On Yi Qin Feizi

"Feizi Yi Qin"(非子邑秦)is a political change, which has characteristics of both bureaucracy and feudalism, happened in the west area of Zhou state during the period of West Zhou. The original text of the word "Yi Zhi Qin"(邑之秦)may come from the appointment inscriptions of West Zhou."Yi" has a dual meaning, one indicating the rural settlement, while the other referring to the title of one low-order bureaucrat of West Zhou, namely "Yi Ren"(邑人)The range of the Qin people living at the Feizi period can be divided into three parts:1) Feizi’s Qin(非子之秦)；2) areas used for horse-keeping between Qian river and Wei river;3) areas of "Quan Qiu". These three areas, viewed as small, independent geography unit, have distinctive differences in respect of their human environment, and this distinction finally functioned as the geographical foundation in the rising of Qin’s power.The population composition of Qin people at the time of Feizi is quite complex, probably including different ethnic groups which dwelled in the three geographical units mentioned previously. These people are the Qin Ying(秦嬴)family and their followers, Qin Yi(秦夷), Quan Qiu (犬丘),Ze(夨)and Zhou people living between Qian river and Wei river. It is obvious that the analysis of Qin’s population structure can cast a light into the understanding of the "Rong Di" ethnicity of Qin people.