In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, there were many theories about the division of princes, some said that more than 1200 princes were sealed, some said more than 800 princes, some said more than 400 princes, and some said that 71 princes were sealed, all of which are found in different historical records.
Through the different records in the history books, it can be understood that some areas of the feudal princes in the Western Zhou Dynasty were not very clear, that is, there were many princes whose areas were centered on a certain place, and there was a general area, and there was no very clear division of the territory of the princely states. There are two situations here, one is a princely state with a very clear territory, and the other is a princely state with no clear territory, but it is centered on a certain place, and as for the territorial issue, it is still up to the princes themselves to send troops to occupy and clarify their territory.
Before the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, it belonged to the period of tribal alliances, when there were large and small tribes occupying the land of China, and the territory of the tribes was very unclear, and the territory of the tribes was often determined through wars or consultations between tribes. Dayu's son Qi established the Xia Dynasty, and during the Xia Unification War, many tribes were wiped out, and many tribes were attached to the Xia Dynasty. The tribes attached to the Xia Dynasty later evolved into feudal states, princely states, and the more remote tribes were called "Fang Kingdoms", and the Fang Kingdoms were generally not conquered.
In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, according to the "Zuo Zhuan" and "Xun Qingzi", there were 53 kingdoms of the brothers of the Zhou kings and the kingdoms of the Ji surname, and 18 princely states such as meritorious ministers, former dynasty nobles, descendants of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, descendants of Xia and Shang who followed the Zhou king, and there were 71 princely states in total.
Lu Shang
The 71 vassal states divided during the Western Zhou Dynasty had long formed inherent territories, and there was little change in the borders, and some of the territories between the princes did not have clear boundaries. For example, Jiang Ziya divided the state of Qi, when Jiang Ziya arrived at the fiefdom, he immediately sent troops to occupy the territory of his own fiefdom, and at this time, the Eastern Lai State on the Shandong Peninsula was also sending troops to expand its territory, and the two armies met head-on. After defeating several attacks by the Eastern Lai State, the territory of the State of Qi was basically determined.
In order to win the stability of their own tribes or feudal states, many remote princely states and Fang states expressed their submission to the Zhou Dynasty and accepted the division of Western Zhou, these Fang states and princely states had more than 330 in the early years of Western Zhou, plus the 71 princely states that were originally divided, and the number of 400 was gathered, which was also the source of the 71 kingdoms and more than 400 princely states in Western Zhou.
Including the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou dynasties, a total of more than 800 princely states accepted the division of the Zhou Dynasty, which is the origin of the 800 princes, of course, many princely states were wiped out in the battle.
Generally speaking, during the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were maps, most of which were centered on a certain place and divided into lands with a radius of how many distances. There were clear territorial boundaries between the princely states close to the core area of the Zhou Kingdom, and rivers, mountains, etc. were generally used as landmark boundaries to distinguish the territory. In the relatively remote princely states, the territorial division is very unclear, and they are all centered on a certain place, and as for the territory, they need to expand themselves, and generally use military struggle to determine the specific boundaries of the territory.
Map of the situation of the spring and autumn countries
In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the population was estimated to be about 3.4 million, and the territory was relatively vast, and the 71 vassal states that were divided were not only territorial issues, but also "granted people", such as: Lu Guo: Yin Min Six Tribes, Tiao, Xu, Xiao, Suo, Chang Spoon, Tail Spoon; Wei Guo: Tao, Shi, Fan, Hunger, And Kwai, etc.; Tang Kingdom (Jin State): Huai surname Jiuzong, official Wuzheng.
The feudal vassal states of the Western Zhou Dynasty, especially those with the surname of Ji, were not only granted fiefdoms, but also granted to the people to establish their own vassal states.
The main purposes of the 71 vassal states with the surname Ji in western Zhou were as follows: first, to defend the Zhou royal family; second, to pay taxes on time and support the Zhou royal family with military strength; third, the princely states had the right to divide the feudal states within their own fiefdoms; fourth, the princely states could form their own armies and collect taxes within the feudal states.
In other more remote princely states, the Zhou Dynasty had weaker control over them, and many of the princely states were nominally subordinate and paid less taxes, not to mention the military support for the Zhou royal family!
As for the Western Zhou Dynasty, of course, the map was used, the map at that time was relatively vague, not as accurate as it is now, most of them were rough geographical concepts to demarcate the territory of the princely states, if you want to determine your own territory, you have to rely on the army and the people to open up.