Throughout the ages, people's material life has been regulated and governed by conventions, laws and regulations, car service system, service system and funeral service system. Therefore, in China, courtesy is not only a moral belief and ideology, but also a norm of daily consumer goods distribution and interpersonal communication. Household utensils have dual values of material treatment and spiritual treatment for consumers. As early as the pre-Qin period, Xunzi provided an idea for this distribution method: "Virtue must be called position, position must be called Lu, and Lu must be called use." Only when you have both ability and political integrity can you have wealth, judge your position by things, and measure things by virtue. Your moral performance and social status are commensurate with the use of wealth managers. Power, through the hierarchical distribution of rice, oil and salt, is materialized into the differences of life styles of all classes, which is a social model and a cultural model. As Sima Qian said, courtesy can "dominate everything and serve the public". Managing the sky, managing things and managing people is a form that is highly compatible with ideology and social life.
Bronze civilizations in other parts of the world are mainly bronze weapons and tools, while ancient Chinese bronzes are mainly ritual vessels and musical instruments. The rulers of the Western Zhou Dynasty established a complete system of rites and music to manage the country. Under the strong influence of the culture of rites and music, the culture of ancient China began a process of great integration and unification, and the culture of rites and music became an important symbol that distinguished Chinese civilization from other ancient civilizations in the world, and the virtue of the state of etiquette has been passed down to this day.
Li Xueqin, a historian in Tsinghua University, said: "The etiquette that China people talk about is actually very extensive, which embodies various characteristics of social structure and society, as well as the unity and universality of society."
More than two thousand years ago, scholars in the Han Dynasty declared that "China is a country of etiquette". In a sense, China's ancient "ceremony" represents China's culture, politics and history, so that no translated word can correspond to China's "ceremony" in the whole western language.
In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, in addition to respecting heaven and law, humanistic thoughts began to rise, and rites and music became the yardstick to measure social and political ethics at that time. When Zhou Wuwang crusaded against Yin Shang, he announced that Yin Zhou Wang's three major crimes were: ignoring the late Wang Mingde and forgetting his ancestral teachings; Despise the gods and disrespect the sky; Regardless of people's livelihood, it is cruel to deceive others. These three articles were put forward on the grounds of maintaining ancestral temples and respecting rites and music. Zhou Wuwang's action of cutting merchants was responded by governors from all sides. He held high the banner of respecting heaven and protecting the people, and went all the way to the east, quickly destroying merchants.
After the King of Wu destroyed the Shang Dynasty, a Western Zhou Dynasty began to appear in the new relatively unified territory, respecting heaven and protecting the people.
The territory of Zhou Dynasty was wider than that of Shang Dynasty, and the feudal system was adopted to effectively exercise Zhou people's sovereignty. At the beginning of the week, more than 70 small countries were enfeoffed, of which more than 50 were Huaxia Ji, which marked the birth of a new country with Huaxia as the main body and other ethnic groups.
There are so many vassal States, some of which are thousands of miles away from the king's capital. How can a country with so many people develop in a harmonious and orderly system? Zhou Wuwang's younger brother, Zhou Gongdan, made a series of laws and regulations for the Zhou Dynasty, namely "the system of rites and music".
The ritual and music system in the Western Zhou Dynasty expanded the items and contents of etiquette while retaining the ritual of offering sacrifices to the gods, so that the social political relations, hierarchical order, morality and ethics, thoughts and feelings were all embodied as etiquette items, and etiquette filled all fields of ideology and social life. Zhou people divided the ceremony into five systems: auspicious, fierce, military, guest and kindness, among which except auspicious ceremony, the other four are all related to real social life. These five kinds of ceremonies are divided into nine kinds, namely, "crown, marriage, courtship, engagement, funeral, sacrifice, guest and host, rural drinking and military service", and each ceremony has its own specific ceremony and complicated ceremony. Moreover, most of the etiquette has corresponding music cooperation, and different social classes have strict regulations on the scale of the band and the scope of music use, which has become a system that the ruling classes at all levels must abide by. In this way, the social behavior, thoughts, feelings and even political relations of the whole aristocratic class are completely dissolved in the ritual and music culture atmosphere stipulated by the royal family.
Zhou Li Chun Guan describes five instrument systems in detail:
Ji Li, a sacrificial ceremony;
Fierce rites and funeral rites;
Rite is the etiquette from the emperor to the ordinary nobles to communicate with each other, meet guests and deal with daily social relations;
Military salute, the etiquette used by the army in daily practice, conquest, travel and triumph;
Li Jia, the etiquette used for various auspicious activities.
In order to reflect the differences in ceremonies, whether it is an important sacrificial ceremony, banquet or funeral, complete sets of bronzes should be used according to different grades. In the bronze ritual vessels of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the tripod and the reed were used together. Tripods are specially used for meat, while reeds are used for other foods. This combination formed the Ding Yong system, which was the core of the ritual system in the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to Zhou Li, the son of heaven used Jiuding and Eighty, hence the word Jiuding. Governors can only use seven ding and six GUI, doctors use five ding and four GUI, scholars use three ding and two GUI, and so on. The size and quantity of the tripod marks the social status of the owner. In this way, social identity is standardized, everyone's responsibilities, rights and obligations in society are determined, and different social orders are established.
"Only Wang Jianguo, the founder of the country, set up an official position, thinking that the people are extremely."
The fundamental purpose of Zhou Li's legal system is to implement Heaven and its value in secular legislation under the basic principle that human order follows the order of Heaven, and to guide all the actions of monarchs, ministers and ordinary people to operate in one order, that is, the so-called "harmony between man and nature"
The ancients believed that "ceremony" was the embodiment of people's morality, ethics and self-cultivation; "Music" is the expression of people's emotions, thoughts and desires. Externalize the abstract, internal and intangible things such as people's morality, ethics, self-cultivation and emotions, thoughts and desires into tangible "rites" (etiquette) and "music" (music), that is, externalize the intangible, concretize the abstract and ideologically.
System of rites and music, the Duke of Zhou, is to expose people's spiritual world, standardize the network of rites and music, and restrain and control people's morality, ethics, self-cultivation, as well as people's emotions, thoughts and desires through this tangible network. The implementation of the system of rites and music made the Western Zhou Dynasty seem to be a country with harmonious rites and music, and a sacred world of elegant music. However, under this tangible net woven by rites and music, strict hierarchical order and patriarchal ethics are revealed. Social and political relations (monarch and minister) and interpersonal blood relations (father and son) are completely bound in the rope net of "rites and music" This is the actual effect that rites and music extend from the altar to the secular, and it is the essence of "ruling the country with rites and music" invented by Duke Zhou.
Zhou Gong's theory is the key to the development of China culture from "God-oriented" to "People-oriented", and the spiritual temperament of China culture such as "respecting morality" and "People-oriented" has basically taken shape since then. Zhou people changed from worshipping gods to preaching "destiny", and changed the legendary "heavenly emperor" of Yin people into "destiny" with more political and ethical significance, and put forward ideas such as "matching heaven with virtue" and "respecting heaven to protect people". They think that the demise of Shang Dynasty and the prosperity of Zhou Dynasty are the reasons why Zhou people "respect heaven and protect people", so people should follow the rites of Zhou Dynasty and maintain "respect" with ethical principles.
The Western Zhou Dynasty was able to get rid of theocracy and treat the tradition of rites and music with a rational spirit, which was a great progress of society. The rulers of the Western Zhou Dynasty used the system of rites and music as a means of cultural autocracy to approach and control the political relations between Zhou Zong and the vassals and the patriarchal society, which was also a wise choice under the historical conditions at that time. Zhou Gongdan's thought that "destiny changes with virtue" shows that the focus of social life in the Western Zhou Dynasty has shifted from God to human inner virtue. The connotation and characteristics of Zhou Li are embodied in the ideological system of respecting heaven, morality and protecting the people, which has a far-reaching influence on later generations. He represented the ideal of the unity of monarch and teacher, and became a political model of Confucian ideal in later generations. The idea that destiny takes the virtue of human heart as the transfer became the origin of the later Confucian concept of "harmony between man and nature", which laid the foundation for the formation of social thoughts in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and became the origin of various social thoughts.
No country in the world can raise rites and music to the political level like the Western Zhou Dynasty and use it to govern the country. Duke Zhou's "Ruling the Country by Rites and Music" has set a historical example for civilized China, and China is a country of courtesy and righteousness. The ritual and music system in the Western Zhou Dynasty created a typical way of managing culture for future rulers. Since the Han Dynasty, once the rulers gained political power by martial arts, they never forgot this policy of civil administration invented by Duke Zhou, and almost all wanted to revitalize the rites and music, and implemented the rites and music system according to the complicated procedures stipulated in the "Three Rites" of the Zhou Dynasty (Zhou Li, Li Ji and Yi Li). The policy of "ruling the country by rites and music" led to the change of rites and music from the altar to the secular. Zhou people extended the ritual music originally used in the ritual order to the ritual order and human relations, and extended the ritual music from the illusory world of ghosts and gods to the realistic interpersonal relationship, which inevitably expanded the social function of ritual music.
With the strengthening of ethical concepts and the weakening of the concept of ghosts and gods under the rules of rites and music, the witch culture full of primitive passion and romance was rationally stifled, and the status of witches was reduced from Doctor Yin to a small subordinate of Zongbo in the early Zhou Dynasty, further excluded from the people in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and only continued to have a little influence among the lower classes. At this point, the witch culture of Yin Shang completely withdrew from the main stage of history.
If the spiritual life of Yin Shang people is not completely divorced from the primitive state, and their thoughts and actions are completely dependent on external ancestor gods, natural gods and gods, then one of the greatest contributions of Zhou people in the history of China's thought development lies in "injecting conscious spirit into traditional religious life; Promote the achievements of culture in artifacts and expand concepts to inspire the establishment of China's moral and humanistic spirit. " On the basis of eradicating the core of Shang civilization, Zhou Li recreated the core elements of Chinese civilization, which is what Wang Guowei said: "The political and cultural changes in China were not brought about during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. "
However, although the ritual and music system in the Western Zhou Dynasty created a strong social and cultural atmosphere, it artificially shaped social interpersonal relationships and communication methods into etiquette, making the music art of expressing human feelings "restrained" and making ritual and music fixed and modeled, which was neither in line with human nature nor the law of artistic development, and was finally abandoned. It took about 300 years for the ritual and music system in the Western Zhou Dynasty to gradually improve. By the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, because it could not adapt to the development of society, there had been a situation of "improper rites and music". Zhou Li strictly distinguishes and limits the position of each individual in the society, imposes mandatory constraints on people from the national system and patriarchal clan system, and establishes a hierarchical and differentiated society. In such a society, in order to maintain harmony between people, the rulers take the inspiration of music and spiritual culture as the basic way to communicate their feelings, and resolve all kinds of opposites and contradictions brought about by hierarchical and orderly ceremonies.
Traditionally, the study of music in the Western Zhou Dynasty relies on the so-called "Three Rites", namely "Zhou Li", "Yi Li" and "Book of Rites", especially "Zhou Li", namely "Zhou Guan" recorded in Historical Records Zhou Benji. However, due to the tampering or even forgery of Confucian scholars in Qin and Han Dynasties, the reliability of these documents is often questioned. Compared with this, the contents related to the Western Zhou Dynasty in Shangshu, Yizhoushu, Shijing, Zuozhuan and Guoyu are more credible, but the forgery of some chapters in Shangshu, the supplement and revision of Yizhoushu, and the demarcation between the Middle East and the Western Zhou Dynasty in Shijing have also caused long-term academic problems. Faced with this difficulty, China's traditional epigraphy, the study of modern bronze inscriptions on Western Zhou Dynasty and the discovery of western Zhou musical instruments by modern archaeology all tested the reliability of handed down documents to some extent, but similarly, the limitations of bronze inscriptions and archaeological excavations also made them lack of rich and sufficient literature descriptions. 1925, Wang Guowei said in his "New Proof of Ancient History": "The most controversial issue in the study of ancient history in China is that legends in ancient times are mixed with historical facts. Undoubtedly, there are things in historical facts, and legends often have historical facts." Faced with this situation, Wang Guowei put forward the "double evidence law" in which "paper materials" and "underground materials" refer to each other. This method has greatly influenced the research on the ancient history of China since the 20th century, and it is also a methodological guarantee to make the use of music and related aesthetic issues really surface in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
According to historical records, the Western Zhou Dynasty was the heyday of ancient music in China, and it was also a period of high music prosperity. According to the Book of Rites: "Shun used to sing the southern wind as a banjo, and then he began to enjoy the princes ... big chapters. Xianchi, prepare also. Shao, Summer, big also. The joy of Yin and Zhou Dynasties is exhausted. " Obviously, the Yin and Zhou Dynasties were regarded as the peak of the collection and development of ancient music. During this period, the first complete ancestral temple music system in China history was established with "Six Music" as the core. According to Zhou Li Chun Guan, the evolution history of six kinds of music, Cloud Gate, Dajuan, Daxian, Dashao, Daxia, Dayun and Dawu, is epic from Huangdi to Zhou Wuwang. Fu poems in The Book of Songs, namely Shang Fu, Zhou Fu and Lu Fu, are also within the scope. In addition to the music of the ancestral temple, the music of the Zhou Dynasty can also be divided into scholar music, folk music and the music of the four nationalities. Among them, the joy of scholars is mainly found in the Book of Songs, which is called Elegance and Xiaoya, and folk music is found in National Style. The joy of the four foreigners is gone, but it is still expressed in literature. For example, "Li Zhouguan Chunzongbo" says: "The joy of four foreigners and their songs." According to the Book of Rites, Zhou Chengwang once ordered Duke Zhou to enjoy the emperor's rites and music in his Record of Fengguo, including the joy of four foreigners, that is, "ignorance is the joy of foreigners in the east." Ren, the joy of being full is also. The Yina people are very satisfied with this big temple, and his words are widely circulated in the world. "Based on this, we can see that ancestral temple music, folk music, scholar music and Siyi music constitute four forms of China's music system in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
In terms of musical instruments, according to the statistics of music historian Yang, there are nearly 70 recorded musical instruments in the Zhou Dynasty, 29 of which were mentioned by poets and found in the Book of Songs in later generations. Before the Western Zhou Dynasty, percussion instruments and wind instruments had a long history of development, but there was a new development in the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to "History of Western Zhou Dynasty" by Yang Kuan, a professor of history at Fudan University: "The bronze bell was created in the Western Zhou Dynasty and is an outstanding creation in the history of music development." According to the research of Fang Jianjun, vice president of Tianjin Conservatory of Music, "In the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were nine nominators, such as Yong, Yong, Ju, Duo, Niuling, Ling and Shiqing, while there were four musical instruments in Qi Ming, such as bone flute, copper horn, pan and bone flute. Among them, percussion instruments Yong, cymbals, chimes, flutes and cymbals are the continuation and development of Shang musical instruments, while Yong Zhong, Ju Duo, Niu Zhong, Jiao Tong and Gu Xiao are new musical instruments in the Western Zhou Dynasty. " Among wind instruments, bamboo wind instruments have long existed. Lu Chunqiu's Ancient Music once recorded that the Yellow Emperor ordered Ling Lun to make a bamboo pipe as a method, which was not enough for training, but the word ""in Oracle Bone Inscriptions was similar to the bamboo flute of later generations. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Book of Songs included the theory of playing the flute, wandering, drums and bells. The flutes here, especially the sheng and the pool. Apart from percussion instruments and wind instruments, silk stringed instruments didn't really come into being until the Western Zhou Dynasty, among which Qin and Qin were the representatives. These two instruments can be used for both large-scale elegant music performances and private music performances. The Book of Songs Guanluo says, "My Fair Lady is my friend." "The Book of Songs Tang Di": "Wives are easy to get along with, like drums and harps." The Book of Songs Luming Literature: "I have guests, playing drums." These poems show that it is quite common for the nobles in the Western Zhou Dynasty to express their personal feelings through harps and harps, which also opened the music of later scholars.
The diversity of musical instruments in the Western Zhou Dynasty provided conditions for organizing large bands. In the so-called ritual society at that time, music not only involved all aspects of aristocratic daily life, but also was an indispensable part of national large-scale ritual activities, which required the systematization and institutionalization of bands. According to Zhou Li, there was a so-called "music hanging" system in the Western Zhou Dynasty. In celebration activities, different musical instruments should be hung in different positions, with bells and chins in the left and right columns and drums in the two corners outside the hall. Based on this model, the band is divided into "music in class" and "music after class". "The former is mainly composed of singing and silk stringed instruments. The main components of the latter are percussion, wind instruments and dance. " At the same time, in order to cooperate with this large-scale ceremony, music must strengthen its expressive force in sound and melody. It requires not only the harmony of eight tones of different instruments, but also the enhancement of performance and effect of the same instrument. As the embodiment of the requirements of this era, combined musical instruments have made great progress in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and chimes, cymbals and bells have become indispensable instrumental forms for the celebration of the dynasty. In addition, the improvement of single pipe bone flute and bamboo flute to multi-pipe flute and flute is also an adaptation to this trend. It should be noted that the appearance of this kind of combined musical instrument not only enhances the acoustic effect to match the large-scale ceremony, but also directly contributes to the elegance of music. The basic function of percussion instruments is to create a sonorous sense of rhythm, but if the same instrument is sorted according to different pitches, it can deduce melodies outside the rhythm. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, this development trend can be expressed as "the music of stone", and thus it is integrated with loud and melodious wind music (Xiao Sheng) and low-pitched strings (Qin and Qin). During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius once said when evaluating the cultural characteristics of the Western Zhou Dynasty: "Zhou was overseen by the second generation, and it was melancholy, so I followed Zhou." This tendency of "prosaic culture" can be clearly reflected from the trend that percussion instruments were grouped and melodized at that time.
There was a special music institution in the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to "Zhou Li Chun Guan", the organization "belongs to the leadership of" Dalaisi ". Among them, the staff, including musicians, ... have a clear quota of 1463. " It is worth noting that the prosperity and lofty value of music in the Western Zhou Dynasty does not necessarily mean that music professionals have a high social status, but are still at the bottom of the social hierarchy. According to Yang's "China Music History Draft", in the music organization composed of 1463 people in the Zhou Dynasty, "except for a few low-level aristocrats, there were 1277 people belonging to the serf class." In other words, the social status of musicians as the main body of music creation and performance at that time did not benefit from the fashion of the times. The reason for this is still related to the attention paid by the Zhou Dynasty to the orientation of music. From the historical data, the importance of music in the Western Zhou Dynasty has nothing to do with the performance technology of music, but with the moral education function of music. The so-called "moral success is superior, artistic success is inferior" in the Book of Rites is a clear understanding of the aristocratic class at that time. In this context, music education played an important role in the aristocratic education in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Dassler is not only the leader of national music institutions, but also the head of national higher education.
According to the third volume of Li Zhou Guan Chun Zong Bo, 13-20-year-old children of aristocrats in the Western Zhou Dynasty learn music, which involves the following contents: (1) teaching the country with music: China, harmony, morality, Yong, filial piety and friendship. Xing, Tao, irony, recitation, speech, language. Teaching with music and dance: dancing Yunmen, Dajuan, Dayan, Shaoda, Daxia, Universiade and Dawu. With six methods and six dances with five tones and eight tones, ghosts and gods can be at peace with all the people, at peace with all the people, at peace with the guests, and at peace with others.
Although this passage is about music education, it involves the overall positioning of music in the Western Zhou Dynasty:
First of all, musicians who are engaged in professional creation and performance are at the bottom of this system because their value is limited to the purely technical level.
Secondly, although technology is metaphysical relative to Taoism and art is metaphysical relative to virtue, mastering technology is the premise of moral cultivation. Therefore, as educated people, aristocratic children should not only master music skills, but also understand music ethics in their minds, learn music language in language and practice music and dance in behavior, so as to achieve comprehensive elegance in thought, language and behavior. At this level, art and virtue are integrated, and art eventually leads to virtue.
Thirdly, for statesmen, the purpose is not only personal virtue and elegance of words and deeds, but also to further implement the harmonious spirit of music in social and political practice, so as to realize the unity of history and reality, royal family and country, man and nature, and then generate an ideal music world. Here, from professional musicians, aristocratic children to state rulers, it marks a road of continuous upgrading and amplification of music from technology to virtue to political metaphor. Rite is the framework of political system, music is the reconciliation of ideological field, and law forces the ritual system to be realized.
Etiquette has three functions:
First: don't be high or low, there are advantages and disadvantages in order. It is a tool to distinguish the noble, the young and the old, and to maintain the patriarchal clan system and adjust social relations.
Second, the country will be determined by the country. It is the fundamental guiding principle for ruling the world and people and the ideological basis for adjusting social relations and national life.
Third, clear statutes and conduct education. Governing the country requires etiquette, just as "balance is important, rope ink is useful, and rules are square"; "Governing the people with harmony is not good at courtesy"; "The way to treat people, don't rush to be polite"; "Rule the world with words, which is also called rites and music". Therefore, some researchers believe that "from a legal point of view, etiquette is very similar to today's fundamental law and is the basis of all political life in the Western Zhou Dynasty". "The Book of Rites" also said: "The education of rites is also levied, and its evil has not yet formed, which makes people move from good to evil without knowing it." In other words, the ceremony of "Zhou" can enlighten the people, make them seek good fortune and avoid evil, and eliminate evil from "unformed". This shows that the rites of the Western Zhou Dynasty not only have the function of fundamental law, but also have the function of general education.
The spirit of etiquette in the Zhou Dynasty was embodied in the patriarchal clan system.
Patriarchal clan system sprouted as early as the primitive clan period, but as a complete system to maintain aristocratic relations, it was the Western Zhou Dynasty. Under the patriarchal clan system, a systematic and complete management system of "the emperor founded the country, the princes established the family, the Qing Dynasty set up a side room, there were two doctors, and the scholars had official children" was formed.
Patriarchal clan system is a kind of right inheritance system that distinguishes relatives and friends according to their blood relationship. It originates from the patriarchal clan system, and its core is the eldest son inheritance system, which is mainly used to distinguish the relationship between relatives and friends. The purpose is to establish the status and property inheritance right within the family, improve and consolidate the enfeoffment system, and prevent disputes between nobles due to power inheritance. Because of the right to inherit property within the family, most of them are worshipped by ordinary sects, that is, the so-called "respecting ancestors and ancestors."
The essence of Zhou Li is to maintain the hierarchical order of social members' relations and status in the patriarchal clan system. It has the nature of law enforcement, and it also has the functions of inspiring and preaching at a higher ethical level, such as being respectful, loyal to the monarch and filial piety. Finally, as a moral concept, it has become the main content of China culture. On the basis of limited productivity and military and political power, Zhou people designed a whole set of superstructure and ideology from political system to code of conduct, moral norms and ethical thoughts. Later, the rites and music collapsed, but the grassroots of society did not change. Adapting to this mode of production is still pastoral agriculture and clan structure, but social management undertaken by bureaucrats has strengthened the centralized political system unprecedentedly.
The distinction between locals and ordinary people
Patriarchal system originated from patriarchal family. With the development of society, the long primitive matriarchal clan society was gradually replaced by paternal clan society, which finally established the dominant position of patriarchy in the family, and the history of Archaean ancestors "Anemarrhena asphodeloides" finally came to an end.
Paternalistic families that prefer sons to daughters generally practice polygamy, and wives are subordinate to each other. The patriarchal clan system divides all children into "slaves" and "slaves" according to the identity of the mother and the birth order of the children. Di, the wife is Di, and the sons born to her are Di Sheng and Di Zi, which means authentic. Shu, collateral also, the son born to my concubine is called illegitimate and illegitimate. The office is big, ordinary is small. Only the eldest son is the sole legal heir to the throne or title, and illegitimate children have no right to inherit even if they are older or more talented than the eldest son. This makes the younger brother and brother unified, and the younger one and the older one unified. Although illegitimate children cannot inherit the throne, they can get other titles second only to the throne. Therefore, the Zhou Dynasty created the "enfeoffment system" according to the basic principles of the patriarchal clan system.
Five-level title
After the Zhou Dynasty enfeoffed the vassal state, the long-standing "tribes" in ancient times gradually disappeared and were replaced by feudal countries. At the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, feudalism was equal and directly under the jurisdiction of the central government. However, the titles of monarchs are different, so the areas of feudal countries are also different. The Zhou dynasty divided the titles of monarchs into five levels: public, marquis, uncle, son and public, and there were six princes below the fifth level. The vassal state is small in area and belongs to the larger vassal state. The emergence of these five-level titles depends on the relationship between the official and the ordinary in the patriarchal clan system.
All the monarchs who sealed the country are collectively called "princes". At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, the five vassal states and vassal states were as follows:
The principality is 50 square kilometers, such as Qi and Lu.
Houguo is 35 square kilometers, such as Jin.
It's 35 square kilometers, such as Shenyang.
Sub-countries are 25 square kilometers, such as Huang, Luo, Zhu and Zhu.
Xiongguo is 25 square kilometers, so it is.
Feudals are less than 25 square kilometers, such as Xiao.
It can be seen that the territory of the vassal States in the early Western Zhou Dynasty was very small, and many vassal States were just a city. From the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the vassal states annexed each other, and Xinjiang gradually expanded, and the vassal states built their capitals one after another, becoming independent kingdoms to compete with the Zhou royal family.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, in addition to the direct enfeoffment of governors by the central government, there were enfeoffment and enfeoffment among governors. Governors generally left the central region to rule directly, and the rest of the land was enfeoffed to his relatives except his eldest son, Doctor Qing. This kind of fief is called "fief", and Dr. Qing also gave his own fief to his eldest son, a relative other than Shi, called Lutian. As a result, the whole country has formed a unified and hierarchical patriarchal political structure with the palace as the center and radiating to the periphery.
1, the eldest son inherits the throne and the throne, and all the other children are enfeoffed elsewhere;
2. The titles of governors are divided into five grades, namely, public, Hou, Bo, Zi and Gong.
3. The vassal then gave part of the land to Dr. Qing as a fief, and Dr. Qing gave part of the fief to Lu Tian. In this way, the Zhou Dynasty and the enfeoffment vassal states ensured the blood clan rule of their generations, and Wanli became a family.
Under the patriarchal clan system, the concept of hierarchy is very strict, hierarchical and orderly. It takes the blood relationship as the link and the relationship between monarch and minister as the discipline, which ensures the monopoly and privileged position of the nobility in politics and maintains the stability and unity within the aristocratic group. Hereditary system, enfeoffment system and enfeoffment system together constitute the main body of the Xia, Shang and Zhou political systems, which have had a far-reaching impact on China society.
The patriarchal clan system in the Western Zhou Dynasty also had a great influence, which was the generation of surnames. The patriarchal clan system directly led to the feudal system, and the whole world was divided into vassal States, large and small, which produced many ministers' fiefs. The fief was divided into many fields of different sizes. Since the place names of vassal states, fiefs (cities, customs) and Lutian (townships, pavilions) were directly changed to "surnames" (country as surnames, city as surnames, customs as surnames, townships as surnames, pavilions as surnames), the surnames of China people have blossomed everywhere and suddenly increased, and great fission, differentiation and derivation have taken place, resulting in 2,400 surnames.