论庄子“九征”知人智慧

Discussion on Zhuangzi's Nine Methods of Knowing and Verifying People's Intelligence

庄子继承了孔子"听其言而观其行"的识人的基本原则,并将之具体化为具有可操作性的"九征"察人之法。试图通过猝问、远使、近使、烦使、急期、危境、委财、醉酒、杂处等方式或情境,考察被考察对象的心理意志品质、道德操守、价值倾向以及处世办事能力。简言之,即是考察被考察对象的"内圣"与"外王"状况。庄子这种通过设置不同情境、期望从多角度去考察被考察对象的知人智慧,至今看来,其对于化解当前我国各级各类部门或有关用人单位存在的用人失察等问题,仍然有着重要的现实借鉴意义。

Zhuangzi inherited the basic principles of listening what a person says and watching what he does from Confucius, and embodied it into nine methods of observing people. He attempted to study people's psychological and willpower status, code of ethics, value orientation and working abilities, interrogation with sudden questions, sending someone to run a distant or local errand or asking someone to tackle complex problems, and giving somebody urgent tasks, observing a person in danger, entrusting somebody with valuables, getting somebody drunk, placing somebody in a situation where men and women are present, and so on. Overall, those nine methods were used to observe the state of a person's internal saints and external kings. By setting up different scenarios, Zhuangzi observed and verified people's intelligence by viewing them from different angles. It now appears that these methods have important inspiration and reference for all departments and organizations to settle employment issues.