Zhou and Shang
The name Zhou appears often in the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang
kingdom, sometimes as a friendly tributary neighbor and at other times as a
hostile one. This pattern is confirmed by records found at the Zhou
archaeological site. Marriages were occasionally made between the two
ruling houses. The Zhou also borrowed arts such as bronze casting from
their more cultivated neighbor. The Zhou royal house, however, had already
conceived the idea of replacing Shang as the master of China—a conquest
that took three generations. Although the conquest was actually carried out
by his sons, Wenwang should be credited with molding the Zhou kingdom
into the most formidable power west of the Shang. Wenwang extended the
Zhou sphere of influence to the north of the Shang kingdom and also made
incursions to the south, thus paving the way for the final conquest
by Wuwang.
In Chinese historical tradition Wenwang was depicted as intelligent
and benevolent, a man of virtue who won popularity among his
contemporaries and expanded the realm of the Zhou. His son Wuwang,
though not as colorful as his father, was always regarded as the conqueror.
In fact, Wu, his posthumous name, means “Martial.” However, the literary
records indicate that the Zhou actually controlled two-thirds of all China at
the time of Wenwang, who continued to recognize the cultural and political
superiority of the Shang out of feudal loyalty. There is not enough evidence
either to establish or to deny this. A careful historian, however, tends to
take the Zhou subjugation to the Shang as a recognition of Shang strength.
It was not until the reign of the last Shang ruler, Zhou, that the kingdom
exhausted its strength by engaging in large-scale military campaigns
against nomads to the north and against a group of Indigenous tribes to the
east. At that time Wuwang organized the first probing expedition and
reached the neighborhood of the Shang capital. A full-scale invasion soon
followed. Along with forces of the Zhou, the army was made up of the Jiang,
southern neighbors of the Zhou, and of eight allied tribes from the west.
The Shang dispatched a large army to meet the invaders. The pro-Zhou
records say that, after the Shang vanguard defected to join the Zhou, the
entire army collapsed, and Wuwang entered the capital without resistance.
Yet Mencius, the 4th-century-BCE thinker, cast doubt on the reliability of
this account by pointing out that a victory without enemy resistance should
not have been accompanied by the heavy casualties mentioned in the
classical document. One may speculate that the Shang vanguard consisted
of remnants of the eastern tribes suppressed by the Shang ruler Zhou
during his last expedition and that their sudden defection caught the Shang
defenders by surprise, making them easy prey for the invading enemy. The
decisive battle took place in 1111 BCE (as tabulated by Dong Zuobin,
although it is traditionally dated at 1122; other dates have also been
suggested, including 1046, which has been adopted for this article).
Wuwang died shortly after the conquest, leaving a huge territory to be
consolidated. This was accomplished by one of his brothers, Zhougong, who
served as regent during the reign of Wu’s son, Chengwang.
The defeated Shang could not be ruled out as a potential force, even though
their ruler, Zhou, had immolated himself. Many groups of rival tribes were
still outside the sphere of Zhou power. The Zhou leaders had to yield to
reality by establishing a rather weak control over the conquered territory.
The son of Zhou was allowed to organize a subservient state under the close
watch of two other brothers of Wuwang, who were garrisoned in the
immediate vicinity. Other leaders of the Zhou and their allies were assigned
lands surrounding the old Shang domain. But no sooner had Zhougong
assumed the role of regent than a large-scale rebellion broke out. His two
brothers, entrusted with overseeing the activities of the son of Zhou, joined
the Shang prince in rebellion, and it took Zhougong three full years to
reconquer the Shang domain, subjugate the eastern tribes, and reestablish
the suzerainty of the Zhou court.
These three years of extensive campaigning consolidated the rule of the
Zhou over all of China. An eastern capital was constructed on the middle
reach of the Huang He (Yellow River) as a stronghold to support the feudal
lords in the east. Several states established by Zhou kinsmen and relatives
were transferred farther east and northeast as the vanguard of expansion,
including one established by the son of Zhougong. The total number of such
feudal states mentioned in historical records and later accounts varies from
20 to 70; the figures in later records would naturally be higher, since
enfeoffment might take place more than once. Each of these states included
fortified cities. They were strung out along the valley of the Huang He
between the old capital and the new eastern capital, reaching as far as the
valleys of the Huai and Han rivers in the south and extending eastward to
the Shandong Peninsula and the coastal area north of it. All these colonies
mutually supported one another and were buttressed by the strength of the
eastern capital, where the conquered Shang troops were kept, together
with several divisions of the Zhou legions. Ancient bronze inscriptions make
frequent mention of mobilizing the military units at the eastern capital at
times when the Zhou feudal states needed assistance.
The Zhou feudal system
The feudal states were not contiguous but rather were scattered at strategic
locations surrounded by potentially dangerous and hostile lands. The
fortified city of the feudal lord was often the only area that he controlled
directly; the state and the city were therefore identical, both being guo, a
combination of city wall and weapons. Satellite cities were established at
convenient distances from the main city in order to expand the territory
under control. Each feudal state consisted of an alliance of the Zhou, the
Shang, and the local population. A Chinese nation was formed on the
foundation of Zhou feudalism.
The scattered feudal states gradually acquired something like territorial
solidity as the neighboring populations established closer ties with them,
either by marriage or by accepting vassal status; the gaps between the
fortified cities were thus filled by political control and cultural assimilation.
This created a dilemma for the Zhou central court: the evolution of the
feudal network buttressed the structure of the Zhou order, but the strong
local ties and parochial interests of the feudal lords tended to pull them
away from the center. Each of these opposing forces became at one time or
another strong enough to affect the history of the Zhou order.
For about two centuries Zhou China enjoyed stability and peace. There
were wars against the non-Zhou peoples of the interior and against the
nomads along the northern frontier, but there was little dispute among the
Chinese states themselves. The southern expansion was successful, and the
northern expansion worked to keep the nomads away from the Chinese
areas. The changing strength of the feudal order can be seen from two
occurrences at the Zhou court. In 841 BCE the nobles jointly expelled
Liwang, a tyrant, and replaced him with a collective leadership headed by
the two most influential nobles until the crown prince was enthroned. In
771 BCE the Zhou royal line was again broken when Youwang was killed by
invading tribes. The nobles apparently were split at that time, because the
break gave rise to two courts, headed by two princes, each of whom had the
support of part of the nobility. One of the pretenders, Pingwang, survived
the other (thus inaugurating the Dong [Eastern] Zhou period), but the royal
order had lost prestige and influence. The cohesion of the feudal system had
weakened. Thereafter, it entered the phase traditionally known as Chunqiu
(Spring and Autumn).
ChinaChina under the Han emperor Wudi (c. 100 BCE) and (inset) at the end of the
Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn) Period (c. 500 BCE).(more)
The familial relationship among the nobles gradually was diluted during the
Chunqiu period. A characteristic of the Zhou feudal system was that
the extended family and the political structure were identical. The line of
lordship was regarded as the line of elder brothers, who therefore enjoyed
not only political superiority but also seniority in the family line. The head of
the family not only was the political chief but also had the unique privilege
of offering sacrifice to and worshipping the ancestors, who would bestow
their blessings and guarantee the continuity of the mandate of heaven
(tianming). After the weakening of the position of the Zhou king in the
feudal structure, he was not able to maintain the position of being the head
of a large family in any more than a normal sense. The feudal structure and
familial ties fell apart, continuing in several of the Chunqiu states for
various lengths of time, with various degrees of modification. Over the next
two centuries the feudal-familial system gradually declined and
disappeared.
