot, to go to the front to work. "Ling Zhen came to see Gao Taiwei today, and got a diploma in marching orders, and taught him to pack his pommel horse weapons and get up." This "diploma" is not a diploma issued by the school to students, as everyone knows; But some of them are interpreted as "official documents are documents", which is too broad. To be exact, the term diploma here refers to Gao Qiu's showing his ID card to Ling Tong on the spot or his letter of appointment from a sergeant to a military attache (commander), borrowing the words of the Ming Dynasty to express the ideas of the Song Dynasty. This is a topic that few people pay attention to.
It is generally believed that the practice of issuing identity cards or letters of authorization to people who officially become state officials began in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Among them, the official term is "confession", which can be understood as "informing identity". Later, this system spread from the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the Yang and Sui Dynasties, and then to the Tang Dynasty. The confession system in the Tang Dynasty was more complete than that in the previous generation. The awarding of titles and posts, as well as gifts and medals, can be divided into five categories, of which more than three are called book awards, more than five are called system awards, and less than six are called reward awards. The appointment procedures are all instructed by Zhongshu Province. In the tone of the emperor, the word "writing a book" was written by the provincial government. The historical materials of confession system in Song Dynasty are much richer than those in Tang Dynasty. The confession was made by the official court affiliated to the official department, and the brocade and other materials used were "implements" produced and supplied at fixed points. It is illegal for private enterprises to "imitate manufacturers and buyers". The silk paper, several colors, mounting tape, mesh shaft and other decorations used for advertising are classified into 12 grades according to official positions. According to the Collection of Manuscripts of Song Dynasty, besides transcribing the full text of words or life words, the confession should also indicate the three generations, township level and year, and be signed and sealed by the chief participant and the undertaker.
The ancient anti-counterfeiting method "Song Yao Huibian Draft" also included the compilation of the official court. In addition to the two officials in charge, there is also a person in charge, one in charge, three in charge, five in charge, seven in charge, twelve in regular script, and craftsmen and soldiers in charge. It sounds like a large number of people, but all kinds of documents, such as confessions of civil and military officials, conferring of princes and concubines, and gifts from domestic and foreign maids (that is, "letters of authorization" for officials' families), are produced by the institute. According to the historical materials cited by Mr Miao, the total number of officials in the Northern Song Dynasty alone was more than 28,000 in the Yuan Dynasty and more than 43,000 in the political and economic period.
When the officials in the Song Dynasty received the confession, they had to pay Zhu Jiaoling paper money, and only after they got the receipt from Lingzhi Library could they get it from the official department. In order to be reinstated, promoted, transferred and filled with vacancies, current officials participated in the civil service election. It is a very complicated process, from submitting (that is, submitting resumes, letters of recommendation, originals of oral confession documents), preliminary examination, civil service examination, taking vacancies, preparing for exams, civil service assessment, "going through the door" and getting new confessions. The low-level "humble position" is to get confession.
In order to encourage officials to retire, the Song Dynasty gave preferential treatment to those officials who volunteered to serve as officials at the doctoral level or above, and gave them a confession after the increase. In this way, the "starting point" for future generations to handle shady attacks will be high. According to the records in "The Book of Waves", since the Five Dynasties, in order to prevent confessions from being fraudulently used, apart from stating the age of the person who issued the certificate, they also said the appearance, such as the cloud "long purple (skin color), moustache, big eyes, and several marks on the face" or the cloud "short and unshaven, small eyes and no spots on the face" because you know you have to go through the formalities of receiving your confession. The military attache in charge of the Ministry of War confesses that he is more flexible than the civil servants in the official department. After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, the warlords became independent, and our envoys gave up a lot of false names in their hands on the grounds of rewarding meritorious military service, so as to appoint subordinates at will. During the war, it was an empty confession.
Similarly, the state's punishment for officials also reflects the difference between pleading guilty and resigning. It is light to dismiss or dismiss on the spot, and it is also light to withdraw one's resignation without confession. If even the confession is to be recovered, it will be heavy.