Why did the Shang Dynasty move its capital repeatedly in the early stage?
On this issue, ancient and modern scholars have different opinions, mainly including the following views: first, "flood" theory; second, "nomadic", "nomadic agriculture" theory; third, "go to extravagance and frugality" theory; fourth, "dispute over the throne" theory.
The theory of "flood" tries to find the reasons for the frequent relocation of commercial capitals from the perspective of natural disasters. But it can not give a good material to prove that the flood forced merchants to move their capitals. On the contrary, from Tang to Zhongding, it is said that there are eleven kings in Six Dynasties, at least 150 troops in Bozhou. Is there any trouble in the river for such a long time? Moreover, from Wuding to Zhou oracle inscriptions, it was recorded many times that the flood of Huan River damaged the capital of Yin, but the people of Yin did not move the capital. Why can't floods force people to move the capital after Pandu, but before Pangeng? In addition, several capitals of the Southern Dynasties were all on both sides of the Yellow River, especially Zhongding, who moved from Bo to Kai and Pangeng, who moved from Yan to Yin and moved to riverside. This phenomenon can not be explained by the theory of "flood".
The theory of "nomadic" and "nomadic agriculture" tries to find out the reasons for the frequent relocation of commercial capitals from the aspect of social production. According to the "nomadic" theory, before pan Geng moved to Yin, the merchants were still nomadic people who had no definite migration. Only when pan Geng moved to Yin did they have a preliminary agriculture. They changed from nomadic economy to agricultural economy, so they had a tendency to settle down. But the oracle inscriptions and archaeological materials prove that agriculture was the most important production department in the early Shang Dynasty
According to the theory of "you Nong", agriculture in Shang Dynasty was primitive. Its primitiveness is manifested in the clumsiness of production tools and the primitiveness of farming methods. The merchants used the method of "fire ploughing", that is, "burning fields", instead of clumsy production tools, to open up the fields, burn down the forests, and then sow seeds on the ash soil. They do not know how to irrigate or fertilize. Once the natural resources of the land are exhausted, they need to change their farmland and have to move frequently. The "peasant Tour" economy is the reason for the frequent relocation of merchant capitals. However, archaeological data show that the stone sickles and axes unearthed from the Shang culture in Zhengzhou and Xiaotun are very similar. One of the two places represents the early Shang Dynasty and the other represents the late Shang Dynasty. A few bronzes were used in agricultural production in Shang Dynasty. At present, the number of bronze agricultural implements unearthed in the early and late Shang Dynasty is roughly the same. This shows that there was no significant change in agricultural production tools before and after the Shang Dynasty, which was also "clumsy". As for farming methods, Mr. Hu houxuan pointed out in "the theory of burning fields in the Yin Dynasty" that "burning fields" was a hunting method of the Yin people, which had nothing to do with agriculture. As for saying that merchants "did not know how to fertilize", it was inconsistent with historical facts. "Sishengzhishu" said: "there is drought in Tang Dynasty. Yiyin worked in the area, taught the people to plant manure and irrigated the crops with negative water." The word "urine" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the word "excrement" of excrement. There are a lot of records of "urine field" in oracle inscriptions. It is possible that "dung seed" was known in the early Shang Dynasty. The argument of "you Nong" can't stand scrutiny. In addition, like the "flood" theory, it can't explain the historical facts of the stability of the Shang capital before Zhongding and after Pangeng. Therefore, it is hard to believe the theory of "touring farmers".
The theories of "de extravagance and frugality" and "disputes over the throne" try to find the reasons for the frequent relocation of commercial capitals from the social and political aspects. The theory of "eliminating extravagance and practicing frugality" holds that "restraining extravagance, advocating frugality and alleviating class contradictions are the reasons for the frequent relocation of commercial capitals. This is more or less reasonable. Because the three chapters of "Pan Geng" in the book of history are the three speeches of Shang King Pan Geng to his subjects when he moved to Yin. When he was about to move to Yin, he once accused the nobles of corrupt officials who were greedy for wealth. After moving to Yin, he also warned the officials: do not accumulate property, just for yourself to tirelessly increase industry, should benefit the people, and always clean your heart like the king. However, luxury is the "chronic disease" and "common disease" of the exploiting class. It existed not only when it moved to Yin, but also after it. Why can luxury prompt capital relocation at this time, but not at that time? Although the theory of "de extravagance and frugality" has seen some phenomena of the frequent relocation of commercial capitals, it fails to grasp the essence through the phenomena. Therefore, its explanation of the reasons for the frequent relocation of commercial capitals is not convincing. According to the records of "Yin Benji in historical records," since Zhongding, all the disciples have been abolished and established, or they have vied with each other to establish themselves, which is more chaotic than that of the nine dynasties, so the princes have no Dynasty. "It is noted that from Zhongding to Yangjia, there are exactly nine kings. In the pre Qin classics," Jishi "refers to" Jiwang ". This" chaos of the nine dynasties "and the capital of the Shang Dynasty have moved repeatedly, which is not coincidental in terms of time However, coincidentally, it should be the objective reason for the frequent relocation of commercial capitals. This inference can be found in the second chapter of Shangshu Pangeng. Pan Geng recalled the reason why the former king moved to the capital, saying: "the Yin Dynasty was greatly abused, and the former king did not cherish jueyou's work, but took advantage of it according to the people." According to kongshu, the specific meaning of "great cruelty" is: "shangyun" can't help each other to survive, but he doesn't know the destiny of heaven ", that is, heaven brings disaster.". Obviously, "sadism" is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster, which means the "nine world chaos" centered on the dispute over the throne. The meaning of this sentence is that political turmoil and strife brought endless calamities to the people, and the former kings did not cherish their foundation and moved for the benefit of the people. Then, why must the social unrest caused by the dispute over the throne be solved by moving the capital? Because the direct consequence of the "nine world rebellion" was the weakening of the authority of the king of Shang and the expansion of the aristocratic power. The expansion of aristocratic power is reflected in the accumulation of wealth in economy and the regicide and usurpation in politics. In order to win victory, the two sides of the struggle must make peace with each other with the help of favorable time and place. Time is not transferred according to the will of human beings, but also shared with each other. Harmony depends on subjective efforts. Only the geographical advantage, who owns it, belongs to whom. Obviously, since the aristocracy's power can expand and threaten the royal power, then the aristocracy must have the right of land. Although the Shang Dynasty has entered the bronze age, the level of social productivity is still very low. At that level of social development, the role of geographical advantage is particularly important. It was the strategic measure of the king of Shang to change the advantage of the aristocracy's geographical advantage and reduce the aristocracy's strength by moving the capital. This should be the subjective reason for the frequent relocation of commercial capitals. It is just like this in the chapter of Shangshu Pangeng. Pan Geng's move to Yin was almost opposed by the whole country, but the main resistance came from the nobility, not the civilians, not the slaves. The nobles used exaggeration to stir up the people's will, while pan Geng seized the two banners of "destiny" and "former king" and preached to win the people's will for the people. At that time, "destiny" and "Xianwang" were undoubtedly powerful, which made pan Geng move to Yin. When he was about to move, pan Geng issued a warning: "there are some people who are not lucky, who are disrespectful, who have been raped for a while, but I have been destroyed. I have no chance to breed them in zixinyi." that is to say, if there are people who are treacherous, evil and disobedient, I will kill them all, so as not to let the cowards spread and grow in Xinyi. It can be seen that Pan Geng tried to attack the aristocracy by moving the capital. After his move, pan Geng reiterated that "no matter how far you are, you should use sin to kill Jue and virtue to show Jue goodness". That is to say, regardless of your blood relationship with the king of Shang, you should be executed if you commit a crime and be rewarded if you perform meritorious service. He also claimed that he had the right to "make a short and long life". This shows that by moving the capital, the dissidents were suppressed, and the authority of the king of Shang rose. The lesson of the "Ninth World rebellion" is profound. In order to avoid the recurrence of history, the system of succession to the throne changed. The succession law of Shang king can be divided into three phases: the first phase is from Dading to granding, the second phase is from Xiaoyi to Kangding, and the third phase is from Wuyi to Zhou's eldest son. Pan Geng was in the transition from the first period to the second period. After moving to Yin, the king of Shang took his younger brother as his lineage and finally changed into a descendant. The establishment of the eldest son succession system reduced the disputes over the throne and stabilized the royal family, which led to the fact that the capital was not moved again in 273. The theory of "dispute over the throne" is reasonable to explain the frequent relocation of capitals in the early Shang Dynasty.
