Fan Zhongyan - Qingli Reforms

Qingli Reforms

After the Song granted Western Xia indemnities similar to those granted the Liao in the Treaty of Shanyuan, Fan, along with other advocates of Confucian ideals, sought reform at the court. He presented a ten-point proposal covering various aspects of government administration, including reforms to the recruitment system, higher pay for minor local officials to discourage against corruption, and wider sponsorship programs to ensure that officials were drafted more on the basis of their intellect and character. However, many of the reforms that he introduced met with the opposition of conservative ministers who felt the system did not need drastic changes (and who felt threatened by the prospect of change halfway through their careers as state bureaucrats). The emperor rescinded the reforms in 1045, after Fan and his friend and colleague Ouyan had been charged with forming a faction, which was considered subversive by definition. Nevertheless, his idealist approach to governance inspired others, like the later Chancellor Wang Anshi.