It is often said, "three-year-old generation gap". And if this is really the case, the gap between us and the ancestors of the pre-Qin period is not a generation gap, but a "heavenly graben" that cannot be compared with the Mariana Trench. Many of the actions of the Western Zhou people are now incomprehensible in our eyes, for example, Zhou Tianzi is a son of heaven, why should he seal the princely states, so that he finally let himself fall into the predicament of "holding the son of heaven to make the princes"?
First, the real Zhou Dynasty sub-sealing system
For the "sub-feudal system", there is first a consensus in the historical circles - it is a unique political system of the Zhou Dynasty. However, this "unique" does not mean that the sub-sealing system suddenly appeared in the Zhou Dynasty, that is, the sub-sealing system did mature in the Zhou Dynasty, but it originated earlier.
Using surnames as a differentiation and dividing up other countries, the pre-Qin Hundred Families explored and found that these were actually the first signs as early as the Yellow Emperor period. In the early days of the emergence of the state, with the continuous growth of clan tribes, differentiation and proliferation were inevitable. Therefore, before Zhou Tianzi divided more than a hundred kingdoms, the division of other countries was already a common thing in the land of Shenzhou.
However, the reason why it is said that the system of sub-feudalism is unique to the Zhou Dynasty, that is, it is different from the ancient sub-land and other countries, and it is also different from the "cake" that we think at first glance to distribute the "cake" directly to the princes, because the sub-feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty "is an organic political complex condensed by the integration of the strategy system, the fifth-class knighthood system, the kifu system, and the system of the imperial appointment alliance."
Just from this series of "policy system, fifth-class knighthood system, kifu system, and the imperial alliance system" that we have not heard much about, we can feel that Zhou Tianzi did not simply divide the land to the princes, let alone directly give up his "big cake". So, what is the truth of the sub-sealing system?
Second, the root cause of the division of the Zhou Dynasty
When it comes to the reasons for the division of the Zhou Dynasty, we have to mention an ancient scholar who seems to have nothing to do with this issue- Liu Zongyuan. Liu Zongyuan had studied the ancient sub-sealing well and wrote a "Feudal Theory".
In the text, Liu Zongyuan pointed out that "therefore those who are close to them gather into groups, and the groups are divided, and their struggles will be great, and then there will be soldiers and virtues." And the great ones, and the chiefs of the multitude obey the orders... That is why there are Lixu and then there are county doctors, there are county doctors and then there are princes, there are princes and then there are Fang Bo, Lian Shuai, there are Fang Bo, Lian Shuai and then there is tianzi..." One sentence to sum up: The son of heaven is not what the saint wants to be, it is all forced by the times.
At this time, to put it more broadly, it is "the need for the social order for people's survival." In detail, zhou Tianzi's unification of the world benefits from some supporters, and a stable environment is also needed to rule the world.
Looking at the list of sub-seals in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it is not difficult for us to feel the trickiness of Zhou Tianzi's reward of heroes at that time. According to the Xunzi, the princely states of the Western Zhou Dynasty were as high as seventy-one. Of the seventy-one fiefdoms, fifty-three were distributed to Zhou Tianzi's relatives, that is, the sons of Ji. There were at least ten feudal states belonging to meritorious men with foreign surnames. There were six fiefdoms belonging to the previous generation, that is, the old nobles of the Xia and Shang dynasties. Others were mostly vassal tribes that later became fiefdoms.
There is no doubt that the children of the Ji surname and the heroes of the foreign surname are the main support for Zhou Tianzi to become the Tianzi. Therefore, the division of Zhou Tianzi is to a large extent similar to liu bang's reward for meritorious deeds that we are familiar with, and has an important role in soothing people's hearts. As for the nobles of the previous generations, as well as the adherents, Zhou Tianzi ordered them to divide the land and other countries to accept and reward them.
At the same time, in the era when the ox cart was the top means of transportation and the mud dirt road was the "Kangzhuang Avenue", Zhou Tianzi also knew that he did not really control the strength of the whole world. Instead of painstakingly managing the frontier, it is better to "delegate power" and directly manage Gyeonggi's "one acre and three points of land".
In the final analysis, Zhou Tianzi in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty was also an "entrepreneur" of the blue wisps of Yanlu. They're not stupid. They were too aware of their strength and situation, so they had to implement the sub-sealing system after the initial determination of the world.
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Third, Zhou Tianzi's practical measures to "divide the cake"
Zhou Tianzi, who implemented the sub-sealing system, was not stupid. This can also be seen from the fact that the sub-feudal system implemented in the Zhou Dynasty was "an organic political complex condensed from the relevant systems such as the integrated policy system, the fifth-class knighthood system, the kifu system, and the system of the Imperial Appointment League".
The "system of planning" is somewhat similar to today's government documents. It was originally a religious ritual, but it developed into a political activity during the Zhou Dynasty. Zhou Tianzi's personnel appointments, rewards, etc., will be formulated into a decree document, and then conveyed to the ordained person through the ritual of the ancestral temple. Therefore, this move somehow uses "Providence" to control the taste of the people.
The "fifth-class knighthood system" is related to the familiar "duke, marquis, uncle, son, and man". The fifth-class knighthood system was the main knighthood system of the Zhou Dynasty, which was closely linked to the official system, the military system, the tribute that the courtiers were to offer to the Zhou Tianzi, and the food that the courtiers could receive. And it is itself an important component of the strict social hierarchy of the Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, this system can be described as Zhou Tianzi's killer skill to open up the gap between the "cake splitters" and themselves.
"Qifu system", 畿 is Wang Qi, and fu is a collective name for the area outside Wang Qi. The original meaning of "obedience" is "obedience", which refers to the feudal states of the princes and the barbarian lands outside their control. This system first distinguishes between the rule of Zhou Tianzi and the barbarians. Secondly, within the Zhou Dynasty, Tianzi also divided the ruling area into different circles according to kinship and etiquette with Gyeonggi as the core, just like the "Russian Matryoshka Doll".
But this "nesting doll" is not for fun, but for local governance to be more adapted to local conditions, for Zhou Tianzi's rule over the world to be more comfortable. Therefore, this move can be described as an important guarantee for Zhou Tianzi to sit firmly on the throne of Tianzi.
The "DPRK recruitment alliance system" may be unfamiliar to everyone. But when it comes to the hegemonic alliance of the Spring and Autumn Warring States, you should be able to understand what this is all about. The Imperial Alliance was originally the power of Zhou Tianzi as the lord of the world. Princes need to go to "report" regularly according to the system, and report to Zhou Tianzi about the government, tribute, and so on.
When Zhou Tianzi's power was sufficient, the system of the Imperial Appointment Alliance was an important part of Zhou Tianzi's exercise of power over the localities, and it was also the key to his authority to promote the identity of Tianzi. Later, during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, the princes replaced tianzi and launched the hui alliance, that is, it was regarded as "the lile conquest from the princes", that is, because the system of the imperial alliance had such a significance.
Therefore, from the standpoint of the Zhou Tianzi in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the implementation of the unique system of sub-feudalism was required by the situation, and it was also the means to select and select the most able to consolidate the rule. It's just that "feudal non-saintly intentions also, potential also." Later, with the decline of Zhou Tianzi, the "big cake" of the world was more occupied by the princes. The "potential" has changed, and the "feudal (feudal state-building)" only seems "irrational".