Feudalism is an ancient word, but it is still very popular in today's society. It is frequently used in people's written and spoken language, and it is also centered on the word "feudalism", which constitutes a considerable vocabulary series. This shows that the word "feudalism" and its derivative series still play a powerful role in our real life, although it is often used as a "target".
However, although the concept of "feudalism" has a long history in China, arguments about "feudalism" and "counties" also occur from time to time in history. The concept of "feudal society" that we are used to today is quite different from the ancient concept of "feudalism".
In China, the concept of "feudalism" can refer to three different objects: the first refers to the feudalism in ancient China, such as "feudal relatives of the Western Zhou Dynasty"; Second, it refers to the "feudal society" that China continued from ancient times to modern times; The third refers to a social system in medieval Europe, which is often regarded as the reference prototype of various feudal societies.
First, the feudal system of Zhou Dynasty.
In the word "feudalism", it seems that the word "feng" plays a major role and needs to be explained. The original meaning of the word "sword" is not much different from the present meaning. The original meaning also means "establishing a country by legislation". The reason why we can "legislate" lies in "sealing". "Building" comes from "sealing". However, the original meaning of the word "feng" does not mean that "the emperor gave people land, people, titles and titles" when the word "feudalism" was later fixed. At first, the word "feng" was the same word as "feng", which looked like "planting trees on the mound" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions's inscription, but the purpose of planting trees here is to demarcate the boundary, which means "feng". From this point of view, Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Tu Lu said: "The land of feudal lords, nobles and princes" is only an extension, not the original meaning. As for Shuowen, the word "feng" is followed by "from it, from the soil, from the inch, and keep its system. A hundred miles for the public, seventy miles for the uncle and fifty miles for the son. " Obviously, it was also influenced by people's reflection after the Warring States Period.
The feudal governors in the early Zhou Dynasty all aimed at "shielding Zhou" and "helping Zhou", and "Four Years of Zuo Zhuan" also said that "Yin is the world and Zhou is harmony". After Zuo Gong's Twenty-six Years, there is a sentence of "Zhou Ping": "It is also said that' my king enjoyed the merits of civil and military, was overthrown by later generations, and drowned in difficulties, so he was saved. "Cui Shu explained the meaning of this passage:" Wen was ordered by, not the son of heaven. The king of Wu began to negotiate business, but he didn't see peace among the four parties. When I become king, I will enjoy it, thinking that the virtues of my ancestors and fathers are exclusive to me, and I am not at ease, so I will share them with my parents and brothers. "
The emperor and vassal feudalism established the dependency relationship of rank and title. After the establishment of the feudal system, there are two main systems to maintain it: one is the patriarchal clan system that embodies "kissing"; The other is the patrol tribute system aimed at constantly affirming and reminding this hierarchical relationship. Generally, the blocked princes appeared before the King of Zhou once every five years, and the dynasties changed to a certain extent, so they were not allowed to cross it. In addition, the princes also have the obligation to pay tribute and serve the king of Zhou, which is called "kingship". Warlords have to stay close once a year and once every three years. The newly established monarch must get the medal of Zhou Wang to show that he has a relationship with Zhou Wang. However, vassals were free to exercise sovereignty at home.
Second, the origin of China's concept of "feudal society"
Since China was knocked out of the country in the middle of19th century, the ideological dispute about ancient feudalism in China has become a dead end. Those who are dissatisfied with the status quo and determined to reform no longer focus on the ancient times, but follow the example of the West, believe in "progress" and focus on the future. However, the word "feudalism" did not disappear, but gradually gained a new meaning and became popular in society.
The ancient meaning of "feudalism" has undergone a fundamental turning point here, which was initiated by Guo Moruo. Guo Moruo 1930 published "Research on Ancient Society in China", which categorically concluded that "China society has been fixed under the feudal system for more than two thousand years". In his view, in fact, China society gradually changed from slavery to "real feudalism" not in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but after Shi Zhou moved eastward. The Five Kings in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Seven Heroes in the Warring States Period were the "real feudal princes". The Qin Dynasty only abolished feudalism in name and became a county. In fact, feudalism in China has been very prominent in the last hundred years. Qin Shihuang was the founder of feudalism in the social history of China. What he called "feudalism" is completely different from the ancient "feudalism".
The formal presentation and systematic exposition of the concept of "feudal society" first appeared in "China Revolution and China's * * * Production Party" published in February 1939, especially the first chapter "China society", which refers to the social form of China extending from ancient times to modern times.
The economic and political system of feudal society in China has the following three characteristics: 1. Economic base: Self-sufficient natural economy (landlord and small-scale peasant economy) occupies the main position: the feudal ruling class-landlords, nobles and emperors, owns the largest part of the land, while farmers have little or no land; Not only do landlords, nobles and royalty depend on the land rent exploited by farmers for their livelihood, but the landlord class countries also force farmers to pay tribute taxes and engage in unpaid labor to support state officials and the army. 2. Political basis: The authority to protect this feudal exploitation system is the feudal state of the landlord class. In feudal countries, the emperor's power is supreme, and he relies on landlords and gentlemen as the basis of all feudal rule. The main contradiction in feudal society is the contradiction between the peasant class and the landlord class. The extreme poverty and backwardness of peasants caused by the cruel exploitation and oppression of peasants by the landlord class is the fundamental reason for the stagnation of economic and social life in China for thousands of years. In the feudal society of China, only class struggle, peasant uprising and peasant war were the real driving forces of historical development. Every peasant uprising hit the feudal rule at that time, thus promoting the development of social productive forces to a certain extent. However, because farmers do not represent the new relations of production, they still have to be used by landlords and nobles as tools for their regime change. In this way, the feudal economic relations and political system will basically continue. This situation did not change until nearly a hundred years ago. After the Opium War, China gradually became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese nation, feudalism and the masses of the people are the main contradictions in modern China society. 3. Ideological basis: form feudal ethics with Confucianism as the core and maintain social order. This is not exactly the same as the feudal system in the Western Zhou Dynasty.