A Study On The Social Transition Of Chu In The Eastern Zhou Dynasty

Eastern Zhou Dynasty is an important change and transition period in the development of ancient Chinese history,and its social structure and political system experienced the transformation from the patriarchal feudal system to the centralized bureaucratic county system,that is,the geopolitical transition from the blood politics of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Qin and Han dynasties,and thus caused a series of chain reaction.Looking at the political pattern of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,in addition to the western Qin,especially in the Central China and the southern Chu confrontation between the most attracted attention.As the overlord of the Zhou Dynasty in southern,The state of Chu has a vast territory and strong national power,which occupies a pivotal position in the development history of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.Starting from the burial data of Chu in Jianghanhuai area in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,and on the basis of perfecting its spatiotemporal framework and hierarchy,this paper tries to outline the development and vicissitude of Chu society in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty from the angle of archaeology through the analysis of four aspects,such as cultural structure,stratum structure,organizational form and ritual norms.At the same time,combined with the research results of relevant literature historiography,this paper makes a reasonable explanation on the uniqueness and causes of social change in Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.In Chapter 1,On the basis of defining the research scope and object,the discovery and research history of Chu tomb in Jianghanhuai area in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is reviewed in detail,achievements and shortcomings of the previous studies are summarized,research ideas and methods of this paper are explained.In Chapter 2,the spatiotemporal framework of Chu tomb is perfected.The Chu tomb in Jianghanhuai area in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is divided into 3 areas and 8 phases,on the basis of which,combined with the staged changes of the cultural appearance of tombs in different periods,the Chu tombs in Jianghanhuai area in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty are divided into five development stages,namely,gestation stage,formation stage,shaping stage,development stage and transition stage.Then,according to the spatial distribution and cluster difference of Chu tomb in different stages,the external expansion process of Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was investigated.In Chapter 3,the hierarchical framework of Chu tomb is established.According to the types and properties of burial artifacts,the tombs are classified into tombs with bronze ritual vessels,tombs with ritual potteries and tombs with daily potteries,in which the division of tombs with bronze ritual vessels uses two methods,namely,the traditional classification based on ding and the clustering analysis in multivariate statistical analysis.Finally the Chu tombs in Jianghanhuai area of the Eastern Zhou are classified into 5 grades,the social status of the owners includes high-ranked aristocrat,middle-ranked aristocrat,low-ranked aristocrat,intermediate stratum and civilian.In Chapter 4,the study of the cultural structure reflected in Chu tomb.This paper comprehensively analyzes the cultural composition of Chu tomb in different stages,and combs Chu style artifacts with inscriptions from other countries seen in Chu tomb.Through the elaboration of different manifestation modes and causes of various cultures,this paper reveals the communication activities between Chu and the surrounding regional culture on different levels during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.On this basis,the evolution of sociocultural structure of Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was investigated by diachronic,regional and hierarchical changes.In Chapter 5,the study of stratum structure reflected in Chu tomb.Based on the classification of burial rank,through a detailed analysis of the composition and flow of different strata in each stages and regions.this paper systematically discusses the evolution of the social stratum structure of Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,the diachronic,regional and hierarchical differences are also discussed.In Chapter 6,the study of the organization form reflected in Chu tomb.By selecting some typical cemeteries composed of tomb owners with different status in each period,through a comprehensive analysis of the spatial layout,burial law and the relationship between the tomb owners,this paper probes into the evolution of cemetery system of Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the social organization structure and social formation of Chu reflected by it.In Chapter 7,the study of the ritual norms reflected in Chu tomb.this paper investigates the evolution of the ritual artifact system and the coffin system of Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty by analyzing the combination of copper and pottery rituals and the number of inner and outer coffins and the number of coffin chambers of various ranks in different regions.On this basis,the changes of social ritual norms in Chu and its relationship with strata change are summarized.In Chapter 8,the archaeological observation of the social transition of Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.It is pointed out that the centralized political of royal lineage and the transformation of social structure the two main lines of Chu society in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,among which the performance in different regions is different.Combining with the research results of literature historiography,this paper expounds the social and historical background and the causes of regional differences behind these two main lines.On this basis,compared with Qin and the Central Plains,it puts forward that the persistence of blood patriarchal system and the strong consciousness of consanguinity are the main reasons why the social transition of Chu is different from other states in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and failed to transform successfully.In Chapter 9,The whole thesis is summarized.