A Study On The Relation Between Zhou Imperial Court And Ba State By The Bronze Inscriptions

The state of Ba,not documented in historical records,was an important Zhou Dynasty country which was located in the south of Shanxi Province during the pre-qin period.Since the Ba cemetery was stolen in Dahekou village,Yicheng County,Shanxi Province in 2007,the Institute of Archaeology of Shanxi Province has carried out rescue excavation.A large number of inscribed bronzes have been unearthed from the Ba cemetery.The “Ba Bo” Yu inscription is an important material for studying the Pin Li system between the king and princes in Western Zhou Dynasty.The inscription of “Ba Bo” Gui is the most complete primary material about the management of the He Dong salt industry of the Western Zhou Dynasty with significant academic values.The inscriptions of “Dui” Pen,“Ba Bo” Pan and “Ge Zhong” Gui cover that Ba assists the Zhou Imperial Court in fighting and assumes certain obligations.In the past,scholars’ research on the issue of Ba mainly focused on the following aspects: using the inscriptions of “Ba Bo” Yu to discuss the Pin Li system of the Zhou Dynasty;the study of the ethnic group of Ba;and the study of Ba state’s foreign relation.In recent years,scholars gave a detailed study on Ba and made a lot of findings.They have a more comprehensive view on the Pin Li system in Western Zhou Dynasty,the etiquette of Di,and Ba state’s foreign relation.Compared with the studies on research mentioned,it is not difficult to find that there are chiefly two different views on the ethnic group of Ba.Some scholars hold that Ba belongs to nine surnames of Huai,while other scholars believe that Ba is migrated in the early Zhou Dynasty.There is room for discussion on the issue of Ba,and it is necessary to back forward.The text is divided into four parts,and the main contents are as follows:The chapter one was to discuss the origin,evolution and the political status of the Ba.According to the unearthed materials of the Dahekou Cemetery in Yicheng County,Ba continued from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the early spring and autumn period.Therefore,Ba was migrated to the south of Shanxi Province in the early Western Zhou Dynasty,and it may perish in the expansion of Jin in the early spring and autumn period.The tombs of the Dahekou were deeply influenced by the both Shang and Zhou culture.Ba belonged to “guifang”,which was surrendered to the Shang Ting at the end of the Shang Dynasty.Later,Ba submitted itself to the rule of Zhou Ting,and it was a guest in Zhou.Ba state’s political status was likely to be the bin fu prince.The chapter two,on the basis of analyzing the inscriptions of “Ba Bo” Yu,“Ba Bo” Gui and“Dui” Pen unearthed from the Dahekou cemetery,the Zhou Imperial Court’s governance strategy against Ba was investigated.When ruling the Ba,Zhou dynasty adhered to the policy of “rule by custom”.On the one hand,it gave Ba a certain degree of autonomy.On the other hand,Zhou Ting strengthened the control and utilization of Ba via military operations and other methods,so that Ba could better serve the Zhou Dynasty.The chapter three,starting from the research on the new inscriptions of “Ge Zhong” Gui,“Ba Bo” Pan,and “Ba Bo” Yi unearthed from the Dahekou cemetery,it discussed that Ba,as a bin fu prince,assisted the Zhou Imperial Court in fighting and assumed political and economic obligations.The chapter four,taking the inscriptions of Ba and the relationship between Ba and Zhou Dynasty as the entry point,taking Ba,Peng,Hu and other “kui” princes as examples,it was demonstrated that the foreign surnames were likely to be combined with the royal family and the nobles surnamed Ji under the system of enfeoffment in the Zhou Dynasty.Marriage is an important way of survival.The Rongdi tribe in southern Shanxi is widespread,so the ruler of Zhou Dynasty established the vassal strongholds of Zhou Imperial Court to strengthen the management of southern Shanxi.Ba is not found in historical records,so the inscriptions on the Dahekou cemetery have extremely high historical value for revealing the history of Ba and the Zhou Dynasty’s management of southern Shanxi.In particular,the inscriptions on the Dahekou cemetery,such as “Ba Bo” Yu,“Qi” Pan and “Qi” He,are used to study the Zhou Dynasty’s Pin Li system,Bin Li and pre-qin oath system.