A Study On Status Of States In Western Zhou Period

According to current archaeological discoveries and research,Western Zhou vassal states are found to be distributed across the political landscape of ancient China.This situation matches perfectly with the contemporary historical records.The connection between archaeological remains and the historically recorded states is substantiated through bronze inscriptions that depicts the name of the state.These inscriptions generally appeared in monarch tombs,and what follows was an inscription to determine the identity of the monarch.However,difference exists among the titles of monarchs found in different states sites,including"Gong"("?",Duke),"Bo"("?",Earl),"Hou,"("?",Marquis),"Zi"("?",Viscount),such phenomena were similar to those recorded in the literature,and there was a clear correlation between the five-level Duke system and the hierarchical status of the states.Therefore,this paper aims to study the hierarchical relationship between Western Zhou vassal states from an archaeological perspective.Chronological sequence of bronzes in Western Zhou period is basically mature,on the basis of it this paper will try to incorporate all Western Zhou vassal states into a unified chronological framework that comprised of three consecutive stages:the early Western Zhou,middle Western Zhou and late Western Zhou period.The archaeological remains of middle Western Zhou period present clear similarity and continuity to the early period.Due to relatively few middle period sites excavated so far,the early and middle Western Zhou periods will be grouped together in order to further our analysis.This paper intends to take Fenghao-Chengzhou as the cardinal point to group these states into east,north,south and west clusters,and on that basis try to analyze how the political landscape of Western Zhou is articulated geographically through examining the hierarchical relationship between vassal states within their own groups.The analytic model of the present dissertation is mainly focus on how to characterize and interpret the hierarchical relationships between Western Zhou vassal states through archaeological lenses,which is also the major target of chapter four.The first step to approach the targeted relationship is to compare the relative ranks of bronze-yielding burials,which is followed by examining the size of the sites and the composition of the ethnic group.The ranking of these tombs are determined on the basis of bronze combination,the ramp,the tomb area,the coffin quantity,the chariot burial,etc.Unlike the burial grade judgment,the analysis of site scale and ethnic composition has great uncertainty,which can only be used to analyze the site with better individual material condition,and can serve as a reference for status evaluation.Through the analysis of the three aforementioned points,we know that in the early-middle Western Zhou period,the eastern region showed a more powerful position,the northern regional status development was relatively stable,the southern region was developing more rapidly,while the west was relatively weak.By the late Western Zhou period and pre-eastern Zhou period,most of the states were located adjacent to Fenghao-Chengzhou,but the east and north still maintained the higher political force,the southern region's competitiveness has been reduced,and the western region of the country has declined.The fifth chapter,on the basis of the analysis of burial hierarchies in the previous chapter,focuses on the inscription appellation unearthed by the first level burial,that is,the title of Monarch,and analyzes the characteristics of the states represented by different appellations.The common titles of the States are "Gong","Hou","Bo",and"Zi",and the states of different appellations were different in terms of age,regional distribution,hierarchical status and ethnic origin.The states called "Hou" were mainly distributed in the east,north and south areas,but not in the western narrow zone.The states called "Hou" were larger,and the cemetery reflected a more diverse ethnic composition,so it could be infered that the "Hou" country may face the managing of different ethnic groups.The states called "Bo" were mainly distributed in the northern and western regions,but not in the vast region of the east.The states called "Bo" were often smaller than The states called "Hou",and since the states called "Bo" mostly were established by the aboriginals,they mainly faced the management of the ethnic group.The data of the remains of the "Gong" and "Zi"were more limited,among which the "Gong" was mostly established by Zhou aristocracy,and there was no complicated crowd situation in the cemetery.The states called "Zi" were found less,mainly existing in the early Western Zhou period,especially in the early stage.The states called "Zi" distributed in the eastern part of the south and the southern region,in the ethnic group was more related to the Yin remnant aristocracy.Some of the issues involved in the analysis of archaeological materials were recorded in the literature,and the two differ in their understanding of some issues.The reason for the difference is,on one hand,that the records of historical documents were superimposed history,and there were many ideal components,on the other hand,the history of archaeological materials reflects the real complexity.Therefore,in the study of archaeological issues,we need the accumulation of history to open up ideas,at the same time in the study of issues also need to be identified.Through the analysis of this paper,the following conclusions are drawn:from the level of burial reflected in the tombs,there was no obvious hierarchical difference between the monarch tombs of the different states,and it was said that although the monarchs of the states had different appellations,they did not have hierarchical significance.The difference between the states referred to in the appellations of"Gong","Hou","Bo",and "Zi" may be more the difference between ethnic origin,location or the complexity of social management.The eastern and north regions of Fenghao-Chengzhou had an important position in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the regions were dominated by the partition of "Hou" states,managing the vast areas and pluralistic ethnic issues.