Zhou Dynasty's Enfeoffment System (Revised Edition)

Author: Lü Wenyu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The fiefdom system is one of the most important political systems during the Zhou Dynasty. However, this significant system has not received the attention it deserves in previous historical research. This book comprehensively and systematically examines the historical process of the emergence, development, transformation, and decline of the fiefdom system during the Zhou Dynasty, analyzes its different forms and characteristics in various historical stages, reveals the social roots of its evolution, evaluates its important role in the social development of the Zhou Dynasty and its impact on the long-term historical development of China's feudal society, and criticizes various misconceptions about the fiefdom system among scholars since the Han Dynasty as well as some erroneous views prevalent in contemporary historical academia. The book also conducts in-depth research, analysis, and discussion on important issues such as the scope of the Western Zhou royal domain, the distribution and changes of fiefdoms within the royal domain, the internal structure and essence of the houses of feudal lords during the Spring and Autumn Period, the relationship between the competition for fiefdoms among states during the Spring and Autumn Period and the rise and decline of the royal house and the feudal clans, as well as the historical inevitability of the replacement of the fiefdom system by the prefecture-county system.