The Research On "the Five-Ranks" Of The Western Zhou Peirod And The Spirng And Autumn Peirod

The “Five Ranks” is an important concept in the history of the Western Zhouperiod and the Spring and Autumn period. The study on the “Title of the Five Ranks”and the “System of the Five Ranks of Nobility” is correlated to the research on manyother systems throughout the Western Zhou period. It is even crucial to the researchof the history of the whole Western Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, the investigation on theformation of the “System of the Five Ranks of Nobility” will bring revelations to thestudy on the Confucianism in the Eastern Zhou period.Based on the previous results, this thesis gives a comprehensive and systematicreview and research on the “Title of the Five Ranks” and the “System of the FiveRanks of Nobility” by multidisciplinary study and analysis of the archaeologicalmaterials of the inscriptions on bronze, especially some recent excavations. The thesiscontains8chapters:The use of the five titles of the “Five Ranks”, which are “Gong”,“Hou”,“Bo”,“Zi” and “Nan”, during the Western Zhou period is reviewed and analyzed thoroughlyfrom Chapter1to Chapter5. The title of “Gong” in the available archaeologicalmaterials of the inscriptions on bronze in the Western Zhou period is categorized intoself-title, alive-title and dead-title according to their actual situation and the researchneeds in Chapter1. Such a conclusion is also drawn that the alive-title of “Gong” inthe Western Zhou period mainly consists of official title and honorific title. Theofficial title of “Gong” has an explicit scope of authority, but it is not hereditary.While, the honorific title of “Gong” does not possess a clear define of rank, most ofwhich do not involve any hereditary issue, either. Three main characteristics of thetitle of “Hou” in the Western Zhou period are summarized from the analysis andcomparison of the title of “Hou” in the inscriptions on bronze with its relevant titlesin Chapter2. The one characteristic is that “Hou” can be used as a verb. The secondcharacteristic is that “Hou” has an explicit scope in the military function. The thirdcharacteristic is that the feudal region of “Hou” is complied with certain rules. Thediscussion in Chapter3is expanded from the primary signification of the title of “Bo” which is “the Oldest”. It is confirmed that there is no ranking differentia between thetitle of “Bo” and the title of “Hou” concluded from case study. The significations ofthe "Son", the "Direct Descendant" and the "Monarch", which are related to the titleof "Zi" in the inscriptions on bronze in the Western Zhou period, are analyzed inChapter4, respectively. The two characteristics of the title of "Zi" are furthersummarized as:(1) the title of “Zi” in the early Western Zhou period has a clearfeature of the merchant and is used mainly among the adherents of the Yin Dynasty;(2)the status represented by the title of "Zi" and that represented by the title of "Bo" haveoverlaps with each other so that there should be no ranking differential between thesetwo titles accordingly.Since the relevant information of the title of “Nan” in theinscription on bronze is rather deficient, the analysis of the title of “Nan” in Chapter5is mainly based on literatures. From the study of the ancient literatures, such as“Zuo’s Commentary”, it is quite clear that the title of “Nan” during the Western Zhouperiod is only used as the title in the system of “Hou Dian Nan”.The phenomenon of the so-called “Jue Ming Jian Cheng”(to hold two or morerank titles concurrently) is analyzed in Chapter6using case study with the summaryand comprehensive use of the conclusions from previous chapters, and thisphenomenon is basically proved to be a misleading appearance. The cause of suchphenomenon is also deducedChapter7is focused on the similarities and differences between the use of the“Title of the Five Ranks” in the Spring and Autumn period and that in the WesternZhou period through the analysis of the literatures related to the ranking of seigneurs,and the evolvement of the “Title of the Five Ranks” into the “System of the FiveRanks of Nobility” is also discussed. It is indicated that the “System of the FiveRanks of Nobility” never exists as a perfect system implemented throughout thehierarchy. At the meantime, under the circumstances of alliance politics, the rankingof “Gong Hou Bo Zi Nan” does reflect the ranking level of each actual seigneur,although it does not constitute an integrated monarch ranking system. The disciplineof the “System of the Five Ranks of Nobility” should have been developed graduallybased on the extension and supplement of the real historical materials of the Springand Autumn period. The timeline and cause of the evolvement of the title of “Gong Hou Bo Zi Nan”into the “System of the Five Ranks of Nobility” are deduced from available materialsin Chapter8based on the study in previous chapters. The links between thisevolvement and the Confucianism in the Eastern Zhou period are also analyzed. Thetheory of the “System of the Five Ranks of Nobility” should be formed between thelatter of the Early Warring States period and the Middle and Late Warring Statesperiod. This theory well serves the concept of social hierarchy in the Confucianismand the idea of imitating the ancients. The turbulent social reality during the WarringStates period, especially with the origination and prevalence of the System ofGranting Noble by Military Merits, is the crucial external cause of the formation ofthe “System of the Five Ranks of Nobility”. The theory of the “System of the FiveRanks of Nobility” is an important composition in the system and political models ofthe Confucianism. Although reconstruction is included, the theory of the “System ofthe Five Ranks of Nobility” still possesses certain historical values thereof.