NEW SCHOOLS 179an integral part of the ancient model and certainly no independent creation of
his, but his readiness to use force places him firmly in the camp of the tough-
minded Confucians.
He prescribed that any official who recommended a person subsequently found
unworthy would be subject to dismissal from office. Mitigating circumstances
could permit reduction of salary instead, but repeated violations should result
in expropriating the office warrants of the guilty official and returning him to
commoner status. If the official died before he could be punished, the arm of
the law would be extended to him even in the grave by posthumous stripping of
his office warrants (ch 'utal). A strong record of recommendation, on the con-
trary, would be requited with special appointments, promotions, or honors, and
these might also be conferred posthumously.3^1
Yu refused to allow magistrates and school officials to escape the threat of
punishment by abstention. Failure to make any recommendation at all would
also be grounds for dismissing magistrates and school officials. If in fact there
actually was a dearth of talent in a given area, the merit ratings of the magis-
trates or school officials would have to be reduced. If any men of outstanding
talent should then be discovered who had been overlooked, the officials con-
cerned would be indicted for the crime of concealing talentY
Yu also applied his disciplinary approach to students. Any student who had
been in school for some time but failed to show improvement in his studies would
be expelled, deprived of his student status with all its perquisites, and enrolled
for military service. Truancy would likewise be punishable by dismissal, but in
this case, Yu provided penalties to encourage reform. If a student failed to show
up for class or attend spring and autumn rites, he would be reprimanded to his
face after the first violation, dismissed from his seat after the second, and expelled
from his dormitory or study hall after the third. He would then have to "correct
his mistakes and reform himself' prior to readmittance, after which he would
again be upbraided for his behavior to his face and required to make an apol-
ogy. Anyone who showed no intention to attend class at all would have his name
crossed off the school register and be enlisted for military service. Absence for
reason of sickness had to be justified by a written excuse to the headmaster,
and only students over the age of forty would be exempted from attendance
requirements.^33
School examinations were also to be accompanied by harsh penalties for poor
performance. Every fifteen days students would be required to assemble at the
school's Confucian shrine and pass a recitation examination graded in difficulty
according to the student's capabilities. Those who failed to pass would suffer
fifteen strokes of the whip.34 The triennial examinations at the capital Four
Schools and the Governors' Schools were to be taken most seriously: failure
to attend or pass these examinations would result in immediate dismissal and
enrollment for military service for everyone over the age of twenty. Those
younger than twenty who failed would be whipped but retain student status. If
a substitute took the examination in place of a regular student, both substitute