Feudalism Discussion

Author: Feng Tianyu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: "Feudalism" originally means "to enfeoff land and establish states" or "to grant titles and establish fiefdoms." In the ancient Chinese cultural sphere, all countries used this meaning of "feudalism" and developed "feudalism theories." The mainstream society in China from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties gradually moved away from feudalism, while modern European observers and scholars discovered that Japan's bakufu-han system was highly similar to the medieval European system of feudalism (land tenure and fiefdoms). During the Meiji period, Japan translated "feudalism" as "feudalism." In the late Qing and early Republican era, China adopted this newly coined term formed through the translation of "feudalism" in Chinese and foreign contexts. This book clarifies the evolution of the concept of "feudalism" by confirming its original meaning and Western interpretation, tracing its conceptual trajectory over time, and revealing the social and cultural reasons for its generalization through the process of conceptual development and cross-cultural exchange. It also proposes a modernized view of feudalism as a modified concept. This is of great significance for correctly understanding and constructing the basic framework of Chinese history. Additionally, the author's research on the creation of academic terminology and the clarification of concepts is highly innovative.