From December 20 to 22, 2016, Mr. Lin Hu, a well-known archaeologist and professor at Jilin University, gave the "2016 Fu Si Nian Lecture" at the Institute of History and Linguistics of the Academia Sinica in Taipei, giving a speech on "Three Topics of Shang History", entitled "The State Form of the Shang Dynasty", "Looking at the Social Structure of the Shang Kingdom from the Four Seeds", and "The Rights of the Shang King", which depicted the Shang Dynasty Kingdom he studied in a macroscopic and specific way to the audience in a three-day speech. The "Ancient Chinese Studies Young Scholars Study Association" felt that the opportunity was rare, so it asked Huang Weizhi to record and type a verbatim draft, and Chen Hongyin compiled it into a report, so that young students could get a glimpse of the style of their Shang Dynasty research.
"2016 Fu Si Nian Lecture - Three Questions of Shang History" Scene (Photo by Chen Hongyin)
"The State Form of the Shang Dynasty" was the topic of the first day, and Mr. Lin Hu explained his understanding of the state form of the Shang Dynasty from the concept of "FangGuo Alliance". The concept of the "Fangguo Alliance" was proposed by Mr. Lin in 1980, when Mr. Yu Shengwu established a set of groundbreaking theories in the Shang Dynasty with the Aztec military alliance. Lin Hu was deeply influenced by it, believing that the nature of the "Fangguo Alliance" was equivalent to a military alliance. In 2013, Mr. Wang Zhenzhong put forward the theory that "the Shang Kingdom is a composite state" and criticized the "Fangguo Alliance Theory", arguing that this theory "ignores the dominance of the Xia, Shang and Zhou kings over the local princely states". Mr. Lin responded in this lecture by inferring from the exchanges between the Fang kingdoms and the power relations between the Shang kings that the Shang kings enjoyed non-military rights in the Fangguo alliance, so the "Fangguo Alliance Theory" also believed that the Shang Kingdom was composed of kingdoms and vassal states, which was not much different from Mr. Wang's statement.
Mr. Lin pointed out that the situation in the Shang Dynasty was: "Fang Guo is lined up", and the Bu Ci records a large number of "Fang", "Fang Bo" and "Bo", "Fang" is the meaning of Fang Guo, and "Fang Bo" is the leader of Fang Guo, and "Bo" is the abbreviation of "Fang Bo", which does not belong to the system of the fifth rank of the later generation.
How does Mr. Lin argue that there is a so-called "Alliance of FangGuo" between the Shang Kingdom and the parties? Starting from the glyphs and grammar of the two words "ratio" and "from" in the oracle bone, he overturned the previous interpretation of the two words as one, and the "anti-conformity is compared" in the "Shuowen", pointing out that the glyph change of the word "bi" can correspond to the evolution of the word "妣", and "bi" should be from "dagger"; and in grammar, "bi" is often used in the sentence form of "Wang Bi A certain party", and "from" is not mixed, and "Wang" than "A certain party" is improperly interpreted as "Wang" from 'so, cut a certain party". The oracle bones record many times that the Shang king "than" one country to cut another Fang state, the "ratio" here is the meaning of alliance, which proves from the side that there is a relationship between the Shang king and other Fang states, the Fang kingdom is not all the vassals of the Shang king, and the state form of the Shang Dynasty is far more complicated than we previously thought.
A compilation of the four characters of "ren", "dagger", "cong", and "bi" in the oracle bones (quoted from Lin Hu, "The Alliance of the Shang Dynasty Fangguo in the Oracle Bones", included in the "Lin Hu Academic Anthology", p. 73)
Although the Fang kingdom was not all vassals of the Shang kings, there were indeed three kinds of princely ranks in the Shang Dynasty, namely: Hou, Ren and Tian. "Hou" developed from "the one who waited for the king", was ordered by the king, did things for the king, participated in joint operations, went out alone, laid the foundation of the princely state, paid tribute to the king, entered the country to reclaim the pasture, caused illness, and treated funerals for him... And the word "Ren" should initially be a foreign official who was specifically responsible for specific things for the Shang King, and gradually developed into a kind of knighthood; "Tian" This title appeared later in the oracle bones, but in the late period, the status of "Tian" was comparable to that of "Bo", and it is speculated that "Tian" was developed by the Shang King's Huling subjects to zhitian.
Mr. Lin stressed that the Shang Dynasty did not have a fifth-class knighthood system, and "Bo" was the title of the head of the Fang State in the Shang Dynasty, which may overlap with "Hou", "Ren" and "Tian", but it is not the same thing. There are two kinds of relations between the Fang state and the Fang state in the Shang Dynasty, one is that the originally separated Fang states are hostile or allied with each other because of the war; the other is that the mother country gradually differentiates into relatively independent sub-states, and the two are natural allies of each other, and the child states often become the princely states of the mother country.
Turtle Belly Jia Bu Ci "Xiao tun Second Yin Virtual Character C Edition" Plate No. 069 (now in the Historical Relics Exhibition Hall of the Institute of History and Language, photographed by Chen Hongyin)
The wonderful thing about the Fangguo Alliance is that "Fangguo" does not necessarily equal "country", but contains greater inclusiveness. Mr. Lin pointed out that there is a misunderstanding in the archaeology of the Shang Dynasty today, which tends to think that an archaeological culture is a fang country, and a fang country is equal to a country. Mr. Lin believes that a small archaeological culture often contains only one duyi group. In theory, one duyi group is enough to develop into a simple state, but in practice, the formation of a state is often developed by multiple duyi groups. If it is said that the Du Wei group is the basic cell of the Fang Guo, then there must be more or less of the Du Wei Group cells of different Fang countries - some Fang countries already have the size of the country, while some Fang Guo does not. Observing Fang Guo from the perspective of Du Yiqun can make the reference to Fang Guo larger, so that its theory is more varied and explanatory.
Mr. Lin abandoned the concept of the world under heaven and feudal guards built since the Zhou Dynasty, and started from the form of the Fang State and the relationship between them to explore the state form of the Shang Dynasty. He argues that the Fang state may contain one or more dude groups, rather than necessarily a state in its entirety. The relationship between the different countries may be alliance or hostility, and the Shang King was the lord of the largest alliance of the fang countries at that time. The Fang kingdoms under the Shang kings formed alliances or hostilities through war, and some gradually split up due to the development of the DuYi group. The power relationship between the Shang king and the countries under his hands, in addition to military power, also had a certain degree of political power, not a simple military alliance.
The lecture on the second day was entitled "The Social Structure of the Shang Kingdom from the Four Seeds of Prophecy.". In the early study of oracle bones, scholars tended to believe that the tortoiseshell divination must be based on the Shang King, who had the power to divinate everything and interpret everything, although at some times he would give this power to the Champer, and the subject of the astrology was still the Shang King. However, with the deepening of the study of oracle bones, scholars have gradually found that there is a type of divination in the oracle bones that does not take the Shang king, but takes the "zi" as the main body, and the era is mostly from the Wuding period, most of the scholars call it "non-Wang Bu Ci", and Mr. Lin believes that the reference to "non-Wang Bu Ci" is not clear enough, and then calls it "Zi Bu Ci".
Does the "son" of "Zi Bu Ci" refer to a person's private name or title? Is the "son" male, or female? Are the "sons" of Wu Ding's sons? Or are they other family leaders who are related to the Shang King? The academic community has carried out many research and demonstrations on this. Mr. Lin pointed out that the title "son" is found in many bronzes of different ethnic emblems, and there is no sufficient evidence to argue that "son" is someone's private name; among the materials of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there is no shortage of examples of "Jun" being called "Son", and "Jun" is often an honorific title for Changshang, so it is difficult to limit the "Son" and "Jun" to the honorific title of women; if "Zi" refers specifically to the son of Wu Ding, then "Zi Bu Ci" should be sacrificed to the direct ancestors such as Zu Jia, Zu Geng, Zu Xin, Zu Yi, and Father Ding, but "Zi Bu Ci" However, no relevant records can be found; therefore, Mr. Lin tends to exclude various hypotheses that lack evidence, and from the perspective of "the son is the head of the family who is related to the Shang King", he constructs the "social structure of the Shang Kingdom" outside the "Shang King's perspective".
Mr. Lin divided the "Zi Bu Ci" found today into four categories: A Seed Bu Ci (also known as "Women's Bu Ci" in academic circles), B Seed Bu Ci (also known as "Noon Group Bu Ci"), C Seed Bu Ci (also known as "Sub-Group Bu Ci"), and Hua Dong Zi Bu Ci. There are many "sons", "women" and "women and children" in the divination of the zi bu ci, in addition to relatives, the bu ci also mentions slaves; divination is mostly for misfortune, disease and sacrifice. From the analysis of astrology, the families of these "sons" are often quite large, such as the A seed Bu Ci can clearly see the family composition of "three generations in the same house". These different families were close to the Shang king, but they all also served the king. At the same time, "living together as a group" is also "mixed into a family", and the family has a close relationship, living next to each other and sharing solidarity. Some of these mixed families are "good friends" with each other, and some small families are the "private estates" of large families, providing different services for the big families. Mr. Lin stressed that the family formed a complex network of relationships through blood, marriage and making friends to support the Shang King. The "many sons" and "many births" groups mentioned in the "Zi Bu Ci" were the pillars of the Shang Dynasty's royal power.
The third day's lecture was entitled "The Rights of the Shang King." Although Mr. Lin Hu repeatedly emphasized that the state form of the Shang Dynasty was the Fangguo Alliance, and the Fangguo Alliance was not simply equal to a military alliance, he also recognized that the essence of the Shang King's power was the command of the military alliance—constantly defeating other countries was the only way for the Shang King to consolidate his own power and position.
The power of the Shang kings came from the military, so what was the structure of the military system of the Shang Dynasty? Mr. Lin pointed out that blindly uniting with other countries cannot convince the public. The shang king's military strength still depended mainly on his own people, which the oracle called "the people", sometimes referred to simply as "the crowd" or "people". They cultivate in peacetime, train in the fields and hunts, and can be recruited as soldiers at any time.
With the inscription deer skull,"Xiaotun Second Yin Void Text A Compilation", plate no. 3941, the content is the matter of the Shang King Tian Hunting. (Now in the Historical Relics Exhibition Hall of the Institute of History and Language, photo by Chen Hongyin)
Judging from the content of the oracle bones, in addition to the people under the conscription system, the Shang King also formed professional special forces, such as "Duo Shooting", "Duoma", "Duoma Qiang", and "Duochen". Because the content that can be reflected in the speech is very limited, the specific functions and types of professional armies cannot be clearly stated, but the "multi-shooter" should be an archer, mainly composed of "people"; and the "horse" of "Doma" and "Domaqiang" refers to horses or chariots. In addition to the "multitudes" who were selected, the Shang King also drove criminals into battle.
Weapons excavated from Tomb No. 1004 in Anyang (now in the Historical Relics Exhibition Hall of the Institute of History and Language, photo by Chen Hongyin)
The victory of the war contributed to the stability of the Shang king's power, and the succession system of "brother to brother and brother" could effectively avoid the new king from being too young to dominate the war when he succeeded to the throne, so Mr. Lin Hu believed that the reason why the Shang Dynasty was dominated by "brother and brother" should be related to this.
In addition to military power, the Shang king's right to sacrifice was also an important means for him to maintain his royal power. The Shang king had the right to interpret the divinity, the divine power—or rather, the substitute of heaven and earth. The power of ancestors and heaven is consistent at some times, because the power of ancestors is also given by heaven, and the relationship between ancestors and heaven is closer than that between the current Shang king and heaven, so the sacrifice of ancestors is also an important part of establishing authority. Unlike the Shang Dynasty, merchants did not only sacrifice the ancestors of the Shang clan, the oracle bones indicate that the merchants also sacrificed Yi Yin, Mr. Lin Hu pointed out, this is to expand the scope of the sacrifice.
The right to sacrifice was combined with economic rights, and by holding a large number of sacrifices, the Shang king justifiably demanded tribute from all the tribes to him. The Shang King could even set up a land in the name of an auxiliary sacrifice, and materials and manpower flowed through it, thus accumulating great wealth.
The shang dynasty royal power established a superior position and legitimacy between "worship" and "rong", but the government departments could not only have two functions: sacrifice and war. From the perspective of the oracle bones, the Shang Dynasty already had a certain scale of government organizations, including clergy, such as "Bu" and "Wu"; clerical officials, such as "album" and "history"; judicial personnel, such as "scholars"; financial officials, such as "multi-task", "Duojia", "Pastoral"; military officials, such as "Duozhen", "Ya"; grass-roots managers, "Clan Yin", "Lijun"; Wang's private life management personnel, such as "Zai", "Bed", "Duo Dog".
Sleeping Room Bowl (now in the Historical Relics Exhibition Hall of the Institute of History and Language, photographed by Chen Hongyin)
Mr. Lin summed up the content of the three-day speech, he said: "It is generally believed that there are three sources of power of the Shang King: divine power, military power and clan power, I think from the Xia Shang Dynasty to the Shang Dynasty, the importance of military power has actually exceeded the divine power, the Shang King obtained the throne through military activities, and consolidated his royal power with continuous war; and the theocracy and clan power are higher than the clan power. Because the Shang King, as the noblest nobleman, was ordained by heaven from the beginning of his ancestors, the spiritual pillar of Shang To the end was 'there is no mandate of heaven', so 'the great affairs of the country, in the worship and Rong' is a summary of the actual experience of the early state. Mr. Lin observed the state and society of the Shang Dynasty, and the most important thing was to start from the two points of view of military and sacrifice, thus forming the theoretical basis of the "Alliance of FangGuo".
Mr. Lin's research methods, perspectives and research results aroused extensive discussion among the participants. Mr. Zhang Guming (Associate Researcher of the Institute of History and Languages) has repeatedly asked questions from the perspective of Western history research, trying to provoke a dialogue between the two fields. For example, he discussed with Mr. Lin whether the feudal system of medieval Europe was more suitable for contrasting with the Fang-state alliance of the Shang Dynasty than the Aztec civilization. Mr. Li Yongdi (associate researcher of the Institute of History and Linguistics) said that it is difficult for today's Chinese history researchers to look at the Shang and Zhou culture outside the political system of "Nagong-Wang" and "feudal princes", but Western archaeology is more accustomed to using the concept of commodity trade and market to analyze early countries; Western sinologists are more inclined to believe that the study of the Shang Dynasty with oracle bones cannot avoid the problem of "merchant-basedism". Mr. Lin agreed that the study with oracle bones alone must be one-sided. He further pointed out that the excavation of Yin Ruins was not complete, often focusing on tombs, and hoped that after more materials were unearthed in the future, scholars studying the Shang Dynasty would be able to analyze them from a new perspective.
"Changyu Yin Ruins" stamp issued by Shiyu (quoted from the website of the Historical Relics Exhibition Hall of Shiyu Institute)
Fu Sinian's lecture "Three Questions of Shang History" ended perfectly on December 22, and Mr. Lin Hun's lectures were extensive and rich in content, from military, political, sacrifice, family organization, to officials, for the audience to outline a vast image of the Shang Dynasty. Its research method emphasizes "starting from excavated materials" and attaches importance to pre-Qin classics and documents, but does not credulously believe in the early dynastic system after the beautification of the Warring States Qin and Han. Mr. Lin has been immersed in the study of archaeology and history in the Shang Dynasty for decades, leading the pace of research by countless scholars. Mr. Lin said that it was a wonderful and honorable experience, but why not for the participants?