Chapter 16 4. State system

The core of the state system is "feudalism". The "feudalism" mentioned here is not "feudal society" or "feudalism", and it is even more different from "feudal ethics" or "feudal superstition".In fact, superstition has nothing to do with feudalism, and the word "feudalism" in front of etiquette is also a mess.The real "feudalism" means "feudalism" in layman's terms, but it is more accurate to call it "feudalism".Because it is not only necessary to "seal", but also to "build".To seal is to seal a state, and to build is to build a country.Feng and Jian are both verbs.Fengbangjianguo is a verb-object phrase.This is "feudalism" in the original sense.

Say "seal" first. Feng means "the land of noble princes".This is Xu Shen's explanation, and it is also the consensus of the academic circle.To put it bluntly, when enfeoffing princes, they should be given a piece of territory, a territory.This piece of territory or territory must have a boundary, which must be "sealed".The specific method is to dig ditches on the border, which is called "ditch sealing".The excavated soil is piled high on both sides and is called "sealing soil".Trees are planted on top of the mound, which are called "sealed trees".The main purpose of planting trees is to strengthen the uplifted sealing soil to prevent collapse, and it is also more eye-catching.As for the ditch, it also has multiple uses.It is a boundary and a channel. It stores water and grows trees at ordinary times, and it can discharge flood when it is flooded.

Obviously, the meaning of seal is "Jiangjiang", so it is also called "Fengjiang".The sealed political entity is called "state".In ancient characters, Bang and Feng can be the same word, but Feng is a verb and Bang is a noun, which is equivalent to what is called "country" today, but it cannot be called "country".Because in the pre-Qin period, the country was the country, and the family was the family, and they should not be confused.Moreover, the "states" before the Spring and Autumn Period, including Song, Qi, Lu, Wei, Jin, Yan, and Chu, strictly speaking, had only "semi-independent sovereignty."To become an "independent and sovereign state", we must go to the Warring States Period.

◎The "Bang" in the oracle bone inscriptions (formerly 4.17.3). It's not called "country", what is it called? state. Bangguo is the most appropriate title.Because all "states" include urban and rural areas.A city is called a "country", and a city plus a rural area is called a "state".The state is the whole territory, the country is the capital, and the state is more accurate than the country.Of course, states and countries can also be used interchangeably.Call it "Bang", "Guo", or "Banguo", whatever. States have sizes.The smaller one is a city plus surrounding countryside.Therefore, its country name is often from Yi.This is the "city-state".The larger ones have a central city as the capital, plus several cities and surrounding rural areas, which are "territorial countries".In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, most states were city-states.With the exception of Zhou, there are several cities in Feng, Hao, and Luoyi.

◎Part of the place names in the Zhou Dynasty came from the name of the country The country's name and surname and the location of the founding monarch Bin (yu) Ji surname, son of King Wu, Bintai Town, northwest of Qinyang, Henan Xing (xing) Ji surname, after the Duke of Zhou in today's Xingtai City, Hebei (qi) Ji surname, son of King Wen, northeast of Qishan County, Shaanxi Bin (bin) Ji surname, Zhou Taiwang's country is in present-day Bin County, Shaanxi Bei (bei), the son of King Zhou, is located in the north of Qi County and southeast of Tangyin County in today's Henan Province

Tai (tai) Jiang surnamed southwest of Wugong County, Shaanxi (zai) The Ji surname is in the east of Minquan County, Henan Province Bei (shi) pregnant surname, southeast of Jining City, Shandong Province, a vassal state of Lu 郕 (cheng) Ji surname, Wu Wang's younger brother Shuwu in Fan County, Henan Zhu (zhu) The old city after Zhuanxu was located in the southeast of Zouxian County, Shandong Province, and later moved to Huanggang, Hubei Province 郇 (xun) Ji surname, the son of King Wen, south of Linyi County, Shanxi Gao (gao) surnamed Ji, son of King Wen, southeast of Chengwu County, Shandong

(xi) Small and medium-sized kingdoms in ancient Shu in present-day Qionglai, Sichuan (yan) Ying surname, east of the old city of Qufu County, Shandong Province, an ally of Shang (lai) The surname Jiang is in the area of ​​Laizi City in the southeast of Huang County, Shandong Province 郳 (ni) The surname of Cao, after Zhu Hou, east of Teng County, Shandong 郮 (zhou) Jiang surname, after Emperor Yan Guo (guo) a place in the northeastern part of the country named in the Spring and Autumn Period Tan (tan) was passed down to the north of Tancheng, Linyi, Shandong after it was passed down as Shaohao

(ji) Southwest of Beijing after the Yellow Emperor 鄅 (yu) surname north of Linyi County, Shandong 鄎 (xi) Ji surname southeast of Xixian County, Henan Zou (zou) The surname of Cao, after Zhuanxu, the southeast king city of Zou County, Shandong Province (zhuan) Northeast of Tancheng County, Shandong Province, a vassal state of Lu 鄘 (yong) Uncle Guan's fief in the northwest of Xinxiang, Henan (tan) Shandong Zhangqiu West 鄦 (xu) Jiang surnamed east of Xuchang County, Henan 鄫 (zeng) Si surname, after Xia Yu, east of Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province 鄩 (xun) Si surname southwest of Weixian County, Shandong Province

Deng (deng) Man surnamed Deng County, Henan Kuai (kuai) surname, southeast of Mi County, Henan Province after Zhu Rong Is Zhou also Bangguo? Too.However, it is the largest and most advanced.Zhou's monarch is called "king", so it is "kingdom".Moreover, only Zhou Jun can be called king.The monarchs of other states are either public (such as Song Dynasty), or marquis (such as Qi), or uncles, sons, and men.But they can be collectively referred to as "Hou".Because Hou is a "person with a state", or "a noble who seals the vassal and guards the frontier", that is, the person who protects the emperor in the frontier, so it is also called "Hou Wei".There are many princes, so they are called "princes".By the time of the Warring States period, the princes became kings one after another, and the state system disintegrated.

The world composed of Zhou Kingdom and other states is called "Zhou Tianxia".This world is very different from that after Qin and Han Dynasties.After the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was "one world, one country, one emperor, and one head of state".The Qin Empire and Qin Tianxia are one, and Qin Tianzi is also the Qin Emperor.This is called the "imperial system". The state system is different, it is "one world, many states, one emperor, many heads of state".There is only one in the world, that is, "Zhou Tianxia"; there is only one emperor, that is, "Zhou Tianwang".But in this world, there are many states, such as Song Duke, Qi Hou, Zheng Bo, Chu Zi, and Xu Nan, all have their own heads of state, and they don't necessarily have the same surname.

How can such a world be called a "dynasty"? It can only be called the "Union of Nations", and it is more or less like the Commonwealth of Nations.It's just that Britain is not the "suzerain" of the Federation, and the Queen is not a "feudal prince".The members of the Commonwealth of Nations, including the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc., are all equal and a "loose association".The Kingdom of Zhou and the vassal states are not equal, it is a "relationship between monarch and minister".Zhou Tianzi not only "sealed" but also "built".

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