唐代官员的退休制度

The Official System of Retiring in the Tang Dynasty

官员年老退休是我国自古至今对国家官员的一项管理制度。唐代对官员的退休年龄、退休待遇等方面问题都有了明确规定,官员退休后基本都能享受原俸禄的一半以上,中高级官员退休还可享受“荫补”特权,这虽保证了退休官员晚年生活,防止了官僚队伍老化,但却形成了唐代中后期中高级官员的世袭制,严重影响了政府机能活力的正常运转。

Retiring of aged officials has always been one of the national systems of administering government officials since the ancient times. As early as the Tang Dynasty, there were established rules proscribing the age and treatment of retired officials. According to these retiring rules, a retired official should enjoy more than half his salary in office, and a medium-or-high-rank might even enjoy some previlidge of ＂imperial allowance＂. These rules assured the retired officials＇ needs for life and prevented the aging of the bureaucratic team, but they resulted in the hereditory system of medium-and-high-rank officialship, seriously affecting the normal operation of governmental function.