Wikipedia

Ancient Chinese states

For vassal states in a more general sense, seeVassal state.

Ancient Chinese states(traditional Chinese:Chư hầu quốc;simplified Chinese:Chư hầu quốc;pinyin:Zhūhóu guó) were dynastic polities of China within and without theZhoucultural sphere prior toQin's wars of unification.They ranged in size from large estates, tocity-statesto much vaster territories with multiple population centers. Many of these submitted to royal authority, but many did not—even those that shared the same culture and ancestral temple surname as the ruling house. Prior to theZhou conquest of Shang,the first of these ancient states were already extant as units of the precedingShang dynasty,Predynastic Zhou,or polities of other cultural groups. Once the Zhou had established themselves, they made grants of land and relative local autonomy to kinfolk in return for military support and tributes, under a system known asfengjian.

Map showing major states of the Zhou dynasty

The rulers of the states were collectively thezhuhou(Chư hầu;Chư hầu;zhūhóu;'many lords'). Over the course of the Zhou dynasty (c.1046–256BCE), the ties of family between the states attenuated, the power of the central government waned, and the states grew more autonomous. Some regional rulers granted subunits of their own territory to ministerial lineages who eventually eclipsed them in power and in some casesusurped them.Over time generally the smaller polities were absorbed by the larger ones, either by force or willing submission, until only one remained:Qin(Tần), which unified the realm in 221BCEand became China'sfirst imperial dynasty.

Background

edit
See also:Mandate of HeavenandZhou dynasty nobility

TheZhou dynastygrew out of apredynastic politywith its own existing power structure, primarily organized as a set of culturally affiliated kinship groups. The defining characteristics of a noble were their ancestral temple surname (Tính;xíng), their lineage line within that ancestral surname, and seniority within that lineage line.[1]

Shortly after theZhou conquest of Shang(1046 or 1045 BCE), the immediate goal of the nascent dynasty was to consolidate its power over its newly expanded geographical range, especially in light of theRebellion of the Three Guardsfollowing the death of the conqueringKing Wu of Zhou.To this end, royal relatives were granted lands outside the old Zhou homeland, and given relatively sovereign authority over those spaces.[2]

The Zhou government thus had multiple dimensions of relationship with different sorts of powerful men. The lineage elders of the old homelands were related to the royal house mostly through the pre-existing kinship structure, and not all were politically subservient.[3]The regional lords were established to provide a screen to the royal lands and exert control over culturally distinctpolitiesand were mostly defined by that responsibility, but this was also embedded in the kinship groups. Some few high government ministers had special, non-hereditary titles of nobility. Lastly, there were the leaders of polities outside the Zhou cultural sphere.[4]

Shang dynasty

edit
Further information:Shang dynastyandList of Shang dynasty states

Fang States (Chinese:⽅) refer to the various tribes and states during theShang dynastyin ancient China. Today, scholars' understanding of these states primarily comes fromoracle bone inscriptionsunearthed from the late Shang dynastyYinxu.In these inscriptions, these tribal states are often referred to as name + "Phương". In modern style Chinese the term can be duplicated to Fang Guo (Traditional Chinese:⽅ quốc ).

Western Zhou

edit
Further information:Western ZhouandList of Zhou dynasty states
Selected states of the Western Zhou dynasty

Following the overthrow of theShang dynastyin 1046 BCE, the early kings made hereditary land grants to various relatives and descendants.[5]: 57 Along with the land and title came a responsibility to support the Zhou king during an emergency and to payritual homageto the Zhou ancestors. In theYellow Rivervalley, of the earliest vassal states, the state ofCai(Thái) was founded following a grant of land by the conqueringKing Wu of Zhouto a younger brother. Other states established at this time includedCao(Tào),Yan(Yến),Jin(Tấn), andChen(Trần). The state ofSong(Tống) was permitted to be retained by the nobility of the defeated Shang dynasty, in what would become a custom known asEr Wang San Ke.In the Zhou heartland of theWei Rivervalley, most existing polities submitted to Zhou overlordship, although the state ofYu(Ngu) did not, since their rulers belonged to a more senior branch of the lineage group than the Zhou kings. The rulers of the state ofGuo(Quắc) also belonged to a different branch lineage, but they submitted to royal authority.[3]The relation of the polities in the old Zhou heartland to the royal court was informed by the preexisting kinship structures amongst them, whereas the relationship between the newly established regional states and the royal court was more directly political.[6]

On the periphery, the states ofYan,Qi(Tề), andJinin the north and northeast had more room to expand and grew into large states.[7]In the southwest the non-Zhou state ofChu(Sở) demanded attention. In the southeast, the Zhou confederation was bordered by thepeoplesof Wu (Ngô) and Yue (Việt). These polities and cultural outgroups in theYangtze Rivervalley were not fully incorporated into a centralised political domain until theimperial era.[8]Around the borders of theCentral States(Trung quốc)lived "barbarians",fenced off from the Zhou heartlands by their enfeoffed regional lords. Apart from their responsibilities to the throne, the regional lords were responsible for their families, their people, and the altars ofsoil and grainoutside their cities, where annual sacrifices were performed.

Over time the parcels of land the royal court was able to grant became increasingly small, and population growth and associated socioeconomic pressures strained the Zhou confederation and the power of the central government. Canny clans formed alliances through marriage, powerful ministers began to overshadow the kings, and eventually a succession crisis brought an end to the Western Zhou period.

Spring and Autumn period

edit
Further information:Spring and Autumn period

After an attack byQuanrongnomads allied with several vassal states includingShen(Thân) andZheng(Trịnh) in 771 BCE, the Zhou rulerKing Youwas killed in his palace atHaojing.His son fled east and was enthroned by several vassal leaders asKing Ping of Zhou.Traditionally, the flight to the east and establishment of the new king is written as if it proceeded very rapidly, butexcavated manuscriptshold clues that a parallel king may have reigned for over twenty years, and there may have been no recognized king for nine years.[9][10]The scale of the division of loyalties between the regional states, and the effect it had on society is not clear, but archaeology attests significant movement of people around this time.[11]

With the primary capital moved from Haojing to Luoyi, after a succession crisis of indeterminate severity, the royal house had lost its power and almost all of its land. The prestige of the king, asHeaven's eldest son,was not significantly diminished, and he retained his ritual authority within theJi lineage,but he and his family were much more reliant on the regional states.[12]Conversely, the rulers of the states had much less use for the king and his court. Whole lineage groups had moved around under socioeconomic stress, border groups not associated with the Zhou culture gained in power and sophistication, and the geopolitical situation demanded increased contact and communication.[11]

The regional states, now operating more autonomously than ever, had to invent ways to interact diplomatically, and they began to systematize a set of ranks amongst them, meet for interstate conferences, build great walls oframmed earth,and absorb one another.

Hegemons

edit
Main article:Five Hegemons
See also:Interstate relations during the Spring and Autumn period
Map of the Five Hegemons during the Spring and Autumn period of the Zhou dynasty

As the power of the Zhou kings weakened, the Spring and Autumn period saw the emergence of hegemon-protectors(Bá;Bà)[13]who protected the royal house and gave tribute to the king's court, while underwriting the remainder of the confederation with their military might.First among equals,they held power over all other states to raise armies and attack mutual enemies, and extracted tribute from their peers. Meetings were held between the current hegemon and the rulers of the states where ritual ceremonies took place that included swearing of oaths of allegiance to the current Zhou king and to each other. The first hegemon wasDuke Huan of Qi(r. 685–643). With the help of his prime minister,Guan Zhong,Duke Huan reformed Qi to centralize its power structure. The state consisted of 15 "townships"(Huyện) with the duke and two senior ministers each in charge of five; military functions were also united with civil ones. These and related reforms provided the state, already powerful from control of trade crossroads, with a greater ability to mobilize resources than the more loosely organized states.[14]

By 667, Qi had clearly shown its economic and military predominance, and Duke Huan assembled the leaders ofLu,Song,Chen,andZheng,who elected him as their leader. Soon after,King Hui of Zhouconferred the title ofbà(hegemon), giving Duke Huan royal authority in military ventures.[15][16]

Betweenc.600 BCE andc.500 BCE a four-way balance of power emerged between Qin in the west, Jin in the north-center, Chu in the south, and Qi in the east whilst a number of smaller states continued to exist between Jin and Qi. The state ofDeng(Đặng) was overthrown by Chu in 678 BCE followed by Qin's annexation ofHua(Hoạt) in 627 BCE, establishing a pattern that would gradually see all smaller states eliminated. Towards the end of the Spring and Autumn period wars between states became increasingly common.

Partition of Jin

edit
Main article:Partition of Jin
Late Spring and Autumn period, 5th century BCE, before the breakup of Jin and the Qin move into Sichuan. The Wei on this map isWey(Vệ), not theother Wei(Ngụy) that arose from the Partition of Jin.

Regional lords had begun the practice of granting lands of their own to powerful ministerial lineages. Over generations, in some places these ministerial lineages had grown more powerful than their lords. Eventually the dukes of Lu, Jin, Zheng, Wey and Qi would all become figureheads to powerful aristocratic families.[17]

In the case of Jin, the shift happened in 588 when the army was split into six independent divisions, each dominated by a separate noble family: Zhi ( trí ), Zhao ( triệu ), Han ( hàn ), Wei ( ngụy ), Fan ( phạm ), and Zhonghang ( trung hành ). The heads of the six families were conferred the titles of viscounts and made ministers,[18]each heading one of the six departments of Zhou dynasty government.[19]From this point on, historians refer to "The Six Ministers" as the true power brokers of Jin.

The same happened to Lu in 562, when theThree Huandivided the army into three parts and established their own separate spheres of influence. The heads of the three families were always among the department heads of Lu. In Jin, a full-scale civil war between 497 and 453 BCE ended with the elimination of most noble lines; the remaining aristocratic families divided Jin into three successor states:Han(Hàn),Wei(Ngụy), andZhao(Triệu).[20]

Warring States period

edit
Further information:Warring States period
The seven Warring Statesc. 260 BCE

As the powerful states absorbed more of their neighbours, so too did they centralize their internal power, increasing bureaucratization and reducing the power of the local aristocracy. A new class of gentlemen-scholars, distantly related to the aristocracy but part of the elite culture nonetheless, formed the basis of this extended bureaucracy, their goal of upward social mobility expressed through participation in officialdom.

By about 300 BCE, only seven main states remained: Chu, Han, Qi, Qin, Yan, Wei and Zhao. Some of these built rammed earth walls along their frontiers to protect themselves both from the other states and raids by nomadic tribes like the Quanrong andXiongnu.Smaller states like Zheng and Song were absorbed by their more powerful neighbors. The non-Zhou states ofBa(Ba) andShu(Thục) were both conquered by Qin by 316 BCE. All the other states gradually followed suit until Zhou rule finally collapsed in 256 BCE. Against this backdrop, polities also continued to emerge, as in the case ofZhongshan(Trung sơn)in the north, which was established by the nomadic BaiDi( bạch địch ) in the 400s BCE and would last until 295 BCE.

Early Imperial era

edit
See also:Administration of territory in dynastic China

Qin dynasty

edit

FollowingQin's wars of unification,the first emperorQin Shi Huangeliminated noble titles which did not conform to hisideals of governance,[a]emphasizing merit over than the privileges of birth. He forced all the conquered leaders to attend the capital where he seized their states and turned them into administrative districts classified as eithercommanderiesorcountiesdepending on their size. The officials who ran the new districts were selected on merit rather than by family connections.

Transition from Qin to Han

edit
Main article:Eighteen Kingdoms

Han dynasty

edit
Main article:Kings of the Han dynasty

In the early years of theHan dynasty,the commanderies established during the Qin dynasty once more became vassal states in all but name.Emperor Gaozu(r. 202–195BCE) granted virtually autonomous territories to his relatives and a few generals with military prowess. Over time these vassal states grew powerful and presented a threat to the ruler. Eventually, during the reign ofEmperor Jing(r. 156–141BCE), his political advisorChao Cuorecommended the abolition of all fiefdoms, a policy that led in 154BCEto theRebellion of the Seven States.ThePrince of Wu Liu Bi ( lưu tị )revolted first and was followed by the rulers of six further states. The rebellion continued for three months until it was finally quelled. Later,Emperor Wufurther weakened the power of the vassal states by eliminating many fiefdoms and restoring central control over their prefectures and counties.

References

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^Modern scholarship has begun to move away from terms like "Legalism", especially when projected anachronistically into a time prior to their classification bySima Tan,as in the case of Qin Shi Huang.[21]: 465 Nylan,writing in 2007, employs the term "Realpolitik".[22]Vogelsang, devoting a 2016 paper to the subject of terms used to name ideas in this philosophy, proposes the similar "political realism".[23]: 65 Kern's 2000 monograph on Qin Shi Huang's political thought opts against providing a simple definition.[24]

Citations

edit
  1. ^Chun 1990,p. 31.
  2. ^Li 2008b,pp. 33, 43–44.
  3. ^abKhayutina 2014,pp. 46–48.
  4. ^Li 2008a,p. 114.
  5. ^Keay, John (2009).China – A History.Harper Collins.ISBN978-0-007-22178-3.
  6. ^Khayutina 2014,p. 41.
  7. ^"Chinese History – Zhou Dynasty".ChinaKnowledge.de.Archivedfrom the original on 21 November 2010.RetrievedNovember 7,2010.
  8. ^Lewis, Mark Edward (2008)."The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han".In Brook, Timothy (ed.).History of Imperial China.Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p.39.ISBN978-0-674-02477-9.p. 39
  9. ^Chen and Pines 2018,pp. 10–14.
  10. ^Milburn 2016,p. 70.
  11. ^abLi 2008a,pp. 120–123.
  12. ^Pines 2004,p. 23.
  13. ^"The Zhou Dynasty".Chinese Civilisation Centre, City University of Hong Kong. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-10-05.RetrievedNovember 11,2010.
  14. ^Hsu 1999,pp. 553–54.
  15. ^Hsu 1999,p. 555.
  16. ^Lewis 2000,pp. 366, 369.
  17. ^Pines 2002,p. 4.
  18. ^Sima Qian;Sima Tan(1959) [90s BCE]. "39: Tấn thế gia".Records of the Grand HistorianSử ký.Zhonghua Shuju.
  19. ^Rites of Zhou
  20. ^Hui 2004,p. 186.
  21. ^Davidson, Steven C. (2002). "Review:" Martin Kern. The Stele Inscriptions of Ch'in Shih-huang: Text and Ritual in Early Chinese Imperial Representation. American Oriental Series, vol. 85 "".China Review International.9(2). University of Hawai'i Press: 465–473.JSTOR23732133.
  22. ^Nylan, Michael(2007). ""Empire" in the Classical Era in China (304 BC–AD 316) ".Oriens Extremus.46.Harrassowitz Verlag: 48–83.JSTOR24047664.
  23. ^Vogelsang, Kai (2016). "Getting the terms right".Oriens Extremus.55.Harrassowitz Verlag: 39–72.JSTOR26402199.
  24. ^Kern, Martin (2000).The Stele Inscriptions of Ch'in Shih-huang: Text and Ritual in Early Chinese Imperial Representation.American Oriental Series. Vol. 85. New Haven: American Oriental Society.ISBN0-940490-15-3.Cited in Davidson (2002).

Sources

edit
  • Chen Minzhen ( trần dân trấn );Pines, Yuri(2018). "Where is King Ping? The History and Historiography of the Zhou Dynasty's Eastward Relocation".Asia Major.31(1). Academica Sinica: 1–27.JSTOR26571325.
  • Chun, Allen J. (1990). "Conceptions of Kinship and Kingship in Classical Chou China".T'oung Pao.76(1/3). Leiden: Brill: 16–48.JSTOR4528471.
  • Hui, Victoria Tin-bor (2004), "Toward a dynamic theory of international politics: Insights from comparing ancient China and early modern Europe",International Organization,58(1): 175–205,doi:10.1017/s0020818304581067,S2CID154664114
  • Khayutina, Maria (2014). "Marital alliances and affinal relatives (sheng sanh and hôn cấu ) in the society and politics of Zhou China in the light of bronze inscriptions".Early China.37.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 39–99.JSTOR24392462.
  • Lewis, Mark Edward(2000),"The City-State in Spring-and-Autumn China",in Hansen, Mogens Herman (ed.),A Comparative Study of Thirty City-State Cultures: An Investigation,vol. 21, Copenhagen: The Royal Danish Society of Arts and Letters, pp. 359–74,ISBN9788778761774
  • Li Feng(2008a). "Transmitting Antiquity: The Origin and Paradigmization of the" Five Ranks "".In Kuhn, Dieter; Stahl, Helga (eds.).Perceptions of Antiquity in Chinese Civilization.Würzberg: Würzburger Sinologische Schriften. pp. 103–134.
  • Li Feng (2008b).Bureaucracy and the State in Early China.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-88447-1.
  • Loewe, Michael;Shaughnessy, Edward L, eds. (1999),The Cambridge History of Ancient China: from the origins of civilization to 221 BC,Cambridge University Press,ISBN9780521470308
  • Milburn, Olivia(2016). "The Xinian: an ancient historical text from the Qinghua University collection of bamboo books".Early China.39.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 53–109.JSTOR44075753.
  • Pines, Yuri(2002),Foundations of Confucian Thought: Intellectual Life in the Chunqiu Period (722–453 BCE),University of Hawai'i Press
  • Pines, Yuri (2004). "The question of interpretation: Qin history in light of new epigraphic sources".Early China.29.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1–44.JSTOR23354539.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ancient_Chinese_states&oldid=1240854065"