Introduction: When we usually say that the dynastic cycle does not exceed three hundred years, we refer to the feudal dynasty, and the Xia Shang Wednesday Dynasty in the era of slave society was established for far more than three hundred years. So why is there such a big difference? This involves many reasons such as territorial area, religion, social system, land system, and way of governing the country. Let's elaborate on the main reasons below.
Xia Shang Zhou's direct rule was small
During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, the first three dynasties imported into China's ancient dynasties ruled a small scope due to the relationship between ancient productive forces. The core rule of the Shang Dynasty was in southern Hebei and northern Henan; the core of the Zhou Dynasty was in the Guanzhong region, and it was not until the use of patriarchy and sub-feudalism coupled with feudal expansion that the dynasty's influence expanded.
That is to say, at that time, the dynasty was basically a kingdom with the largest territory and power ratio, and countless other fang states and princes existed in the form of tribute or bondage. There are many territories in the surrounding areas, and there is no need for you to fight for life and death; secondly, the ancient kingdoms and princes are more Buddhist, usually 50 miles, hundreds of miles of such territories can become a country (the earliest title of the Chu state is 50 miles). It is equivalent to the princes living their own small lives in the case of chickens and dogs. Therefore, basically everyone is at peace with each other, and if it were not for the anger and resentment of the Central Dynasty, it would not have changed the dynasty.
Xia Shang Zhou was a slave society, and the social system and land tenure patterns that led to dynastic change usually came from external forces rather than due to land annexation similar to feudal dynasties. Therefore, the establishment of the three dynasties is very long.
Slave society was generally constituted by slaves and slave owners, and by the institutions of administration at all levels established on this basis. The feudal dynasty was basically the allocation of landlords and self-employed peasants, as well as the various social systems and officials and management institutions at all levels established on this basis.
Usually the usual law of feudal dynasties not exceeding three hundred years is as follows: the central government in the middle and early period of the dynasty controls a large amount of land and means of production, so it can ensure that the commoners and landlords have a reasonable proportion of land ownership. In this way, the income of the commoners, the interests of the landlords, and the taxes of the imperial court were all in a perfect balance, and the dynasty's national strength gradually reached its peak on this basis. This process takes about a hundred years, and the next hundred years is usually the stage of land annexation that lays the hidden danger of the demise of the dynasty.
When the dynasty is in its heyday, Guotai Min'an will spawn an outbreak of population. After more than a hundred years of development, although the territory of the dynasty expanded accordingly, the land suitable for cultivation did not increase too quickly. The rapidly growing population is in conflict with the depletion of land allocation resources. When the per capita land allocation is reduced to a certain extent, the resilience of civilians to risks is greatly reduced. Once there is a risk, the land can only be pawned to the landlord, and from then on it becomes a tenant. The reduction of self-employed farmers is bound to affect the national tax base, and if the dynasty itself has no way to reverse this situation and wants to ensure that the tax is not reduced, it can only desperately increase the tax on a smaller tax base. When the peasants were overwhelmed by heavy taxes, a large-scale peasant revolt would break out, and the rule of the imperial court would be seriously shaken. Until a new dynasty rises and regains control of large amounts of land resources, this is another cycle.
This phenomenon basically does not exist in slave society, because slaves are firmly bound to the land and basically do not occupy any means of production. Whether it was the Xia, Shang, Zhou and other dynasties or other fang states and princes, the slave system was practiced, so the attitude of the rulers at that time to slaves was the same. Therefore, in the Xia Shang Dynasty, the Great Slave Revolt was rarely heard, and none of the dynastic changes were caused by the slave revolt. The demise of the dynasty was the same as the external forces from the outside Fang Kingdom, and the Shang extinguished the Xia and the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang. Therefore, the founding time of the Xia Shang Zhou Dynasty was far more than three hundred years.
Factors such as theocracy, patriarchy, blood, and ritual law caused the Xia Shang Zhou to have a long time to establish the state
Before Confucianism and several major religions became the mainstream, forces such as thunder and lightning were revered by the ancients as gods. Therefore, in the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the theocracy and ritual law occupied an important position, and even the Confucians put the ritual law in a very important position; and the priests who communicated with the gods in these three dynasties had a high status, and the theory of the divine right of kings was also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Whether it was expeditions, priests, and weddings and funerals, they would all do divination, so the Xia And Shang Dynasties had their own three books of "Lianshan Yi", "Guizang Yi", and "Zhou Yi" (the first two have been lost). Even the princes and the leaders of the Fang kingdom were convinced of this, so they would not rebel and attack the imperial court with divine power unless they had to.
Secondly, the establishment of a patriarchal system and a sub-feudal system linked by blood in the Zhou Dynasty was also an important reason for the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty for eight hundred years. The princes are all blood relatives, no special circumstances do you mean rebellion? Moreover, in the early days of the division, the princely states did not border each other, and everyone's enemies were fierce Hu people. Therefore, everyone could only help each other to expand their territory in the relationship between relatives, and the influence of the Zhou Dynasty also reached a more distant frontier with the expansion of the princes. Annexations occur only after bordering each other, so this is one of the reasons why the founding of the country exceeded three hundred years.
brief summary:
In summary, due to the Xia Shang Wednesday Dynasty under the superposition of multiple factors such as religion, social system, land system and so on, it formed a longer period of statehood than the feudal dynasty.
I am the emperor of history, welcome your attention; if there is a flaw, the axe is right.