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Local official system in Zhou Dynasty

In the history of local government system, there was a saying of "five services" and "five grades" in the organization of local government in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The so-called "Wufu" means that according to the distance of the vassal fiefs, they were divided into Dian, Hou, bin, Yao and Huang Wufu. To serve is to serve the kingdom of the emperor. Xunzi Zhenglun says:

They are fengneidian clothing, fengwaihou clothing, houweibin clothing, barbarian clothing, rongdihuang clothing.

It is also recorded in Guoyu zhouyu

In the system of the former king, the emperor's clothes were made in Dianfu, houwei, binfu, barbarian and rongdihuang.

In the Han Dynasty, Liu Xin expanded the scope of "Wufu", so the theory of "Jiuji" appeared. According to Zhou Li Xia Guan Da Sima, the so-called "Jiu Ji" says:

The origin of Jiuji is the political position of Shi Bangguo. Fangqianli is called Guoji, and the other five hundred Li is Houji; the other five hundred Li is Dianji; the other five hundred Li is Nanji; the other five hundred Li is Caiji; the other five hundred Li is Weiji; the other five hundred Li is Manji; the other five hundred Li is Yiji; the other five hundred Li is Zhenji; the other five hundred Li is Fanji.

The theory of "Wufu" was first seen in Shangshu Yugong

500 Li Dian Fu: 100 Li Fu Na Zong, 200 Li Na Fu, 300 Li Na straw, 400 Li Su, 500 Li mi. Five hundred Li Hou Fu: Bai Li Cai, 200 Li men bang, 300 Li princes. Five hundred Li Suifu: three hundred Li caiwen education, two hundred Li Fenwu Wei. Five hundred Li to serve: three hundred Li Yi, two hundred Li Cai. 500 Li wild clothes: 300 li man, 200 li Liu.

The main idea of this passage is: the area of 500 Li around the king is called Dianfu: the area of 100 Li nearest to the King City pays grain with Ligusticum straw, the area of 100 Li outside pays grain ear, the area of 100 Li outside pays grain ear without Ligusticum awn, the area of 100 li outside pays grain with husk, and the area of 100 Li farthest pays rice without husk. The area 500 li away from Dianfu is called Houfu: the one hundred Li nearest to Dianfu is the place where the officials of the imperial court were granted, and the next hundred Li is the area where the barons were granted. The other three hundred Li were the domain of the feudal princes. The area 500 li away from Houfu is Suifu: the area 300 li away from Houfu implements culture and education according to the situation of the people. For the other 200 Li, the military force was revived to show the strength of defense. Besides Suifu, each 500 Li is to be served: 300 Li near Suifu is the place where foreigners live, and the other 200 Li is the place where criminals are exiled. Five hundred leagues apart from the robe are the barren robes: three hundred leagues near the robe are the barren areas, and the other two hundred leagues are the places where the sinners are exiled.

From the theory of five clothes in the book of history to the Confucianists in the Warring States period, it is expounded again. As for the theory of "Jiuji", it is an ideal conception of Confucianism in Han Dynasty. In fact, the frontier in the early Zhou Dynasty was not so broad, nor could it be so uniform. Therefore, there are many problems in these arguments. First of all, the "five clothes" put Rong Di's clothes outside the clothes of barbarians, which was not in line with the actual situation. Because the Wangji of the Western Zhou Dynasty was in Shaanxi Province, there were Rongdi within the Wangji area, while the barbarians scattered in the huaishui area, far away in Nanbang, which was completely reversed with the fact. Secondly, according to the theory of "Jiuji", the territory of the Western Zhou Dynasty has expanded to 4000 Li in the East, West, North and south. The fact is that the territory was opened up from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the xuanwang era. Even so, the territory is not so vast. Therefore, the records in Zhouli are also inconsistent with the facts. There is no saying of "five clothes" in Jin Wen. It is only in Ling Yi Ming that there is a record of "Hou (Zhu), Hou Tiannan". The so-called "Hou Tian Nan" here is actually "the princes", not "Fu". In Shangshu ZhouShu and other chapters, there is no theory of five costumes. Only in kanggao, there are words of "houdian, Nanbang, Caiwei". However, the meaning actually refers to houzhidian, nanzhibang, caizhiwei. It is not "Hou", "dian", "Nan", "Caiwei" and "caizhiwei" respectively. Therefore, the so-called "dian" and "Fu" refer to the territory, while "Wu Fu" and "Jiu Ji" generally refer to the vast territory.

After King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he enfeoffed the vast land outside the area directly controlled by the central dynasty. Not only the descendants of Shennong, Huangdi, Yao, Shun and Yu, but also the same surnames and meritorious officials who granted the land to the king of Zhou. According to the twenty eighth year of Zhaogong in Zuozhuan, there were ten brothers and five brothers, and forty Ji. When he became king, Duke Zhou further enfeoffed the sons of King Wen and King Wu and his own descendants all over the country. For the vassals who were enfeoffed, the emperor of Zhou called the same surname "Uncle" and "Uncle" and different surnames "Uncle". The patriarchal blood ties closely tied the princes and the emperor of Zhou together, which made these "feudal relatives screen Zhou with fan". Although this kind of enfeoffment system had set a precedent in Shang Dynasty, the despicable vassals who were enfeoffed at that time had no relation with Shang Dynasty, so they served and rebelled at that time. The combination of enfeoffment system and patriarchal system in Western Zhou Dynasty not only consolidated the central government, but also strengthened the control over the vast conquered areas.

Because of the size of the fiefdom, the titles of Dukes in the Western Zhou Dynasty can be divided into five grades: Duke, marquis, uncle, son, and man. According to the book of rites, the system of King states: "the system of king is the system of dukes and Lu, the system of Duke, uncle, son, and man is the five grades.". Mencius wanzhang records that Mencius said when he answered the question of banjue in Beigong's Zhoushi

The son of heaven, the Duke, the Hou, the uncle, the son and the man are the same, and all the five are also The place of the son of heaven is thousands of Li, the place of the Duke is hundreds of Li, the place of the Bo is seventy Li, the place of the son of man is fifty Li, and the place of the son of man is four grade. If it is less than fifty Li, it does not reach the place of the son of heaven, and it is attached to the princes as vassals.

According to Mencius, at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, there should be innumerable square fenced areas with a square of 100 Li, 70 Li, 50 Li and less than 50 Li. If there are so many closed areas, it is necessary to carry out land survey in advance after the completion of territorial expansion, and then such feudalism can be carried out. Of course, this is an illusion. There is no strict hierarchical relationship among Gong, Hou, Bo, Zi and men in the inscriptions. In fact, at the beginning of last week, they were granted because of the land occupied by the samurai. For example, after the Xia Dynasty, they gathered in Qi (today's Qixian County in Henan Province), and then they were granted Qi; after the Yin Dynasty, they gathered in Song (today's Shangqiu south in Henan Province), and then they were granted song. Another example is Songgao, the book of songs, which describes the event of King Xuan's conferring the title of Shenbo. It goes as follows: "the event of Shenbo, Wang Zuan, is in the capital and Xie, and the southern kingdom is the style." The next cloud: "Wang Ming Shen Bo, style is Nanbang, because it is Xie Ren, in order to be Er Yong.". That is to say, because Shenbo had already "Nanguo is Shi", he ordered "Shi is Nanbang", because he had "Yu Yi Yu Xie", he ordered "Yin is Xie Ren". All these show that the so-called reward is recognized because of its fait accompli. At that time, the land occupied by the princes was different in size, but it was by no means equal in square as Mencius said. This kind of equal difference theory of fiefdom is a conjecture of Confucianists in the Warring States period, which is not in line with historical facts.

For the Zhou royal family, these enfeoffed princes were "small Clans", while in their own fiefdoms, they became "large clans" for the officials. A large amount of money has been handed down from generation to generation. The vassals in their own feudal states, basically in accordance with the Zhou Dynasty's central official organs, set up officials and divided their posts, in order to rule the slaves and civilians. "Situ, Sima, Sikong, ya, Lu, Yi, Wei, Lu Ji, sanbo, and Hanyin" listed in the book of history are the frontier officials of the vassal states. Among them, Si Tu, Si Ma and Si Kong's functions are equivalent to those of the central government officials, such as Ren Ren, zhunfu and mu. The second was the officials who dealt with the military and political affairs of the vassal states. "Yi, Wei and Lu" were the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities in the frontier of Western Zhou Dynasty, and "Ji" was their leader. "Yi, Wei, Lu Qi" generally refers to the leader of Fang state who submitted to the Western Zhou Dynasty. Sanbo was an official who supervised the old capital of Shang Dynasty. "Osaka Yin" is the guard official in the dangerous and important area.

In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the emperor of Zhou enjoyed great authority, and every vassal state had to pay tribute and special materials to the Zhou Dynasty regularly every year. In the 13th year of Zhaogong, Zuo Zhuan, it said: "in the past, the emperor paid tribute to the Zhou Dynasty in order to protect the Zhou Dynasty; he also made regular pilgrimages and led soldiers to join the army to protect the Zhou Dynasty. In addition, the princes also had certain obligations to the king's death, funeral, marriage and tour. If the princes fail to perform their duties or violate the rules of "Zhou Li", the light ones will be condemned. For example, according to the ancient bamboo annals, "the Marquis of Jin makes a beautiful palace, and the king of Kang makes it beautiful"; the heavy ones will be executed. For example, according to the records of the historian, Qi AI Gong said a few bad words in front of the king of Zhou when he was king Yi. As a result, the king of Yi "cooked AI Gong and set up his younger brother." For Hu Gong. In order to prevent the rebellion of the princes, the emperor of Zhou also sent people to some vassal states to monitor. This is the supervisor. For example, in the early Zhou Dynasty, King Wu enfeoffed Guan, Cai, and Huo in Ying, Ying, and Wei, which is a measure to monitor the disturbance of Wu Geng, the son of King Shang, and the people of Yin. However, when King Wu died, because Cheng Wang was young, he was temporarily Regent by Duke Zhou, which caused uncle Guan's jealousy. He made a big rumor and slandered Duke Zhou, saying that Duke Zhou's ambition and Regent "would be unfavorable to Cheng Wang". In order to quell the rumors, the Duke of Zhou explained his loyalty to the royal family to his important ministers, Tai Gong Wang and Zhao Gong, so as to dispel their doubts. On the one hand, he courted the virtuous corporal and prepared to respond. Soon, Guan Shu, Cai Shu and Wu Geng joined together to revolt. At the order of King Cheng, Duke Zhou "launched an expedition to the East", "killed Guan Shu, killed Wu Geng, and released Cai Shu", eliminated the "three prisons", and destroyed Xu, Yan, and other countries that were in trouble with Wu Geng. So far, the power of Zhou people really reached the East. This is the famous eastern expedition of Duke Zhou in history.

The central and local officials of the Western Zhou Dynasty were all held by slave owners and nobles who had a certain relationship with the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. In the second year of Duke Huan in Zuozhuan, it is said that "the emperor established his country, the princes established their families, the princes set up side rooms, the officials had two schools, and the scholars had subordinate children". That is to say, the emperor of Zhou was king as his eldest son, and all his children were princes. The princes succeeded their eldest son to the throne, and their sons were the officials. The official succeeded his eldest son to the throne, and all his sons were scholars. These slave owners and nobles formed a strict hierarchy because of their affinity and estrangement with the patriarchal clan of Emperor Zhou. The so-called "Qing", "official" and "Scholar" are actually the leaders of a clan. They are passed down from father to son and inherited from generation to generation. The combination of hierarchy and patriarchal system is an important feature of the slavery state system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which ensures the monopoly status of the slave owners and nobles in the national political life.

The central and local political institutions of the Western Zhou Dynasty were more complex and perfect than those of the Shang Dynasty. The book of rites of the Zhou Dynasty records the system of "six officials" in the Zhou Dynasty

(1) "Tianguanzhongzai" is the leader of the state, who is in charge of governing the state and assisting the king to govern the state These officials are called "governing officials". There are one "dazaiqing", two "Xiaozai", four "Zaifu", eight "Staff Sergeant", 16 "Sergeant" and 32 "brigade Sergeant". The function of "taizai" is to "take charge of the six canons of building a state" and assist the king to govern the state. The six canons are as follows: first, to govern the state, to govern the government, to record the people; second, to pacify the state, to educate the government, to pacify the people; third, to harmonize the state, to unify the officials, to harmonize the people; fourth, to pacify the state, to correct the officials, to average the people; fifth, to punish the state, to punish the officials, to rectify the people; sixth, to enrich the state, to punish the people To be a hundred officials, to live the people. It can be seen that "Tian Guan Zhong Zai" is not only the first of the six officials, but also the chief of the six canons.

(2) "Di Guan Si Tu", the post is: "Shuai its belong to and charge the state religion, to assist the king to pacify the state." These officials are called "instructors", of which there are one "big situ" Qing, two "little situ" middle-class officials, four "rural teachers" lower officials, eight staff sergeants, 16 sergeants and 32 soldiers. The duty of "Da situ" was to take charge of the territory and the number of people of the state, so as to assist the king to pacify the state. The duty of "little situ" was to take charge of the teaching method of Jianbang, and to "check the poor husband's family in the state and the four suburbs."

(3) "Chunguan Zongbo" has the duty of "commanding his subordinates and taking charge of the state rites, so as to assist the king and the state." These officials are called "ritual officials". "Li Guan" is composed of one "Da Da Bo" Qing, two "Xiao Zong Bo" Zhongfu, four "Si Shi" Xiafu, eight "Shangshi", 16 "Zhongshi" and 32 "brigade Xiashi". The duty of "Da Da Bo" is to "take charge of the ritual of heaven, God, people and ghosts in order to assist Wang Jianbao." The duty of "Xiao Zongbo" is to "take charge of the throne of the founding of the people's Republic of China."

(4) "Xiaguan Sima" is in charge of "Shuai his subordinates and take charge of the state politics, so as to assist the king to stabilize the state." These officials are called "political officials". There are 1 "big Sima" Qing, 2 "little Sima" middle-class officials, 4 "army Sima" lower class officials, 8 "Yu Sima" staff sergeant, 16 "Xing Sima" staff sergeant and 32 "brigade corporal". The duty of "Da Sima" is to "take charge of the nine laws for the establishment of the state, so as to assist the king to stabilize the state."

(5) "Qiuguan Sikou" is "Shuai his subordinates and Zhang Bang ban". These officials are called "criminal officials". There are one senior officer, two senior officials, four junior officials, eight senior officers, 16 sergeants and 32 junior soldiers. The duty of "Da Si Kou" is to "take charge of the three canons of building a state, assist the king in punishing the state, and protect the four sides."

(6) "Winter official Sikong", now see "Zhou Li" has lost "Sikong" chapter.

The six officials in Zhouli are arranged in order and the system is strict, which surpasses the system of later Han and Wei dynasties. Therefore, many people suspect that there may be some elements in Zhouli, which can not be used as a reliable basis for the official system of Western Zhou Dynasty. Guo Moruo's "Zhou Guan query" and "Jin Wen Cong Kao" all elaborate on this issue. However, we feel that without some basic experience in actual administration, it is difficult to come up with a comprehensive organizational system out of thin air. Therefore, the system of "six officials" in Zhouli is simply quoted as a reference to understand the official system of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

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