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When
the House of Chou overthrew the Shang dynasty (about 1025, but
traditionally held in 1122), the lands were given to family members or
close allies, who themselves gave estates to relatives or officials,
resulting in the territories being divided in more than 170 entities,
internally fragmented, during the Spring and Autumn period.
Most
of them were simply too small to be viable in the long run, and were
destroyed or reduced in size: at the beginning of the Warring States
period, there remained only seven, excluding the territories owned by the
House of Chou itself (which were shrunken in size because of a barbarian
attack in 770, forcing them to flee east).
Details
of the whole Chou dynasty will be given later in these pages, but here are
the most interesting changes and improvements that occur during that time,
and that may have some influence on the events that will follow:
v Technological
changes:
notable technological advances have been made in the use of iron that seems
to have started during the 6th century, even though it was not forged, thus
brittle, and not widely in use. Of more importance are the progresses in
agriculture, but they are hard to measure and date. Nonetheless, it
certainly played a role in the
v Demographic
changes:
no clear records here, but it seems certain that the period saw a major
increase in demographic figures; this assumption is mainly based on the
increased size of the cities
v Changes
in powers:
Ø Political
changes:
As it has already been hinted at above, the Chou did not rule themselves the territories; and the links between them
and their vassals weakened over time. Because of the barbarian attack of
770, they also lost much of their power, and the vassals grew up as
separate states. What is most important to remember is that the rulers
tried to centralize more power through
Ø Administrative
changes:
the territories are divided into administrative entities (see more about it
here), this being combined with a general bureaucratization of
administration, leading to greater professionalism and efficiency. Also to
be noted the development of codified and written law, which will play a
great role in the shift of Ch'in from state to Empire.
Ø Military
changes:
There were many wars during the Spring and Autumn period, but they were
short and on a small scale, involving mainly aristocrats for prestige and
“face”. At the beginning of the Warring States period, wars were fought by
professionals and for money and territory. Progresses were made in the
equipment through the use of the horse and the invention of the crossbow
v Changes
in relationships:
Ø Agrarian
relationships: the relations between overlord and peasants as they
existed during centuries under the Chou dynasty are quite close to those
that existed during the Middle Age period in Europe, and are thus called
“feudal”. With the bureaucratization of the administration, peasants tended
more and more to pay taxes directly to the overlord, and then directly to
the centralized state: it provided an incentive for the peasant to produce
more, but he would lose the protection of the overlord at the same time
Ø Power
relationships: political influence
was more and more obtained by people either “gentlemen”, that is men of good
birth but without title of nobility (from the 4th century), or even to
those of plebeian birth, like rich merchants (3rd century, which was again
crucial for the destiny of Ch'in, see below)
v Changes
in commerce and industry: the most notable change is the creation
of currency. Since it facilitated the commercial transactions, it also
indirectly led to an increase of the importance of cities as “exchange
centers”, and to some specialization of industries according to the
location.
v Intellectual
changes:
new intellectual currents appeared, leading to the creation of half a dozen
of school of thought and many independent thinkers. Based on the social and
political changes occurring, many new trends appeared, like the discarding
of the supernatural and mythological explanations of the universe, the
necessity of intellectual and moral qualities of a ruler, or at least the
necessity of an educated class of advisers, as well as emphasis on social
harmony and universalism as basis of peace and general well-being
II: The state
of Ch'in
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