Retirement, called zhishi (returning the title to the king) in ancient China, meant resigning from the government position and staying at home at ease. Originally just part of the official system, it gradually got developed into a complete system.

In China, the retirement system originated from the Zhou Dynasty. In the early Zhou Dynasty, with the development of the slavery-based state mechanism, an increased number of government officials were appointed to assume different responsibilities and therefore the regulation of retirement was established. In the Han Dynasty, a set of personnel administration system had been gradually formed, clearly stipulating the conditions for retirement and the treatment of the retirees. Before the Tang Dynasty, senior and middle-rank officials whose ranks varied from the first to the fifth could get retired; in the Yuan Dynasty, those with the ranks lower than the third could do so; in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, every elderly official reaching a certain age was required to retire, but those with great significance, merits, and with special grant from the emperor were free from such restrictions.