A Study On The Military Etiquette Of Zhou Dynasty

As an important content of “Rites of Zhou”,military rite can be traced back to the mid-term and later period of Shang Dynasty which is a systematic system and code of condust that guides the army in its activities of sacrifice,training and expedition.The generalized military etiquette includes the military etiquette,the military regime,the military regulation and so on,while what talked about herein is military rite in narrow sense refers to series of ritual activities related to the army and war from the Shang Dynasty to the late Spring and Autumn Period and the spirit and principes of military rite involved by was during the Spring and Autumn Period.The content of military rite became more systematic compared with the previous dynasties since there had been set during the Western Zhou Dynasty.The Spring and Autumn Period is the most abundant period of military rite.Had been influenced by the concepts of “Rites” that came into people of the Spring and Autumn Period,the military rite of the Spring and Autumn Period has played an important role in the political,military and cultural aspects of the various nations.Military rite was gradually declining while the military thought matured gradually after the late Spring and Autumn Period,the reasons are many-sided and the military rite has played a role that can't be ignored in the development of military thought.As a literature which recout the etiquette system of Zhou Dynasty,<Zhou Li> is rich in military rite content.As one of the important works of Confucianism,the content of <Kong Cong Zi> is also of great value to the study of Zhou Dynasty military rite.And the question of authenticity of <Kong Cong Zi> has always been discussed in the academic ciecles.This article will analyze the key military rite from the late Shang Dynasty to the late Spring and Autumn Period,inquire into the connotation of the evolution of military rite of Shang and Zhou dynasties and discuss the relationship between military etiquette and military activities of the Spring and Autumn Period,military thoughts' inheritance and development of military rite and the problems of military etiquette contained in <Kong Cong Zi> by using historical,palaeography and the like,led by historical materialism.In order to offer help for the researches of the problem of ritual system in pre-Qin-Dynasty,history of military thoughts and history of the Spring and Autumn war.This paper is mainly composed of four parts.The first part is based on the sacrifice of Liao and the rite of contributing capture in military rite of late Shang Dynasty and Western Zhou Dynasty,and analyze the content and connotation of them,inquire into the causes of the evolution of military rite during that time;the second part mainly probes into the development of military rite in Spring and Autumn Period,the regional differences of military rite and beg for division in the Spring and Autumn Period's military rite,the function of military rite in contending for hegemony according to the context of development of the Spring and Autumn Period history;the third part will analysis the causes of the decline of ancient military rite and analysis from <Sun Tzu> :how the military thoughts contained in <Sun Tzu> inheriting andimproving the content of military rite.The forth part briefly discusses hunting ceremony and war ceremony two elements described by <Zhou Li>.In addition,the appendix part will discuss the military rite of Zhou Dynasty in <Kong Cong Zi-asking military rite> and make a few comments on the authenticity of <Kong Cong Zi>.