What kind of system was the Zhou Dynasty?

He Zun confirmed the story of the establishment of Luoyi and the construction of Zhoucheng in the collection of Baoji Bronze Museum [26 1][262].

Feudal system is "enfeoffment system". The royal family was enfeoffed by land and power, and the relationship between monarch and minister was patriarchal, so that Zhou Shi could control the local governor [263]. Prehistoric period was the embryonic form, formed in Shang Dynasty, and gradually became complete and typical in Western Zhou Dynasty. It declined during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and was gradually replaced by the county system [264]. Zhou Wang is the son of heaven, directly under the jurisdiction of Zhou Wang, and is also the * * * Lord of the vassal states and foreign countries in the Central Plains [265]. Zhouwangji is a land of thousands of miles developed by Haojing in Zhou Zong (now Chang 'an in Shaanxi) and Luoyi in Chengzhou (now Luoyang in Henan). These two cities are the political and transportation centers of Xitu and Dongtu respectively. The areas outside Wang Ji were divided into imperial clan vassal states, heroes and descendants of past dynasties, or joined Fang Guo. The princes were conferred by the Zhou Emperor, governed the vassal states and paid tribute to the Zhou Emperor. In the enfeoffment ceremony, the son of heaven "received soil", including mountains, rivers, fields and cities; On the one hand, "recipients" include immigrants appointed by the emperor and aborigines in the fief; At the same time, according to the title, certain vehicles, clothes and utensils are rewarded, and they are obliged to pay tribute [266], military security and obey orders [267].

The vassal state is hereditary, but in theory it can be recovered by the Zhou royal family. Governors can set up officials and troops in their own countries, and some governors can also serve as royal officials, such as Wei Kangshu in the early Zhou Dynasty as Scott and Zheng Huangong in the late Western Zhou Dynasty as Stuart. The Emperor of Zhou had the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the vassal States, and in some big countries, he also sent state supervisors or state guards to manage and supervise the vassal States, which together with the vassal States were called "princes and princes" [268][269]. For example, the State of Qi has a stone country and a high position, and three supervisors were set up at the beginning of the week to supervise Wu Geng. However, with the intermarriage between garde nationale and vassals and the decline of imperial power in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the supervision mechanism collapsed. Doctor Qing was made a saint by the ruler and owned a fief. Doctor Qing has the autonomy of fiefs, but he can't be independent of the outside world. He was an official of Zhou Tianzi and vassals [5][270][27 1].

Then he went down to earth to study and was enfeoffed by Dr. Qing to eat fields. Scholars are divided into ruling nobles and civilians, collectively referred to as China people. China people are civilians living in Guocheng (Chengdun), and they are composed of Zhou nobles, princes and merchants, Yi clans, Zhou people and merchants. Civilians need to cultivate farmland in peacetime and organize troops to fight in wartime. The civilians outside the country are savages, that is, the local aborigines outside the country, that is, I am a sharp cone. At that time, the influence of traditional clan system was still great. China people take part in politics, but barbarians don't have this right. Off-site is foreign [5][270].

In this way, the rights and interests of the ruling land and subjects are divided step by step, and the subordinate relationship of "princes, ministers, doctors and officials" is established [272]. The enfeoffment system in the Western Zhou Dynasty was mostly from the Emperor of Zhou to the vassal, and the enfeoffment system of vassal of domestic doctors did not develop until the Spring and Autumn Period. This is because the princes were newly built, with a small population and simple state affairs. In the early Zhou Dynasty, fiefs were mainly concentrated in Wang Ji. Feudal States outside Beijing rarely enfeoffed the fief for Doctor Qing in their own fiefs [27 1].

Guo Ye Xiangsui [Editor]

See also: country field system.

The local division of the Zhou Dynasty was the national wild system. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the state famine system began to disintegrate, and during the Warring States Period, it was generally a county. According to Guoyu and Mencius, the boundary between the country and the wild is the country in the suburbs, and according to Xiao Situ, Zaishi and Zhiren, the city is the country. Scholars in the Qing Dynasty believed that the boundary between the country and the wild was the suburb. Now some scholars believe that the relationship between urban and rural areas means that the government is a country and the government is a wild country [273][274]. Another part of scholars believe that the Western Zhou Dynasty has local systems such as state, capital, city, wilderness and contempt. The capital cities of Zhou Wang and vassal states are states, the big cities of vassal states are capitals, the small cities are cities, and the vast areas outside the capitals are called wild or contemptible. Zhou people lived in the countryside with foreign nobles and Zhou people, while other civilians lived in the wild with aborigines and slaves [275].

Both the capital of the dynasty and the vassal state have this distinction, but the status of "state" is mostly the stronghold of armed immigrants or political centers, not the stronghold of economic production, and it does not have the ability to regulate production. Generally, food is supplied by the wild, so the colonial countries of Zhou people also worship the wild. At the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the difference between the country and the wild began to disappear gradually. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the difference between the country and the wild disappeared. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Jin and the State of Lu were "soldiers of the state" and "soldiers of Qiu", which made savages become soldiers like China people, thus expanding the source of soldiers. In the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, the intersection of the country and the wild, and the "rural learning" that existed in the hometown among China people was also very common among savages [275].

The settlement organization of Zhou Dynasty was Xiang Sui system. Wang Ji takes a hundred miles away from the city as the suburb, the suburb as the township, and the suburb as the Sui Dynasty. Six townships and six sui dynasties, three townships and three sui dynasties. The township system [276] recorded by Zhou Li and the Sui system [277] are very unified, but it is uncertain whether this system was really adopted in the Western Zhou Dynasty [278]. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the settlement organization also developed to the stage of "book club", and the settlement units of neighborhood and township party appeared. Party [279] is a commune composed of people with blood relations, and it is closely related and closely linked. Once one of them has an accident, people with the party will often be implicated [280][28 1]. Township is the settlement where "China people" live in the suburbs, which originally refers to a commune organization [275][282].

Gifford and knighthood [editor]

Schematic diagram of five clothes, from Illustration of King James Scripture.

It is said that the Zhou Dynasty also practiced the system of "five clothes" or "nine clothes", that is, the system of Ji clothes [ah]. That is to say, from Ji Wang to the outside, there are five or nine different regions from near to far, and these regions have different responsibilities and tribute obligations to the royal family [287]. In recent years, scholars believe that the system of "five clothes" or "nine clothes" is an ideal plan of people in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, rather than an original historical work in ancient times. However, judging from a lot of evidence [288], the Jifu system did not exist in the Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, there is the theory of internal and external use. Oral administration is applicable to all officials within the royal family; Foreign service is a vassal state outside Wang Ji [289], and there are many sayings about internal and external service. In a word, the truth of Gifford system needs to be studied and clarified continuously [27 1].

According to ancient documents, the titles of the Zhou Dynasty were considered as public, Hou, Bo, Zi and Gong, and they were called the fifth-class titles [284][290][29 1]. Modern scholars, based on the textual research of bronze inscriptions, are skeptical and negative about the five ranks. Some scholars believe that there are no five grades of titles, only big countries, sub-countries, small countries and vassals, or there is no fixed title for titles [27 1]. Another part of scholars, referring to the bronze inscriptions, think that the five-product knight is credible [27 1]. However, some scholars believe that the appellation may be Hou, Dian, Gong, Cai and Wei [ah] in the Jifu system. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, many governors in Guinea called themselves "Bo", such as Rui Bo and Zheng Bo. Governors outside Beijing are often called "Hou". For example, the monarchs of Lu and Wei are called Lu Houhe, and Hou Hebo should be the title. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was very common to address the public, and all ministers in the dynasty, such as, and, were called public, which may also be a title at that time. When a vassal dies, he is called Gong [292]. In short, the Zhou Dynasty should be divided into titles and ranks, but its details need further study [27 1].