文化透视讲义(周朝).doc

1.The Zhou Period (11th Century-221B.C.) The dynasty that reigned for the longest period in Chinese History; A dynasty that enjoys at once the reputation of utmost honor and the notoriety of utmost chaos; A dynasty that gives birth to a complete philosophical system that is later considered the core of Chinese cultureSub periods of Zhou Dynasty: It is divided into two sub periods by King Pings removal eastward（平王东迁）in 770 B.C. Western Zhou (11th ct.-770BC) & Eastern Zhou (770-221BC)Eastern Zhou is further split into two subperiods: - Spring and Autumn Period (770-475BC) - Warring States Period (475-221BC)Western Zhou (11th ct.-770BC) The Rising of Zhou and the Mandate of Heaven Proto-Feudalism of Zhous government system: the Enfeoffment of Dukes (分封诸侯）Notice: 841 B.C. the first year of consecutive annual dating of the history of ChinaWhat is the Mandate of Heaven?The right to rule is granted by Heaven. Theres only one Heaven. Therefore there should be only one ruler. The right to rule is based on the virtue of the ruler. The right to rule is not limited to one dynasty.What are the positive and negative sides of such a notion?It gives the ruler prestige and religious importance. It gives the ruler supreme power. It allows a new ruler to gain power quickly. It justifies rebellion as long as the rebellion is successful in the end.Enfeoffment The act of investing with any dignity or possession. This term was mostly used in feudal law. Under common law, the act or process of transferring possession and ownership of an estate in land is called enfeoffment. The property or estate so transferred can also be termed as enfeoffment. Transaction of a land held by a person under a fee simple from one party to another comes under enfeoffment. There should be a written evidence of that transaction.The Enfeoffment(分封制) in Western Zhou Chinese and Western historians call the type of government of the Zhou Dynasty a kind of proto-feudal system (封建制度) because though in many parts, the custom of enfeoffment resembles the one in Middle Age Europe, they are not identical. How does the enfeoffment work? All of those who were bestowed with the royal domain also received different ranks of nobility, which were known as five ranks (五爵）： Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron. The emperor of Zhou （周天子）owned the land and granted the dukes the land and its residents. The dukes could sub-grant the land and its residents to the ministers（卿）, who could in turn sub-grant them to the grand masters（大夫）or servicemen（士）. This formed a pyramid-like social structure. 古代宗法制（patriarch system）是Enfeoffment的基础，在家庭范围是为patriarch system ，在国家范围是为Enfeoffment 。 Why proto-feudalism?Historians now consider Zhous rule as a more sophisticated version of earlier tribal organization. Zhou system has family ties and blood relations as its base instead of feudal legal bonds. Zhou kings control on the territory is maintained by rituals and royal obligation, thus it weakens quickly as time wears on.Eastern Zhou(770-221B.C.)A. The Spring and Autumn PeriodThe fall of the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Hao ( 镐 ) , marks the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period ( 春秋时期 ) , which represented an era in Chinese history between 722 BC and 403 BC. During the flight from the western capital to the east, the Zhou king relied on the nearby lords of Qin ( 秦 ) , Zheng ( 郑 ) and Jin ( 晋 ) for protection from barbarians and rebellious lords. Emperor Ping (周平王）had to rely on Dukes of Jin and Zheng to remove his capital in 770 B.C.Five Overlords (春秋五霸）：Duke Huan of Qi 齊桓公, Duke Wen of Jin 晉文公, Duke Mu of Qin 秦穆公, Duke Xiang of Song 宋襄公, and King Zhuang of Chu 楚莊王.With the Zhou domain greatly reduced, limited to Luoyang and nearby areas, the Zhou court could no longer support six groups of standing troops ( 六军 ) . Subsequent Zhou kings had to request help from neighboring or powerful states for protection from raids and for resolution of internal power struggles. The Zhou court would never regain its original authority; the Zhou court was relegated to being merely a figurehead of the feudal states. The newly powerful states were more eager to maintain aristocratic privileges over the traditional ideology of supporting the weak ruling entity during times of unrest ( 匡扶社稷 ), which had been widely propagated during imperial China to consolidate power into the ruling family. Dukes Huan of Qi ( 齐桓公 ) and Wen of Jin ( 晋文公 ) made further steps in installing the overlordship system, which brought relative stability, but in shorter time periods than before. Annexations increased, favoring the several most powerful states, including Qin, Jin, Qi and Chu ( 楚 ) . The overlord role gradually drifted from its stated intention of protecting weaker states; the overlordship eventually became a system of hegemony of major states over weaker satellites of Chinese and “barbarian” origin. The great states used the pretext of aid and protection to intervene and gain advantages over the smaller states during their internal quarrels. Later overlords were mostly derived from these great states. They proclaimed themselves master of their territories, without even recognizing the petty figurehead of Zhou. Establishment of the local administration system, with its officials appointed by the government, gave states better control over the dominion. The three states of Qin, Jin and Qi not only optimized their own strength, but also repelled the southern state of Chu , whose rulers had proclaimed themselves kings. The Chu armies gradually intruded into the Yellow River Basin . Framing Chu as the “southern barbarian”, Chu Man , was merely a pretext to warn Chu not to intervene into their respective spheres of influence. Chu intrusion was checked several times in three major battles with increasing violence - the Battle of Chengpu ( 城濮之战 ) , the Battle of Bi and the Battle of Yanling; this resulted in the restorations of the states of Chen ( 陈 ) and Cai ( 蔡 ) . After a period of increasingly exhaustive warfare, Qi, Qin, Jin and Chu finally met for a disarmament conference in 579 BC, where the other states essentially became satellites. In 546 BC, Jin and Chu agreed to yet another truce. During the relatively peaceful 6th century BC, the two coastal states in todays Zhejiang ( 浙江 ) , Wu ( 吴 ) and Yue ( 越 ) , gradually grew in power. After defeating and banishing King Fu Chai of Wu ( 吴王夫差 ) , King Gou Jian of Yue ( 越王勾践 ) became the last recognized overlord. This era of peace was only a prelude to the period of the Warring States Period. The four powerful states were all in the midst of power struggles. Six elite landholding families waged war on each other in Jin. The Chen family was eliminating political enemies in Qi. Legitimacy of the rulers was often challenged in civil wars by various royal family members in Qin and Chu . Once all these power strugglers firmly established themselves in their dominions, the bloodshed among states would continue in the Warring State Period. The date for the beginning of the Warring States Period is somewhat in dispute. Although it is frequently cited as 475 BC , the Warring States Period officially started in 403 BC when the three remaining elite families in Jin - Zhao, Wei and Han - partitioned the state; the impotent Zhou court was forced to recognized their authority. B.The Warring States Period The Warring States Period ( 战国时期 ) takes place from sometime in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by Qin in 221 BC. The date for the beginning of the Warring States Period is somewhat in dispute. While it is frequently cited as 475 BC, following the Spring and Autumn Period, 403 BC, the date of the tripartition of the State of Jin , is also sometimes considered as the beginning of the period. It is nominally considered to be the second part of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, following the Spring and Autumn Period. Like the Spring and Autumn Period, the king of Zhou acted merely as a figurehead. The Warring States Period, in contrast to the Spring and Autumn Period, was a period when regional warlords annexed smaller states around them and consolidated their rule. The process began in the Spring and Autumn Period, and by the 3rd century BC, seven major states had risen to prominence. These Seven Warring States ( 战国七雄 ), were the Qi ( 齐 ), the Chu ( 楚 ), the Yan ( 燕 ), the Han ( 韩 ), the Zhao ( 赵 ), the Wei ( 魏 ) and the Qin ( 秦 ). In 403 BC, the three major families of Jin, with the approval of the Zhou king, partition Jin into three states: the State of Han , the State of Zhao , and the State of Wei . The three family heads were given the title of Marquess ( 侯 ). The State of Jin continued to exist with a tiny piece of territory until 376 BC when the rest of the territory was partitioned by the Three Jins. In 371 BC, Marquess Wu of Wei passed away without specifying a successor, causing Wei to fall into an internal war of succession. After three years of civil war, Zhao and Han, sensing an opportunity, invaded Wei. On the verge of conquering Wei, the leaders of Zhao and Han fell into disagreement on what to do with Wei and both armies mysteriously retreated. As a result, King Hui of Wei was able to ascend onto the throne of Wei. In 354 BC, King Hui of Wei initiated a large scale attack at Zhao. By 353 BC , Zhao was losing badly, and one of their major cities-Handan ( 邯郸 ), a city that will eventually become Zhaos capital-was being besieged. As a result, the neighbouring State of Qi decided to help Zhao. The strategy Qi used, suggested by the famous tactician Sun Bin ( 孙膑 ), who at the time was the Qi army advisor, was to attack Weis territory while the main Wei army is busy sieging Zhao, forcing Wei to retreat. The strategy was a success; the Wei army hastily retreated, and encountered the Qi midway, culminating into the Battle of Guiling ( 桂陵之战 ) where Wei was decisively defeated. The event spawned the famous phrase 围魏救赵 , meaning attacking Wei to save Zhao. In 341 BC, Wei attacked Han, and Qi interfered again. The two generals from the previous Battle of Guiling met again, and due to the brilliant strategy of Sun Bin, Wei was again decisively defeated at the Battle of Maling ( 马陵之战 ). The situation for Wei took an even worse turn when Qin, taking advantage of Wei series of defeats by Qi, attacked Wei in 340 BC under the advice of famous Qin reformer Shang Yang ( 商鞅 ). Wei was devastatingly defeated and was forced to cede a large portion of its territory to achieve a truce. This left their capital Anyi vulnerable, so Wei was also forced to move their capital to Daliang. After these series of events, Wei became severely weakened, and the Qi and Qin became two of the dominant states in China . In 334 BC , the rulers of Wei and Qi agreed to recognize each other as Kings, formalizing the independence of the states and the powerlessness of the Zhou throne since the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty . The King of Wei and the King of Qi joined the ranks of the King of Chu , whose predecessors had been Kings since the Spring and Autumn Period . From this point on, all the other states eventually declare their Kingship, signifying the beginning of the end of the Zhou Dynasty. After these series of events, Wei became severely weakened, and the Qi and Qin became two of the dominant states in China . In 334 BC , the rulers of Wei and Qi agreed to recognize each other as Kings, formalizing the independence of the states and the powerlessness of the Zhou throne since the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty . The King of Wei and the King of Qi joined the ranks of the King of Chu , whose predecessors had been Kings since the Spring and Autumn Period . From this point on, all the other states eventually declare their Kingship, signifying the beginning of the end of the Zhou Dynasty. Towards the end of the Warring States Period, the State of Qin became disproportionately powerful compared to the other six states. As a result, the policies of the six states became overwhelmingly oriented towards dealing with the Qin threat, with two opposing schools of thought: Hezong ( 合纵 ) and Lianheng ( 连横 ) , or alliance with Qin to participate in its ascendancy. There were some initial successes in Hezong, though it eventually broke down. Qin repeatedly exploited the Lianheng strategy to defeat the states one by one. During this period, many philosophers and tacticians travelled around the states recommending the rulers to put their respective ideas into use. These lobbyists were famous for their tact and intellect, and were collectively known as Zonghengjia ( 纵横家 ), taking its name from the two main schools of thought. In 316 BC, Qin conquers the Shu area. In 230 BC, Qin conquers Han. In 225 BC, Qin conquers Wei. In 223 BC, Qin conquers Chu . In 222 BC, Qin conquers Yan and Zhao. In 221 BC, Qin conquers Qi, completing the unification o