﻿FAR 
  EASTERN 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  — 
  BISHOP 
  487 
  

  

  The 
  Chou 
  conquest 
  of 
  northern 
  China 
  marked 
  an 
  important 
  epoch 
  

   in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  civilization 
  in 
  the 
  Far 
  East, 
  for 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  it, 
  

   many 
  Shang 
  refugees 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  carried 
  their 
  own 
  higher 
  culture 
  

   to 
  various 
  outlying 
  regions 
  hitherto 
  barbarous. 
  Such 
  a 
  process 
  has, 
  

   in 
  fact, 
  always 
  been 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  ways 
  in 
  which 
  cultural 
  advances 
  have 
  

   taken 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  Far 
  East 
  just 
  as 
  everywhere 
  else. 
  Further, 
  the 
  

   Chou 
  period 
  was 
  the 
  one 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  Chinese 
  people 
  gradually 
  de- 
  

   veloped 
  a 
  consciousness 
  of 
  cultural 
  unity. 
  

  

  Nature 
  of 
  the 
  Chou 
  kingdom. 
  — 
  The 
  earlier 
  Chou 
  kings, 
  in 
  organizing 
  

   their 
  feudal 
  kingdom, 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  divided 
  it 
  for 
  administrative 
  

   purposes 
  into 
  9 
  (sometimes 
  given 
  as 
  12) 
  chou 
  or 
  circuits. 
  Over 
  these 
  

   they 
  placed 
  superintendents 
  (significantly 
  called 
  mw, 
  bullock 
  drivers) 
  

   to 
  collect 
  tribute. 
  

  

  Politically, 
  the 
  kingdom 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  contained 
  at 
  first 
  1,800 
  fiefs, 
  

   many 
  of 
  them 
  grouped 
  into 
  large 
  territorial 
  units 
  granted 
  to 
  the 
  con- 
  

   quering 
  Chou 
  king's 
  relatives 
  and 
  allies. 
  The 
  old 
  city-states 
  did 
  not, 
  

   however, 
  entirely 
  disappear 
  ; 
  in 
  certain 
  instances, 
  indeed, 
  they 
  retained 
  

   their 
  identity 
  for 
  long 
  periods. 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  eighth 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River 
  basin 
  (essentially 
  the 
  

   Chou 
  kingdom, 
  though 
  the 
  latter 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  embraced 
  extensions 
  

   outside 
  of 
  it, 
  particularly 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  ; 
  see 
  fig. 
  6) 
  , 
  had 
  about 
  100 
  fiefs 
  ; 
  

   but 
  in 
  time 
  even 
  this 
  number 
  was 
  still 
  further 
  reduced. 
  Finally, 
  to- 
  

   ward 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  dynasty 
  only 
  7 
  large 
  states 
  were 
  left. 
  

  

  For 
  some 
  three 
  centuries 
  after 
  their 
  conquest 
  of 
  the 
  Shangs, 
  the 
  

   Chou 
  kings 
  remained 
  in 
  their 
  old 
  seats 
  in 
  the 
  west. 
  They 
  were 
  at 
  

   first 
  rulers 
  of 
  the 
  war-leader 
  type 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  also 
  took 
  over 
  the 
  sacerdotal 
  

   functions 
  of 
  their 
  predecessors 
  the 
  Shang 
  kings. 
  As 
  high 
  priests 
  of 
  

   the 
  kingdom, 
  their 
  persons 
  were 
  sacred, 
  and 
  they 
  were 
  the 
  fountain- 
  

   heads 
  of 
  all 
  legitimate 
  authority. 
  Their 
  royal 
  symbol 
  was 
  the 
  battle-ax. 
  

  

  The 
  early 
  Chou 
  kings 
  pushed 
  their 
  conquests 
  (at 
  least 
  temporarily) 
  

   into 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  basin, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  also 
  toward 
  the 
  northwest. 
  But 
  

   at 
  length 
  their 
  power 
  dwindled. 
  In 
  the 
  eighth 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  the 
  

   Chou 
  line 
  was 
  driven 
  eastward 
  by 
  renewed 
  attacks 
  from 
  the 
  west, 
  

   and 
  established 
  itself 
  in 
  northern 
  Honan. 
  (See 
  map, 
  fig. 
  21) 
  . 
  It 
  thus 
  

   lost 
  the 
  territorial 
  basis 
  of 
  its 
  power, 
  and 
  its 
  scions 
  gradually 
  sank 
  to 
  

   the 
  position 
  of 
  mere 
  political 
  figureheads. 
  But 
  for 
  several 
  centuries 
  

   longer 
  they 
  retained 
  their 
  priestly 
  functions 
  and 
  remained 
  the 
  sources 
  

   of 
  legitimacy. 
  

  

  Social 
  organization. 
  — 
  Society 
  was 
  divided 
  during 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  Chou 
  

   period 
  (we 
  know 
  little 
  of 
  its 
  earlier 
  portion) 
  into 
  two 
  classes, 
  a 
  small 
  

   one 
  of 
  nobles, 
  who 
  held 
  all 
  the 
  land 
  and 
  offices, 
  and 
  a 
  large 
  one 
  of 
  com- 
  

   moners 
  — 
  peasant-serfs, 
  artisans, 
  traders, 
  and 
  slaves 
  — 
  who 
  performed 
  

   the 
  labor. 
  

  

  The 
  nobles 
  were 
  grouped 
  in 
  30 
  or 
  fewer 
  ancestor- 
  worshiping 
  clans. 
  

   In 
  the 
  "Spring 
  and 
  Autumn 
  Annals," 
  for 
  example, 
  124 
  feudal 
  states 
  

  

  