Western Zhou Huaiyi Comprehensive Examination

The Huaiyi people have played a highly significant role in the ancient history of the pre-Qin dynasty,and their activities had created a profound impact on t he rise and decline of the dynasty of Western Zhou.Therefore,a probe into is sues concerning the Huaiyi people can be helpful to clarify some historical fac ts and to enrich our understanding of such questions as the generation of our concept of China-centered mentality,the formation of the Chinese nation,the s tate pattern of the Zhou dynasty.However,scholars in previous researches eith er focused on literature recordation,or failed to give accurate and in-depth exp lanations of unearthed documents so that some matters concerned had not been satisfactorily settled yet.On the basis of previous and contemporary research results,the paper firstly gives a comprehensive analysis of related bronze and oracle inscriptions,concentrating on the explorations of emergence of the Huai yi people and evolution of its name.The Huaiyi people made its first appeara nce in the time prior to the mid of Western Zhou dynasty,rather than in the Yin dynasty or the early Zhou dynasty,as it is generally believed.As a matte r of fact,names such as "Nanyi","Nanhuaiyi" common in the bronze inscripti ons in the mid and late Zhou dynasty are actually synonyms of "Huaiyi".The n,a survey of social and economic development of the Huaiyi people is cond ucted.Huaiyi was a settled tribe,and their agriculture and handicraft had achie veda certain level of development.Last but not the least,an analysis is carrie d out regarding the relationship between the Huaiyi people and the Zhou dyna sty.The Huaiyi people's invasion of the Zhou dynasty were mainly predatory, while the dynasty's punitive expedition against the Huaiyi people had focused on conquering the tribe.The tribe's tributes to the dynasty were mainly special ties and rare curios.In addition,they had performed military and power servic es in the Zhou dynasty and had been squeezed harder than princes by the dyn asty.In the inscription of Xijiapan,most scholars' interpretation of a character as "贾" was actually "贮",.As a result,the viewpoint of border market trade between the Huaiyi tribe and the Zhou dynasty,generally held in the history c ircle at present,was formed on weak foundation.