唐代的文官考課制度

Civil Service in T'ang China: A Study on the Assessment System

在古代政權或現代國家中，考課制度是官僚政治構成的一項要素。透過定期評定官吏考績等措施，考課旨在達到賢者在位、能者在職的目標。唐代的考課制，在內容上有詳盡規定，對官僚政治也有影響，是討論唐代文官制度時不可忽視的一環。

An assessment system is an important prerequisite for the formation of bureaucracy, in ancient regimes and modern states alike. Our purpose here is to present a complete and thorough reconstruction of the T'ang assessment system, and to explain the relationship of this particular system to the whole bureaucacy. The T'ang assessment system was basically a modification of the institutional heritage that previous dynastic governments had handed down. But the system itself was refined with regulations and practices more complicated than before. Through a well-defined system of evaluation, every T'ang official, civil or military, within or outside the current of promotion, was to a great degree under its influence.