A Research On The Rites And Customs Of Shang And Zhou Dynasty In Ballad Poetry Of Wei States

Ballad Poetry of Wei States is an important part of ballads. There are 39 pieces, including Bei Ballads, Yong Ballads and Wei Ballads. They were one that all describe things in Wei area.Ballad Poetry of Wei States appeared in Chaoge and other areas nearby in Shang Dynasty and in Wei kingdom and its vassal states in Zhou Dynasty, Today, it's about in the north of Henan Province and south of Hebei Province. The period it appeared was when Shang Dynasty was destroyed and Zhou Dynasty was built. In the book of The Theory on the Institutions of Yin and Zhou, Wang Guowei said,"Among the revolutions of Chinese politics and culture, no more revolution was severer than that happened during Yin and Zhou…From the outside, it was just one family's boom and bust or the shift of cities. From the inside, it was the abolishment of the old institutions and culture and the establishment of the new institutions and culture."The shift of a dynasty is just more than ten years, but the revolution of a culture is no less than one hundred years. In Wei States, because of so many Yin adherents and the remains of Shang culture, it formed a duality culture in the period of the prosperity of Zhou rites."The articles must be influenced by the culture", so Ballad Poetry of Wei States kept the features of the duality culture.For one thing, Ballads Poetry of Wei States contains the unique cultural genes of Shang Dynasty: too many witches and sacrifices, mulberry woods as the core; reprimanded as licentious, but customs of levirate; lascivious and loving wine. Women have high status in the country. For another thing, Ballad Poetry of Wei States has the typical ceremonial standards of Zhou Dynasty: no marriage between the people who have the same surnames and political marriages among feudal lords. They carry out the matrimonial system of concubinage . Blood vessels are fully mixed. There are six rites for the marriage regulating marriage procedures.However, the influences of the two kinds of culture to Ballad Poetry of Wei States are not so clear. Different cultures have blended in the historical stories of the poems. So, we can't simply list a poem to reflect the customs of Shang, and another for the rites of Zhou. There are many works with marriage and love theme in the Ballad Poetry of Wei States to the appearances, especially the marriage theme. Ballad Poetry of Wei States is an unique literature performances of cultural changes during Shang and Zhou. It has important value to search for its rich meanings for the research of pre-qin literature and even for the culture.