﻿500 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  Blood 
  feuds. 
  — 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  waging 
  private 
  wars, 
  already 
  men- 
  

   tioned, 
  the 
  Chou 
  Dynasty 
  nobles, 
  turbulent, 
  aggressive, 
  and 
  given 
  to 
  

   fighting, 
  regarded 
  the 
  relentless 
  prosecution 
  of 
  blood 
  feuds 
  as 
  a 
  

   sacred 
  duty. 
  This 
  custom 
  the 
  rulers 
  of 
  states 
  found 
  it 
  exceedingly 
  

   hard 
  to 
  abolish, 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  the 
  disorders 
  to 
  which 
  it 
  gave 
  rise. 
  

  

  Social 
  effects 
  of 
  war. 
  — 
  This 
  constant 
  warfare 
  naturally 
  produced 
  in 
  

   time 
  important 
  social 
  consequences. 
  For 
  example, 
  as 
  improved 
  

   methods 
  of 
  fighting 
  appeared, 
  the 
  exclusive 
  place 
  in 
  war 
  held 
  by 
  the 
  

   Chou 
  nobles 
  could 
  no 
  longer 
  be 
  maintained, 
  and 
  social 
  barriers 
  were 
  

   broken 
  down. 
  Various 
  classes 
  of 
  plebeians 
  were 
  rewarded 
  for 
  courage 
  

   or 
  loyalty 
  in 
  war 
  by 
  being 
  elevated 
  to 
  higher 
  positions 
  than 
  any 
  to 
  

   which 
  they 
  might 
  have 
  aspired 
  before. 
  Thus 
  peasants 
  and 
  members 
  

   of 
  the 
  artisan 
  class 
  might 
  be 
  ennobled 
  (i. 
  e., 
  become 
  landlords 
  and 
  

   hence 
  feudal 
  vassals). 
  Slaves 
  were 
  similarly 
  rewarded 
  by 
  being 
  

   granted 
  freedom. 
  

  

  Hunting. 
  — 
  Originally, 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  already 
  noted 
  of 
  the 
  Shang 
  period, 
  

   it 
  was 
  the 
  duty 
  of 
  Chinese 
  nobles 
  to 
  rid 
  the 
  land 
  of 
  dangerous 
  or 
  

   troublesome 
  wild 
  beasts 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  Chou 
  times 
  the 
  sport 
  motive 
  seems 
  to 
  

   have 
  predominated. 
  

  

  For 
  this 
  purpose 
  the 
  Chou 
  kings 
  and 
  nobles 
  held 
  great 
  seasonal 
  hunts, 
  

   conducted 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale. 
  These 
  were 
  carried 
  on 
  in 
  chariots, 
  just 
  as 
  

   in 
  the 
  ancient 
  Near 
  East, 
  with 
  the 
  aid 
  of 
  large 
  armies 
  of 
  peasant 
  

   beaters 
  on 
  foot. 
  Such 
  hunts 
  served 
  as 
  training 
  and 
  preparation 
  for 
  

   war, 
  and 
  they 
  also 
  sometimes 
  masked 
  surprise 
  attacks 
  on 
  unsuspecting 
  

   states. 
  Game 
  laws 
  were 
  very 
  strict, 
  it 
  being 
  for 
  instance 
  as 
  great 
  a 
  

   crime 
  to 
  kill 
  a 
  deer 
  as 
  to 
  murder 
  a 
  man. 
  

  

  As 
  the 
  country 
  grew 
  more 
  settled, 
  however, 
  and 
  game 
  scarcer, 
  

   rulers 
  and 
  powerful 
  nobles 
  enclosed 
  private 
  hunting 
  parks, 
  just 
  as 
  

   did, 
  for 
  example, 
  the 
  ancient 
  Persians. 
  Prohibitions 
  against 
  killing 
  

   game 
  or 
  even 
  gathering 
  wood 
  in 
  these 
  parks 
  were 
  among 
  the 
  chief 
  

   grievances 
  of 
  the 
  peasantry, 
  who 
  regarded 
  them 
  as 
  a 
  great 
  hardship. 
  

  

  Religion. 
  — 
  Peasant 
  religion 
  during 
  the 
  Chou 
  period 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  old 
  Neolithic 
  fertility 
  cults, 
  and 
  was 
  marked 
  by 
  

   much 
  witchcraft, 
  magic, 
  and 
  even 
  human 
  sacrifice, 
  though 
  the 
  latter 
  

   practice 
  was 
  opposed 
  by 
  the 
  lords, 
  probably 
  on 
  economic 
  rather 
  than 
  

   humanitarian 
  grounds, 
  and 
  eventually 
  disappeared. 
  

  

  Toward 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  Chou 
  period 
  feudalism 
  declined, 
  its 
  decay 
  

   not 
  unnaturally 
  going 
  hand 
  in 
  hand 
  with 
  a 
  recrudescence 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  

   popular 
  religion. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  too, 
  the 
  masses 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  

   adopted 
  elements 
  from 
  the 
  ancestor 
  worship 
  of 
  the 
  nobles. 
  In 
  this 
  

   way 
  gradually 
  evolved 
  the 
  Chinese 
  cult 
  of 
  ancestors 
  of 
  later 
  and 
  

   modern 
  times. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  nobles, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  a 
  quite 
  different 
  religion 
  pre- 
  

   vailed. 
  In 
  this, 
  the 
  chief 
  god, 
  T'ien, 
  was 
  regarded 
  both 
  as 
  the 
  ultimate 
  

   ancestor 
  of 
  the 
  royal 
  line 
  and 
  also 
  as 
  a 
  sky 
  god. 
  

  

  