Research On The Living Conditions Of Retired Civil Officials In The Middle And Late Ming Dynasty

This paper mainly studies the retired officials in the middle and late Ming dynasty.This paper mainly analyzes and sorts out the main reasons for officials' retirement in this period and their treatment after retirement.And in what fields do some officials with problems in survival make a living and their characteristics;Finally,the life of retired officials and their spiritual world are explored.Due to retirement system is different from the previous dynasty of Ming dynasty,there are many more special cases,and pay attention to the economic condition and survival state of the retired officials,is conducive to further understand the status of the political system and economic development in the Ming dynasty,also from the side to understand in this age of retired officials,and the spirit world and the situation of the society at that time.This paper mainly discusses from the following three parts:The first part studies the reasons leading to the retirement of officials in the middle and late Ming dynasty and the various benefits after retirement.The reasons for officials' retirement are more complicated,but they mainly focus on the adverse situation of officialdom,the influence of personal pursuit,economic pressure and diseases due to old age.In general,the treatment of the Ming dynasty official retirement office size,their contribution,and the emperor's private relations,political treatment from the government,economic reward and retirement benefits,and be able to get some extra reward,after the death of these a few classes focused on high grade officers,for low grade officials are almost impossible to get.In the second part,the author discusses the problems and characteristics of retired officials,and the reasons for the change of ideology in the middle and late Ming dynasty,which encouraged people to make a living in more diversified ways,including both senior officials and junior officials.Due to the limitations of The Times,retired officials can make a living in a relatively narrow field,such as engaged in education industry,enter the market of literature and art,engage in commerce,engage in agricultural production,engage in medical fortune-telling and other fields.Of course,they have not been able to break through thelimitations of The Times and personal ability,and can only compete in a narrow field,which leads to the reality of the gap between the rich and the poor retired officials.The third part analyzes the diversity of retired scholar-officials in life.Far from officialdom,they have a wider world and can stretch themselves.Some of them enjoy the peace of home and the mountains;Some continue to play their role,to teach their children,teach the villagers;Some are busy writing books,hoping to achieve something;Some note in the choice of living environment and create,in order to place the enjoyment of the last time of life.At the same time,in the spiritual world,they also fell into the confusion of whether to be or not to be officials,and began to reflect on the fate of the country and the political right and wrong.In real life,they face all kinds of pressures and challenges,including doing charity work and helping others,but they also have to deal with the threat of people's opposition.Some people persist in tracing and imagining the ideal world and making final plans for the development and happiness of their children and grandchildren.Therefore,in order to investigate the survival status of this group,it is undoubtedly an appropriate choice to start from the historical literature and analyze from the perspective of social and cultural history.