Comprehensive Study Of Guo State

Based on the analysis of former scholars' researches and the archaeological materials,according to literature records and bronze inscriptions,this thesis mainly does a research on the Guo State,which illustrates from four aspects.Firstly,in terms of time,the historical facts,such as incipience,development,migration,prosperity and extinction of the State,are analyzed through historical events and figures.Secondly,the specific combination of burial accessories are used to analyze bronze ritual vessels,weapon vessels,chariot and harness ornaments,and therefore to understand etiquette and music system and military system of the State.Thirdly,the burial rites and cemetery system are known by analyzing the tombs' structures,utensils,forms,customs and relations,and then to acquire the difference of burial accessories in consideration of the tomb owner's gender and social stratum.Fourthly,the other States which have the marriage relations with the Guo State are inferred through the settlements,strength and connections of different branches of imperial clans from the middle period to late period of Western Zhou Dynasty.On the basis of the above,the conclusions are as followings.1.The Guo State is a vital enfeoffed state with a surname of Ji in the Western and Eastern Zhou Dynasty.According to the literature records of five Guo states,there only exist two states named as East-Guo and West-Guo in history.The West-Guo State has two capitals---one in Baojing which is the west barrier of the imperial family and the other in Sanmenxia.The Lord of the State has a power on conquering against enemy,internal management,and even succession to the throne.Due to the invasion of Xian Yun(also called Quan Rong,a barbarian and strong tribe in the west)and political instability,the State moves to Sanmenxia,where it also delays the eastern migration of the imperial family because of its special geographical position.That's why the State gets serious appreciation at the beginning of Spring and Autumn Period.Hereafter,the State continues to be the west barrier for the imperial family,prevent Rong people from marching to the east,and strive for the expansion of the imperial family.As for the East-Guo State,it moves to Xingyang from a branch of the West-Guo State probably after the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty suppresses the rebellion.2.There are three branches of the State known as Guo Bo,Guo Shu and Guo Ji in the middle period of Western Zhou Dynasty,and the branch of Guo Ji gradually gets stronger and stronger.In addition,there are three branches known as Guo Zhong,Guo Shu and Guo Ji in the late period of Western Zhou Dynasty,and each branch is in charge of different issues in the imperial court and has different strength.After becoming more powerful,each branch has derived new branches and their appellations are also different,among which the branch of Guo Ji shall be the biggest clan in the late period of Western Zhou Dynasty.The State has revealed obvious characteristics of Zhou culture in aspects of marriage,utensil function and burial rite.?a custom of no marriage with the same family name is strictly obeyed;?pottery,bronze and their combinations are similar to Zhou people,with a lowest percentage of other cultural elements;?the layers of inner and outer coffins and the ornamentation,the tombs with jades and the sequence and distribution of tombs,both are consistent with the literature recorded in "Etiquette" and"Zhou Rites";?the proportion of Zhou cultural characteristics in burial rites is extremely high,but there are some customs relevant to Yin people in aspects of burial pit and dog burial pit and also relevant to Rong people in aspects of niche and flexed burial.Besides the marriage relations,these characteristics appeared in the cemetery of the Guo State relate to Jiao State and Rong people that march to the east.4.Using a set of buried ritual vessels(including food vessels,water vessels and drinking vessels)as the standard,the nobility of Guo State can be divided into the Lord,Da Fu(senior official)and Shi(a social stratum in ancient China,between senior official and common people).Above the class of Da Fu,with the lower of tomb owner's stratum,the burial accessories become less and poorer in quality.As for Shi,the burial ritual vessels,weapon vessels,chariot and harness ornaments improve a lot in kind and quantity at the latter phase of the beginning of Spring and Autumn Period.So one of the inner contradictions is that Da Fu is unsatisfied with the Lord and Shi has promoted the social status.5.The State has a strong military power.The variety,structure and combination have shown the excellent performance of weapon vessels,and the chariots are more convenient and flexible compared to other states,which is the reflection of many battles and also the reason why Da Fu is unsatisfied with the Lord of the State.6.It reveals a characteristic that attaches importance to blood relationship by the distribution of the State's cemetery.From the north to the south,the tomb owner's social stratum is getting lower which means that the tombs with the rites of Zhou culture are less.Near the south of the cemetery,there are three groups of blood clan and tomb owners' stratums and strength have experienced ups and downs.At the latter phase of the beginning of Spring and Autumn Period,the first group of tombs(Gong Clan)shows a thriving power of the State.Its burial rites have a connection with Rong people,and the vessels have other cultural elements.The burial bronze ritual vessels and weapon vessels of Shi are the most abundant.7.Compared with the Jin State,the Guo State has a very strict vessel system,with one level higher in the number of Ding than the Jin State.However,the other cultural elements revealed in the bronze and pottery of the State are lower that the Jin State.The Jin State,with a much larger territory,has experienced a unified domestic battle,and the blood relationship has been destroyed,forming a distinct comparison with the Guo State.All these show that the Guo State is conservative and single while the Jin State is open and diversified.8.The extinction of the State has various reasons.The direct reason is the expansion of the Jin State and the external reason is the imperial strategy of supporting the weak and restraining the powerful,while the internal reason is extreme contradictions existed in domestic society.Ultimately,the most essential reason is the geographical position of the State which has an important military value and strategical function.It is limited to expand on account of the special topography with a larger mountain area and a smaller plain area.And then it leads to the extinction because of the State is also lack of a fine agricultural foundation compared with the Jin State.So this thesis comes to conclude that it is a contradiction between the military and the agriculture.