Eastern Zhou society changing during merger wars
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the emperor maintained his authority as the "sovereign of the world" and prohibited war and annexation among the Xia princes. The vassal states that were originally far behind Zongzhou gradually prospered economically due to their long-term recuperation. Zongzhou was destroyed, and King Ping moved his capital to Luoyi. The royal family was weakened and no longer had the power to control the princes. The feudal states merged with each other, and great powers emerged one after another, breaking the situation where the princes were juxtaposed and the royal family was exclusive. Later, the officials of the feudal states merged with each other, and powerful clans appeared one after another, breaking the situation of parallel clans and exclusive dominance of the official family. During the annexation process, the old system of the Western Zhou Dynasty was gradually destroyed, especially the transformation of clan land ownership, in which eldest sons were hereditary and could not be bought and sold, to family land ownership, which was privately owned and could be bought and sold by individuals. This became the most basic change among the various changes in Eastern Zhou society. Generally speaking, the society of the Western Zhou Dynasty was relatively quiet, while the Eastern Zhou Dynasty entered a period of turmoil. Frequent annexation wars increased the suffering of the people, but also promoted the progress of society.
Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, clans have occupied large amounts of land. This land ownership system takes feudal exploitation as its content and clan organization as its shell. The eldest son is the owner of all the clan's land. The official Qing received a fief as his own fief, and within the fief he could gather clans and gather parties. The eldest son of the ennobled person is passed down as the eldest son from generation to generation, and the remaining descendants and in-laws with different surnames are called clan members. Most of them cultivate the land of their eldest sons, and are physically restrained from moving freely. They are also mentally restrained by the creed of respecting their ancestors, fearing that they will lose the protection of their clan. The eldest son leads the eldest son, and the eldest daughter leads the eldest daughter. The eldest son and wife are respected by the clan. If there is a noble or wealthy person in the clan, they would not dare to walk into the eldest son's home showing off as a noble or wealthy person. When tribesmen get valuable items such as clothing, fur, chariots and horses, they should choose good items to offer to their eldest son, while inferior items should be used by themselves. When a wealthy member of the clan offers sacrifices to their ancestors, they must prepare two sets of sacrifices, and the better one is dedicated to the eldest son. The relationship between the eldest son and his clan members is nominally one of "living apart but sharing the same wealth" ("Rituals: Mourning Clothes"). In fact, the eldest son shares the property of the wealthy clan members. The poor and lowly clans cultivated the land of the eldest son. It was considered that the eldest son had the same wealth as them, but in fact it was the eldest son who deprived them of most of the products of their labor.
The clan has land, criminal law (the right to kill), the army (private soldiers, private subordinates), vassals (scholars), farmers (the clan members who farm the fields), serfs (non-clan farmers), Farmers (field slaves) and slaves (including slaves in handicrafts, commerce and domestic service). The person who manages the clan affairs for the eldest son is called "Zai" or "Zong Lao". There are also Zhu and Shi who are in charge of sacrifices, Sima who is in charge of military affairs, Gongzheng who is in charge of handicrafts, and Jia Zheng who is in charge of commerce. The clan is actually a small country. The so-called surnames, such as Jisun, Shusun and Mengsun in Lu State, are the names of this small country. The eldest son is the king of this small country. He powerfully rules the whole country in this small country. Clan.
The size of the clan's land was variable. Guan Zhong, the Qing Qing of Qi, once seized three hundred fiefs from Bo's family, and Zhong Jiang, the son of Qi, recorded in Baobao's inscription that the Marquis of Qi rewarded a doctor with two hundred and ninety nine fiefs. According to "Zuo Zhuan" in the 27th year of Duke Xiang, the so-called "only Qing prepares hundreds of cities" is probably just a nominal system. The clans within a lord's territory had to pay tribute to the princes and perform various corvee services. Sometimes they were punished by the princes and given extra gifts, sometimes they were expelled or even exterminated. When the power of the princes was enough to control each clan, they did not feel that it was harming their own interests by dividing the land and giving it to favored or meritorious ministers and officials, and "paying tribute to the public". But when clans became powerful and princes lost or weakened their control, clan mergers became popular. The strong clan seized the land, set up local officials (county officials or city governors) to manage civil affairs, and did not enfeoff the children, thus preventing the recurrence of new clans (the number of "side clans" and "second clans" in the clan was at least one). After the death of the clan party, the clan loses the protection of the eldest son and is also exempted from the eldest son's wealth. On the condition that it is obliged to pay tribute to the local officials, a family becomes an independent economic unit. Parents have the power to deal with their own property and are interested in increasing their own property. This forms a family system with parents as the main body.
The family system replaces the clan system, that is, the land ownership system with a family as a unit replaces the land ownership system with a clan as a unit. A family that occupies a large area becomes a landlord; a family that occupies a small area or cultivates other people's fields becomes a farmer. Regardless of whether they are landowners or farmers, they all need to establish a family system in which the patriarch has exclusive power. The content of the family system is that children obey their fathers and elder brothers (the so-called filial piety in Confucianism), women obey men (the so-called "Etiquette·Mourning Clothes Chapter" says "if you are not married, you obey your father, if you are married, you obey your husband, and if your husband dies, you obey your son"). Sons and daughters-in-law are not allowed to have private affairs. We don’t dare to borrow other people’s property privately, and we don’t dare to give property to others privately. Everything is at the discretion of the parents.
After the death of parents, brothers can live apart and have different fortunes. Every man has the possibility to become a parent and participate in social activities. As a result, the old country based on the clan system gradually turns into a new country based on the family system.
The Eastern Zhou Dynasty was a turbulent period. During the turmoil, all classes and strata changed. In particular, the landlord class in the family system began to appear, and politics, economy, and culture were gradually dominated by this class, resulting in a feudal society ruled by landlords. Between the lord rule of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the landlord rule of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period were undergoing an alternating movement between the two types of rule. The Eastern Zhou Dynasty was the beginning of this movement.
1. Ruling class
1. The nobles of the kingdom: King Ping moved eastward, and seven small clans with different surnames followed the king and provided sacrifices. King Ping was very grateful and guaranteed that they would have positions for generations to come. The big clans such as Zhou, Zhao, Bi, and Mao in the Western Zhou Dynasty were not very prominent in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It is expected that when the Western Zhou Dynasty was destroyed, almost all the big clans fell into decline. The royal family of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty declined and the emperor lost his authority. The newly established clans in the kingdom were far less powerful than those of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The reduction of the status of the emperor and the nobles of the kingdom greatly weakened the entire clan system.
2. Princes: During the Western Zhou Dynasty, "the conquest of rituals and music came from the emperor" ("The Analects of Confucius·Ji's Chapter"). This is the first-class clan composed of the emperor of Zhou and the great nobles of the kingdom. It has the highest political status. status. In the first half of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Qi and Jin successively dominated the Xia, Qin dominated the Xirong, and Chu dominated the barbarians. The overlord had the greatest authority in his circle of influence. Other princes also had great power in their own countries. Political orders to attack and fight came from the princes. This was the second-class clan composed of the princes and their ministers and officials, which politically replaced the first-class clan headed by the Emperor of Zhou.
3. Qing Dafu: In the second half of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Xia countries "politics were controlled by the Dafu", and the government "came from the Dafu" (ibid.). The land and people of the princes were gradually taken away by a few powerful clans. The public office, like the royal family of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, only retained its distinguished status. The power that a strong sect relies on is mainly scholars. This kind of scholar who serves in the family of a senior official is also called a retainer. The retainer is loyal to the head of the family and does not know that there is a monarch. In the 25th year of Zhaogong's "Zuo Zhuan", it is said that "the retainer is also a retainer who dare not know the country." The third-class clan seizes the rights of the second-class clan.
4. Scholars: The war in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was dominated by chariot battles. The large countries such as Jin and Chu had as many as four to five thousand chariots, and the middle countries also had thousands of chariots. There are three soldiers per vehicle, and a country has thousands or even tens of thousands of soldiers. The main force that defends the country is these soldiers fighting in vehicles. Some of them focus on civil affairs, and their main duties are to serve as small officials in prince states and officials in fiefs. Another type is the diners, who seek refuge with the powerful clan and work for their masters to obtain food and clothing. The scholars were probably educated in the six arts (rituals, music, archery, chastity, calligraphy, and mathematics). They were a group of powerful people who were indispensable in military and political affairs, so they were valued by the officials. Scholars' life mainly depended on "food fields". "Food fields" refers to the tax on a certain number of fields. For example, the chief minister of the Shi clan, a great official in the state of Lu, had a "city of one hundred houses" (one hundred fields) as a food town. The land that a scholar ate must be returned to the owner when he leaves office and cannot be treated as private property. Qi Jun once rewarded a woman with fields in Shixi (pronounced jiào in Changqing County, Shandong Province), and also awarded five families to a man who had made military achievements. These rewarded fields and the five rewarded families rented out Taxes become the private property of the recipients. In the second half of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, wars became more and more intense. In order to reward military merit, scholars were given land rewards. For example, in 493 BC (the second year of Duke Aigong of Lu), there was a battle between Zhao Yang of Jin and the Zhongxing clan of Fan clan. A reward was offered: "Whoever defeats the enemy...one hundred thousand fields" (one hundred thousand should be regarded as ten fields by mistake, one hundred thousand acres equals one thousand fields) , the reward seems too heavy). Since fields are awarded to scholars who have performed meritorious services, they naturally become the private property of the scholars. Since it is private property, it can be bought and sold freely. The more military merits there are, the more soldiers will be rewarded. Food fields were turned into appreciation fields, and new landowners with small plots of land emerged in large numbers. They were strong supporters of strong clans, so some powerful clans, such as the Chen family of Qi, the three families of Jin, Han, Zhao and Wei, became countries that represented the lords and to some extent represented the interests of some emerging landlords.
5. Big merchants: During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the kingdom’s commerce was more developed than that of the vassal states. By the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, large and small cities had appeared in the vassal states, and some of them were the commercial centers at that time. Duke Wen of Wei revitalized the country, and Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin were engaged in hegemony, both of which attached great importance to trade. Qi has always been a great commercial state in the East since the Taigong Kingdom. Huan Gong appointed Guan Zhong, a merchant, as his prime minister, and rewarded merchants to travel among various countries to find out the political situation. The big businessmen of the Jin State rode in cars decorated with gold and jade, wore gorgeously embroidered clothes, and made friends with princes, ministers, and officials. This shows that the big businessmen have political status. Especially in the state of Zheng, which was located at the transportation hub between the north and the south, the king and the merchants made a covenant: the king would not infringe on the interests of the merchants, and the merchants would not move to other countries.
Zheng Guo attached great importance to business, and businessmen participated in political activities more significantly. For example, a merchant from Zheng met Qin soldiers on the high road and asked the king to reward his troops, but Qin soldiers did not dare to attack Zheng. Xun Feng (yīng), a nobleman of the Jin state, was captured by Chu. Merchant Zheng wanted to hide him in a truck and escape from Chu. As the Eastern Zhou Dynasty progressed, the status of big businessmen increased. Fan Li, the general of the Yue Kingdom, abandoned his official position to engage in business, and Duanmuci (Zigong), a disciple of Confucius, bought cheap and sold expensive. They all became extremely rich and famous in various countries. The free sale and purchase of land gave merchants the convenience of annexing land and became part of the emerging landlord class.
2. The ruled class
1. Common people: The land under the clan system is hereditary by the eldest son. The descendants of the collateral line were all gone for five generations, and they were reduced from nobles to common people. Most of them had received education in the six arts, and some were promoted to scholars or common people serving as officials, but most of them could only cultivate the fields of their eldest sons and become farmers. There is also a group of people who have lost their clans. For example, the state of Qi assisted the Zhongxing clan of the Fan family of the Jin state. After the Zhongxing family of the Fan family was defeated by Zhao Yang, the tribesmen fled to Qi state to work in farming. This type of common people retained their status as free citizens and were likely to use their wealth and intelligence to enslave the poor and weak and occupy cultivated land. When the land system changed, some people became emerging landlords. Because the number of common people who fell from the nobility was large, the common people were also called common people, and the common people lost the meaning of nobility.
2. Low-level common people: This kind of common people are serfs and cannot be promoted to official positions. "Zuo Zhuan" records that the Qing officials received a number of towns, or received a number of fields, and the fields were all accompanied by people who worked the land. The so-called "indigenous people" and "land residents" were the serfs attached to the fields. There are also some people who either work as servants in the fields (for example, in the 25th year of Duke Xiang of Lu, Shen Xianyu "serves as servants in the wild"), or join the powerful clan and become hermits (for example, in the 25th year of Duke Zhao of Lu, Ji's family raised hermits, The existence of these two types of people means that the common people and low-level common people are losing their farmland.
3. Industry and commerce: There are large and small markets in cities in various countries. The goods sold in the market include valuables such as pearls, jade, and ivory, as well as common necessities, such as preserved wine, crowns, shoes, and robes for people who were executed. Many of these common necessities are made by small craftsmen themselves and sold at their own stalls (stalls). "The Analects of Confucius: Zi Zhang Pian" says that "hundreds of craftsmen live in a stall to achieve their goals", and "Mozi: Shangxian Pian" says It is this type of people who are said to be "workers".
4. Slaves: Any noble (king, minister, doctor) must own slaves, because slaves are the objects of exploitation in handicrafts and commerce. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, common people, low-level common people, and private industry and commerce have been regarded as people owned by the state or the clan. The taxes and labor extracted from them are mainly used for official affairs such as armaments, funerals, contributions, and construction of the state or clan. . Slaves were regarded as "private persons" and were owned by their masters just like livestock. Slaves can be roughly divided into three categories. The first category of slaves, such as ministers, servants, concubines, eunuchs, eunuchs, etc., are exclusively used for various services in the noble families and are not engaged in production at all. The second type of slaves were used in handicraft production to produce products for the nobles to enjoy. In a country, there are high-ranking officials in charge of hundreds of industries, called Gongzheng, Gongshi, or Gongyin, and there are also Gongzheng in a clan. Gongzheng manages a variety of handicrafts, the most important being lathe and metalworking. Turners make chariots and chariots used by nobles, and metalworkers make weapons, ritual instruments, and musical instruments. These handicrafts not only require specialized skills, but more importantly, the nobles monopolize weapons manufacturing to consolidate their dominance. Food, clothing, and utensils related to aristocratic life also required workers with specialized skills to make suitable utensils. Although this type of handicraft slaves are engaged in production, the raw materials and assets of the products are obtained by the nobility from the exploitation of common people, low-level common people, and private industry and commerce. They produce war equipment and daily utensils for the use of the nobility. There is also a third category of slaves who are engaged in woodworking, mining, animal husbandry, salt boiling, fishing, farming and other labor in the mountains, seas, forests, rivers, rivers, swamps, fields and gardens patented by the nobles. All the products produced are for the nobles. All, through the commercial slaves under Jia Zheng's management, were sold and property was obtained to supply the consumption of the nobles. The existence of industrial and commercial slaves hindered the development of private industry and commerce, but was beneficial to the nobility. Therefore, the nobility needed slaves. The more slaves there were, the richer the nobility became. The source of slaves was mainly captives. For example, Xun Lin's father, a senior official in the Jin Dynasty, had meritorious service in defeating Chi Di. Jin Jinggong rewarded Xun Lin's father Di Chen and his family with a thousand families. After the victory in the war, the princes faced the emperor, the small country faced the big country, and there were prisoner presentation ceremonies among the allies, and the nobles shared the benefits of the victory. In addition, weak countries sued for peace from strong countries, and sometimes slaves were used as gifts. For example, in 589 BC (the second year of Duke Chenggong of Lu), Lu State donated 100 carpenters, tailors, and weavers to Chu State.
There were frequent wars in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and soldiers and people of the defeated countries were captured as slaves. Add to this the sinners and slaves who were robbed and sold as well as those who were poor and sold themselves. It can be imagined that the number of slaves in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was huge.
During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, productivity increased due to the use of iron tools in agriculture. Due to the promotion of annexation wars, the clan system was destroyed and the Chinese cultural area was expanded. The increase in productivity and the promotion of annexation wars caused major changes in Eastern Zhou society, mainly in the land ownership system. Landlords who privately owned land and farmers who owned small plots of land appeared. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the two classes of eldest son (the emperor, princes, ministers, officials) and serfs have gradually declined, and the new two classes of landlords and peasants have gradually grown. The second half of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was the beginning of this change.