Editing Zhou dynasty (section)

==Culture and society==
The Zhou heartland was the [[Wei River]] valley; this remained their primary base of power after conquering the Shang.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Li Feng |title=Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou 1045–771 BC |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=1-139-45688-1 |page=40}}</ref>

===Mandate of Heaven===
{{Main|Mandate of Heaven}}
[[File:陕西扶风法门镇庄白村-三年兴壶-西周-宝鸡周原博物院.jpg|thumb|Western Zhou bronze pot (896&nbsp;BC), Fufeng County, Shaanxi{{snd}}Baoji Zhouyuan Museum]]
Zhou rulers introduced the Mandate of Heaven, which would prove to be among East Asia's most enduring political doctrines. According to the theory, Heaven imposed a mandate to replace the Shang with the Zhou, whose moral superiority justified seizing Shang wealth and territory in order to return good governance to the people.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013}}

The Mandate of Heaven was presented as a religious compact between the Zhou people and their supreme god in heaven. The Zhou agreed that since worldly affairs were supposed to align with those of the heavens, the heavens conferred legitimate power on only one person, the Zhou ruler. In return, the ruler was duty-bound to uphold heaven's principles of harmony and honor. Any ruler who failed in this duty, who let instability creep into earthly affairs, or who let his people suffer, would lose the mandate. Under this system, it was the prerogative of spiritual authority to withdraw support from any wayward ruler and to find another, more worthy one.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013|p=153}} In this way, the Zhou sky god legitimized regime change.

In using this creed, the Zhou rulers had to acknowledge that any group of rulers, even they themselves, could be ousted if they lost the mandate of heaven because of improper practices. The book of odes written during the Zhou period clearly intoned this caution.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013|p=153}}

The Zhou kings contended that heaven favored their triumph because the last Shang kings had been evil men whose policies brought pain to the people through waste and corruption.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ivanhoe |first1=Philip J. |title=Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy |last2=Van Norden |first2=Bryan W. |publisher=Hackett |year=2005 |isbn=0-872-20781-1 |edition=2nd |location=Indianapolis, IN |pages=XIV}}</ref> After the Zhou came to power, the mandate became a political tool.

One of the duties and privileges of the king was to create a royal calendar. This official document defined times for undertaking agricultural activities and celebrating rituals. But unexpected events such as [[solar eclipses]] or natural calamities threw the ruling house's mandate into question. Since rulers claimed that their authority came from heaven, the Zhou made great efforts to gain accurate knowledge of the stars and to perfect the [[astronomical]] system on which they based their calendar.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013|p=153}}

Zhou legitimacy also arose indirectly from Shang material culture through the use of bronze ritual vessels, [[statues]], ornaments, and weapons. As the Zhou emulated the Shang's large scale production of ceremonial bronzes, they developed an extensive system of bronze metalworking that required a large force of tribute labor. Many of its members were Shang, who were sometimes forcibly transported to new Zhou to produce the bronze ritual objects which were then sold and distributed across the lands, symbolizing Zhou legitimacy.{{sfnp|Tignor et al.|2013|p=153}}

===Feudalism===
{{further|List of Zhou dynasty states}}
[[Image:CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - bronze gui.jpg|thumb|right|A Western Zhou ceremonial bronze of cooking-vessel form inscribed to record that the King of Zhou gave a fiefdom to Shi You, ordering that he inherit the title as well as the land and people living there]]
Western writers often describe the Zhou period as feudal because the Zhou's ''[[fengjian]]'' system invites comparison with European political systems during the [[Middle Ages]].
[[File:Changshadragon.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon]]'', painting on silk, dated to 5th–3rd century&nbsp;BC, from Zidanku Tomb no. 1 in [[Changsha]], Hunan]]
[[File:Lacquer painting from Ch'u State.jpg|thumb|A {{circa|316&nbsp;BC}} [[lacquerware]] painting from the Jingmen Tomb of the [[state of Chu]] (704–223&nbsp;BC), depicting men wearing precursors to ''[[hanfu]]'' dress and riding in a two-horsed chariot]]
There were many similarities between the decentralized systems. When the dynasty was established, the conquered land was divided into hereditary fiefs ({{lang|zh|諸侯}}, ''zhūhóu'') that eventually became powerful in their own right. In matters of inheritance, the Zhou dynasty recognized only patrilineal [[primogeniture]] as legal.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ancestral Memory in Early China|first=K. E.|last=Brashier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJAMLt5NYAQC&pg=PA71 |isbn=978-0-674-05607-7|date=2011-01-01|publisher=Harvard University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://c.ianthro.tw/sites/c.ianthro.tw/files/da/df/401/401104_0001.pdf |title=The ramage system in China and Polynesia |first=Li |last=Hwei |access-date=2013-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055816/http://c.ianthro.tw/sites/c.ianthro.tw/files/da/df/401/401104_0001.pdf |archive-date=2013-09-21 }}</ref> According to Hsi-Sheng Tao, "the Tsung-fa or descent line system has the following characteristics: patrilineal descent, patrilineal succession, patriarchate, sib-exogamy, and primogeniture"<ref>Tao, Hsi-Sheng. Marriage and Family, Shanghai. 1934. pp. 17–31</ref>

The system, also called "extensive stratified patrilineage", was defined by the anthropologist [[Kwang-chih Chang]] as "characterized by the fact that the eldest son of each generation formed the main of line descent and political authority, whereas the younger brothers were moved out to establish new lineages of lesser authority. The farther removed, the lesser the political authority". Ebrey defines the descent-line system as follows: "A great line (ta-tsung) is the line of eldest sons continuing indefinitely from a founding ancestor. A lesser line is the line of younger sons going back no more than five generations. Great lines and lesser lines continually spin off new lesser lines, founded by younger sons".

K.E. Brashier writes in his book "Ancestral Memory in Early China" about the tsung-fa system of patrilineal primogeniture: "The greater lineage, if it has survived, is the direct succession from father to eldest son and is not defined via the collateral shifts of the lesser lineages. In discussions that demarcate between trunk and collateral lines, the former is called a zong and the latter a zu, whereas the whole lineage is dubbed the shi. [...] On one hand, every son who is not the eldest and hence not heir to the lineage territory has the potential of becoming a progenitor and fostering a new trunk lineage (Ideally he would strike out to cultivate new lineage territory). [...] According to the Zou commentary, the [[son of heaven]] divided land among his feudal lords, his feudal lords divided the land among their dependent families and so forth down the pecking order to the officers who had their dependent kin and the commoners who "each had his apportioned relations and all had their graded precedence""<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brashier |first=K. E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJAMLt5NYAQC&pg=PA71 |title=Ancestral Memory in Early China |date=2011 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-05607-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

This type of unilineal descent-group later became the model of the Korean family through the influence of [[Neo-Confucianism]], as [[Zhu Xi]] and others advocated its re-establishment in China.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deuchler |first=Martina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQeeYOyUx64C&pg=PA129 |title=The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology |year=1992 |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |isbn=978-0-674-16089-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

====''Fengjian'' system and bureaucracy====
There were [[Chinese nobility#Peer ranks of the Zhou dynasty|five peerage ranks]] below the royal ranks, in descending order with common English translations: ''gōng'' 公 "duke", ''hóu'' 侯 "marquis", ''bó'' 伯 "count", ''zǐ'' 子 "viscount", and ''nán'' 男 "baron".<ref>ChinaKnowledge.de encyclopedia, [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/zhou-admin.html] Alternatively, the sequence was translated as '''prince, lord, elder, master, chieftain''': Brooks 1997:3 n.9.</ref> At times, a vigorous duke would take power from his nobles and centralize the state. Centralization became more necessary as the states began to war among themselves and decentralization encouraged more war. If a duke took power from his nobles, the state would have to be administered bureaucratically by appointed officials.

Despite these similarities, there are a number of important differences from medieval Europe. One obvious difference is that the Zhou ruled from walled cities rather than castles. Another was China's distinct class system, which lacked an organized clergy but saw Shang-descent yeomen become masters of ritual and ceremony, as well as astronomy, state affairs and ancient canons, known as ''ru'' ({{lang|zh|儒}}).<ref>{{cite book |last=Rosenlee|first=Li-Hsiang Lisa  |title=Confucianism and Women: A Philosophical Interpretation |year=2012 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-791-48179-0 |pages=21–24}}</ref> When a dukedom was centralized, these people would find employment as government officials or officers. These hereditary classes were similar to Western knights in status and breeding, but unlike the European equivalent, they were expected to be something of a scholar instead of a warrior. Being appointed, they could move from one state to another. Some would travel from state to state peddling schemes of administrative or military reform. Those who could not find employment would often end up teaching young men who aspired to official status. The most famous of these was [[Confucius]], who taught a system of mutual duty between superiors and inferiors. In contrast, the [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalists]] had no time for Confucian virtue and advocated a system of strict laws and harsh punishments.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

===Agriculture===
[[Image:Shi Qiang pan.jpg|thumb|The [[Shi Qiang pan]] ({{circa|10th century&nbsp;BC}}), inscribed with the accomplishments of the earliest Zhou kings]]
Agriculture in the Zhou dynasty was very intensive and, in many cases, directed by the government. All farming lands were owned by nobles, who then gave their land to their [[serfs]], a situation similar to European [[feudalism]]. For example, a piece of land was divided into nine squares in the [[well-field system]], with the grain from the middle square taken by the government and that of surrounding squares kept by individual farmers. This way, the government was able to store surplus food and distribute it in times of famine or bad harvest. Some important manufacturing sectors during this period included bronze smelting, which was integral to making weapons and farming tools. Again, these industries were dominated by the nobility who directed the production of such materials.<ref>[https://www.chinaeducenter.com/en/whychina/zhou.php#:~:text=Agriculture%20in%20Zhou%20Dynasty%20was,serfs%2C%20similar%20to%20European%20feudalism. History of Zhou Dynasty 1122–255 BC] China Education Center</ref>

China's first projects of [[hydraulic engineering]] were initiated during the Zhou dynasty, ultimately as a means to aid agricultural irrigation. [[Sunshu Ao]], the Chancellor of [[Wei (state)|Wei]] who served [[King Zhuang of Chu]], dammed a river to create an enormous irrigation reservoir in modern-day northern [[Anhui]] province. For this, Sunshu is credited as China's first hydraulic engineer. The later Wei statesman [[Ximen Bao]], who served [[Marquis Wen of Wei]] (445–396&nbsp;BC), was the first hydraulic engineer of China to have created a large irrigation canal system. As the main focus of his grandiose project, his canal work eventually diverted the waters of the entire [[Zhang River]] to a spot further up the [[Yellow River]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

=== Military ===
{{main|Military of the Zhou dynasty}}
[[File:Cavalry and Horse Warring States period 475-221 BCE Terracotta Warriors 2013 exhibit at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum 20130320-110726 C4A.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The [[Taerpo Horserider]], a [[Qin (state)|Qin]] terracotta figurine from a tomb near modern [[Xianyang]] in [[Shaanxi]], 4th–3rd century BC<ref name="MK">{{cite journal |last1=Khayutina |first1=Maria |title=From wooden attendants to terracotta warriors |journal=Bernisches Historisches Museum the Newsletter |date=Autumn 2013 |volume=65 |page=2, fig. 4 |url=https://www.iias.asia/sites/iias/files/nwl_article/2019-05/IIAS_NL65_1213.pdf}}</ref>]]

The early Western Zhou supported a strong army, split into two major units: "the Six Armies of the west" and "the Eight Armies of Chengzhou". The armies campaigned in the northern [[Loess Plateau]], modern [[Ningxia]] and the [[Yellow River]] floodplain. The military prowess of Zhou peaked during the 19th year of [[King Zhao of Zhou|King Zhao]]'s reign, when the six armies were wiped out along with King Zhao on a campaign around the [[Han River (Hubei and Shaanxi)|Han River]]. Early Zhou kings were true commanders-in-chief

King Zhao was famous for repeated campaigns in the [[Yangtze]] region, and died on campaign. Later kings' campaigns were less effective. [[King Li of Zhou|King Li]] led 14 armies against barbarians in the south, but failed to achieve any victory. [[King Xuan of Zhou|King Xuan]] fought the [[Quanrong]] nomads in vain. [[King You of Zhou|King You]] was killed by the Quanrong when Haojing was sacked. Although [[Chariot (Ancient China)|chariots]] had been introduced to China during the Shang dynasty from Central Asia, the Zhou period saw the first major use of chariots in battle.{{sfnp|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=14}}{{sfnp|Shaughnessy|1988}} Recent archaeological finds demonstrate similarities between [[horse burial]]s of the Shang and Zhou dynasties with the steppe populations in the west, such as the [[Saka]] and [[Wusun]].<ref name="KrechSteinicke">{{harvnb|Krech|Steinicke|2011|p=100}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rawson |first1=Jessica |last2=Huan |first2=Limin |last3=Taylor |first3=William Timothy Treal |title=Seeking Horses: Allies, Clients and Exchanges in the Zhou Period (1045–221 BC) |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |year=2021 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=489–530 |doi=10.1007/s10963-021-09161-9 |s2cid=245487356 |issn=1573-7802|doi-access=free }}</ref> Other possible cultural influences resulting from contact with these Iranic people of [[Central Asia]] in this period may include fighting styles, head-and-hooves burials, art motifs and myths.<ref name="KrechSteinicke"/>

The Zhou army also included "barbarian" troops such as the [[Beidi|Di people]]. King Hui of Zhou married a princess of the Red Di as a sign of appreciation for the importance of the Di troops.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Poo |first1=Mu-chou |title=Enemies of Civilization: Attitudes toward Foreigners in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China |year=2012 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-791-48370-1 |pages=87–88}}</ref> King Xiang of Zhou also married a Di princess after receiving Di military support.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zhao |first1=Dingxin |title=The Confucian-Legalist State: A New Theory of Chinese History: A New Theory of Chinese History |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-190-46361-8 |page=86}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Gold sword hilt Eastern Zhou BM.jpg|Gold sword hilt, Eastern Zhou, 6–5th century&nbsp;BC{{snd}}[[British Museum]]
File:CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - bronze sword.jpg|Eastern Zhou bronze sword excavated from Changsa, Hunan
Eastern Zhou Bronze Ji (Halberd) (10338222034).jpg|Eastern Zhou ''[[Ji (polearm)|jǐ]]'' bronze halberd
</gallery>

===Philosophy===
{{Further|Chinese Philosophy#Ancient philosophy}}
[[File:Plaque in animal style, Later Zhou or Han dynasty, 4th-3rd century BCE.jpg|thumb|Plaque in nomadic [[animal style]], Eastern Zhou or Han dynasty, 4th–3rd century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/52165 |website=www.metmuseum.org}}</ref>]]
[[File:Chinese silk, 4th Century BC.JPG|thumb|An embroidered silk gauze ritual garment from an Eastern Zhou era tomb at Mashan, Hubei, 4th century&nbsp;BC]]
[[File:Crystal Cup(Warring States Period) in Hangzhou Museum.JPG|thumb|A drinking cup carved from crystal, unearthed at Banshan, [[Hangzhou]], Warring States period{{snd}}[[Hangzhou Museum]]]]
[[File:Bianzhong.jpg|thumb|The [[Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng]], a set of bronze ''[[bianzhong]]'' percussion instruments from [[Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng|his tomb]] in [[Hubei]], dated 433&nbsp;BC]]
During the Zhou dynasty, the origins of native [[Chinese philosophy]] developed, its initial stages of development beginning in the 6th century&nbsp;BC. The greatest Chinese philosophers, those who made the greatest impact on later generations of Chinese, were [[Confucius]], founder of [[Confucianism]], and [[Laozi]], founder of [[Taoism]]. Other philosophers of this era were [[Mozi]], founder of [[Mohism]]; [[Mencius]], the "second sage" of Confucianism; [[Shang Yang]] and [[Han Fei]], responsible for the development of ancient Chinese [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]]; and [[Xunzi (philosopher)|Xunzi]], who was arguably the center of ancient Chinese intellectual life during his time.{{sfnp|Schirokauer|Brown|2006|pp=25–47}}

The state theology of the Zhou dynasty used concepts from the Shang dynasty and mostly referred to the Shang god, [[Di (Chinese concept)|Di]], as [[Tian]], a more distant and unknowable concept, yet one that anyone could utilize, the opposite view of the Shang's spirituality.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ivanhoe |first1=Philip J. |title=Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy |last2=Van Norden |first2=Bryan W. |publisher=Hackett |year=2005 |isbn=0-872-20781-1 |edition=2nd |location=Indianapolis, IN |pages=XII-XIV}}</ref> The Zhou wanted to increase the number of enlightenment seekers, mystics, and those who would be interested in learning about such things as a way to further distance their people from the Shang-era paradigm and local traditions.

====''Li''====
Having emerged during the Western Zhou, the [[Li (Confucianism)|''li'' ritual system]] encoded an understanding of manners as an expression of the social hierarchy, ethics, and regulation concerning material life; the corresponding social practices became idealized within Confucian ideology.

The system was canonized in the ''[[Book of Rites]]'', ''[[Rites of Zhou]]'', and ''[[Etiquette and Ceremonial]]'' compiled during the [[Han dynasty]] (202&nbsp;BC{{snd}}220&nbsp;AD), thus becoming the heart of the Chinese imperial ideology. While the system was initially a respected body of concrete regulations, the fragmentation of the Western Zhou period led the ritual to drift towards moralization and formalization in regard to:

* The five orders of [[Chinese nobility]]
* Ancestral temples (size, legitimate number of pavilions)
* Ceremonial regulations (number of [[Ding (vessel)|ritual vessels]], musical instruments, people in the dancing troupe)
'''Sexuality'''

Aside from ''Shi Jing'', the earliest Chinese poem anthology, where gender-ambiguity and same-sex affection both made an appearance, the Zhou Dynasty involved many recorded forms of homosexuality, including farmers and soldiers.<ref>Hinsch, Bret. "Passions of the Cut Sleeve." Academic Publisher. De Gruyter Brill, 1990. p. 18, <nowiki>https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520912656/html</nowiki>.</ref> Bisexuality and/or homosexual practices often involved heterosexual marriage, foundational to kinship and social networks in the Zhou Dynasty and beyond in Imperial China, whereas male homosexuality was often "class-based," meaning these relationships involved economic and social benefits.<ref>Hinsch, Bret. "Passions of the Cut Sleeve." Academic Publisher. De Gruyter Brill, 1990. pp. 19–20, <nowiki>https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520912656/html</nowiki>.</ref>