On Enfeoffment System Of The Eight Banners’ Feudal Lords Before1644

This paper elaborates on enfeoffment system of The Eight Banners’ feudal lordsbefore the Qing dynasty established the state in China. It would be discussed in fourparts.The first part introduces the establishment and development of the enfeoffmentsystem of The Eight Banners’Lords. In the unification of Nuzhen tribe, based on theEight Banners system, Nurgaci established his leadership in those annexed and submittedpeople. All those who had certain troops in the Nurgaci family, were regarded as the lordsof the Eight Banners. In this feudal system, the lords of the Eight Banners had their ownpolitical independence, similar to the vassal states in the Zhou enfeoffment system，andthe khanates of the Mongolia Empire. Under the control of Huang Taiji, along with thecreation of the army of Mongolia and Han, the lords of the Eight Banners expanded theirland. Besides the leadership in three troops and the army of the Eight Banners inManchuria, they also control their independent army, the combined troops of the EightBanners and Mongolia, the combined troops of the Eight Banners and Han. Apart fromthis, they also appointed some subordinates as official. Although those official had"special master" status, they were still under the control of the lords.The detailed analysis of the connotation of the Eight Banners’ feudal lords will bediscussed in the second part. First, in the feudal system, property, population and landwould be equally divided among the Eight lords. This principle is the core content of thesystem. This principle not only represented the political and economic privileges of thenoble, but also stood for one element of the imperial investiture system. Second, Thelords would discuss the state affairs together, and its basic purpose was to restrict theindividual rights and to avoid the arbitrary monopoly of power. It was one of thecharacterizations of the equality among the lords. It remained some characteristics of theclan society. In fact, it was the residue of the tribal chiefs Council. Third, in the lords’enfeoffment system, it covered the patriarchal clan system, its characteristic was theintegration of the clan and the lords, the formation of the rights between Hans and theLords. Forth, the traditional tribal soldier system integrated the system of Eight Banners. In accordance with the Eight Banners, the army were divided into eight equallyindependent troops. Military right and political right were unitized, The army and theofficial were leaded by lords.Social characteristics of the Eight Banners’ society under the system of enfeoffmentwill be discussed in the third part. First, the aristocracy was the distinct feature of thefeudal society. In the later period of Jin dynasty, The Lords and the nobles had specifichereditary titles and privileges and absolute political monopoly, relying on the powerfuleconomic and political status. Second, enfeoffment system of The Eight Banners’feudal lords divided the society into different ranks. As the formation of the rankdifferentiation, caste differentiation would naturally produce the feudal relationship.Typical examples are the master and the third-rater, the prince and the Manchu. On thebasis of these two main relationships, different classes with Manchu social characteristicscame into existence. Third, In this period, those who had the military exploit wererewarded and honored. It affected Manchu society a lot. From the imperial clan membersto the ordinary soldiers and the third-raters, their status and the fate of their family mightbe changed for their military exploits. The respect to military exploits, not only providedthe impetus for the development of Manchuria’s regime, but also encouraged the martialspirit.The fourth part analyzes the relationship between the land system and the system ofenfeoffment. First, in the early period, Jianzhou Nuzhen was a tribe based on agricultureand the government of village. Agricultural production was actually a cottage agriculturaleconomy, an early form of feudal manorial economy. Second, the implementation ofreclaiming the wasteland actually prosper the national grain by making full use of labor.It was one form of combination of taxes and corves. This indicates, in the developmentof Jianzhou tribes’regime, the traditional fishing, hunting, gathering mode could not meetthe actual needs, and the economic structure tended to be based on the agriculturaleconomy. Third, the basis of giving lands related to the number of people. It embodied akind of feudal land ownership. According to the system of enfeoffment, the allocation ofland was related to the lords and divided among the lords by themselves. The males ofthe lords were firmly tied to the land, and dependent on the lords. Forth,enfeoffmentsystem of The Eight Banners’feudal lords effected the distribution of land in1625. According to the principle of the lords, it was actually a distribution of land, populationand property in Liaoning and Shenyang. Through this allocation, the Hans wereincorporated into the Eight lords’ system. The farmers were changed into the serfs ofthe Eight Banners aristocratic,and their land naturally became the manor of EightBanners’lords.To wind up the discussion, the enfeoffment system of the Eight Banners’feudal lordsis a feudal system with distinctive characteristics of the tribes with the combination ofthe Eight Banners’ system.