Home Categories Chinese history Yi Zhongtian History of China 03. Founder

Chapter 2 2. Between Wei and Wei

According to the Zhou people themselves, their ancestor was called "Qi". Abandoned, is it a real person's name, or is it the name of a tribe?Not sure.But Zhou people said that he was alone, and his mother was called "Jiang Yuan".Because Jiang Yuan stepped on a huge footprint, she became pregnant and gave birth to abandonment.It is said that in the era of Yao and Shun, Qi served as the minister of agriculture of the alliance, called "Houji".Houji is leadership, and Ji is millet, which means "in charge of agriculture".Why did Yao let Qi take charge of agriculture?Because he was the first person to plant millet and wheat, he was revered as the god of agriculture.

Abandoned is "Yuan Longping" three or four thousand years ago. This is of course a legend.But it is not a problem to say that the Zhou family emphasizes agriculture.Zhou's oracle bone inscriptions and bronze characters are a piece of farmland.In fact, Xia, Shang and Zhou were able to sit in the manor in turn and became representatives of advanced culture successively because of the support of advanced productive forces.Their advantages are water conservancy technology in Xia, bronze technology in Shang, and agricultural technology in Zhou.Zhou is an agricultural nation.

◎ Oracle's "Zhou" (New 1269).
◎The "Zhou" in bronze inscriptions (German Fang Ding, Wang Zaicheng Zhou).

However, when the Xia civilization declined, the Zhou people gave up agriculture and turned themselves into nomads, "flying between Rong and Di", and did not return to agriculture until the time of Gong Liu.Gong Liu is a person's name, to be precise, "Liu", and Gong is a title, which is equivalent to a king or a marquis.He should be the reliable ancestor of Zhou people.Known as "Gong Liu", it may be that the Zhou people had already established a tribal state at this time. Several generations after Gong Liu, he was the father of Gong Dan (亶 reads like gall).Gong Danfu's name is Dan Fu, and Gong is also a title.He was later chased as "Taiwang".Dan's father had three sons, the eldest Taibo and the second Yu Zhong are said to be the ancestors of Wu.The third season calendar succeeds, known as Gong Ji or Wang Ji.

Ji Li's son is King Wen of Zhou, and King Wen's son is King Wu.The lineage of the Zhou family is roughly as follows——

Of course, the so-called return to agriculture in the era of Gong Liu may also be whitewashing by the Zhou people.The actual situation is that before their culture was backward, they were not regarded as "Zhuxia", but as "Rongdi".But in any case, when they arrived at Gongdanfu, they moved to Zhouyuan (now Qishan County, Shaanxi Province) under Qishan Mountain, and their clan name began to be called "Zhou". Zhouyuan is a good place.

Speaking of it, Zhouyuan is also "Mesopotamia", that is, "between two rivers".These two rivers are the Jingshui and the Weishui, which are "clearly separated from Wei and Wei".The land here is fertile, the water and grass are fertile, it is said that even the wild vegetables are sweet, and the owl sounds like singing.The Zhou people who immigrated here opened up wasteland and farmed land, and also herded cattle and sheep. "Poetry Xiaoya No Sheep" sings like this—— Who said you don't have sheep? Three hundred are beaming. Who said you don't have cows?

Seven feet long and ninety heads. your sheep come, corners squeezed together; Here comes your cow, The big ears are wagging. In fact, as early as three or four hundred years before Gongdanfu's Gongliu period, Zhou was already a big agricultural family.Gong Liu had migrated with his people, but it was obviously for the purpose of pioneering.Therefore, he only took away part of the ethnic group, and some remained where they were.Those who stayed put settled down and made preparations for moving. "Poetry Daya Gongliu" sings like this—— not satisfied with the status quo, Uneasy about being well-off.

draw a line, Fill the barn. Prepare enough dry food, Pack your bags. Fighting with axes and axes, fully armed. We are heading for the distance. Ha ha, they will not act rashly. This is typical agricultural ethnic style. Yes, the agricultural production cycle is long, the labor is hard, and the harvest is not guaranteed.It is necessary not to violate the farming season, intensive cultivation is necessary, and painstaking effort is also a must.However, a rainstorm or hailstorm during the autumn harvest will ruin all previous efforts and no crops will be harvested.This is worrying, rational, and it is necessary to plan carefully and plan ahead. It is impossible to "gamble" like a commercial nation: you dare to spend a lot of money, and you can make a lot of money.

Therefore, the Zhou family who have been farming in the inland hinterland in the spring and summer will not be like the Shang family from the coast of the Bohai Sea and do business all over the world, wearing sea breeze, carrying shells, relying on bronzes and oracle bone inscriptions, indulging in science, Technology, prophecy, and politicized witchcraft interpret their own civilization in a romantic and magical, weird and gorgeous way. Shang and Zhou are like Jingshui and Weishui. The difference in style between the two civilizations is even reflected in the way they treat their gods and ancestors—the merchants invite the gods to drink, and the Zhou people invite the gods to eat.Archaeological discoveries have proved that most of the ritual vessels in the Shang Dynasty were wine vessels, while those in the Zhou Dynasty were mostly food vessels.It is not difficult to imagine that the sacrificial ceremonies of the Zhou people were much more solemn.They will strictly follow the rules of etiquette, place the cauldron for cooking meat and the gui for serving rice (read like a ghost), and eat together with the gods silently amidst the sound of bells, and will never be like businessmen, feasting and feasting, drunk with money, and finally Into a faltering nude prom.

what!Businessmen are "drunkards" and Zhou people are "eaters". Nietzsche said that there are two spirits in Greek art: Dionysian spirit and Apollonian spirit.The spirit of Dionysus is also called the spirit of Dionysus, that is, the spirit of sensibility.The Apollonian spirit is also called the Apollonian spirit, that is, the rational spirit.The unity of sensibility and rationality is the secret of Greek civilization. If we use this statement to look at Chinese history, then Shang is our Dionysus and Zhou is our Apollo.Therefore, Shang spirituality, Zhou rationality; Shang romance, Zhou rigor; Shang emphasized witch officials, Zhou emphasized historians; Shang emphasized ghosts, Zhou emphasized humanities.It's just that after the Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhou culture became the "main theme", while Shang tradition became a "subculture", which could only be seen in the southern regions and ethnic minorities.

It is almost inevitable that business culture will take a backseat. Because the background of Chinese civilization, together with the history and cultural psychology of our nation, will be refreshed by Zhou people.
Notes: The "Gu" in "Gu Gong Dan Fu" in "Gu Gong Dan Fu" means "past". Please refer to Yang Kuan's "History of the Western Zhou Dynasty".
Press "Left Key ←" to return to the previous chapter; Press "Right Key →" to enter the next chapter; Press "Space Bar" to scroll down.
Chapters
Chapters
Setting
Setting
Add
Return
Book