History Bite: pt 3

Zhou-ly Dynasty, batman!

As mentioned before, the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang in 1046 BC.  They coined the idea of the Mandate of Heaven as a way of justifying their overthrow of the Shang and their rule of China.  The Mandate of Heaven essentially says that just and good rulers stay in power, while unjust or despotic ones are removed.

The Zhou Dynasty stretches from 1046 BC to 256 BC, the longest period in Chinese history.  However, within this dynastic period is an age called the Spring and Autumn Period, so named for the "Spring and Autumn Annals" which historically described the epoch.  The Spring and Autumn period is marked between 771 BC and 476 BC, though some debate continues over the end date.

"Spring and Autumn" is a curious name for the era, as it has a sense of calm, of change and cycles.  The former, at least, is true: the period is a story of the decline of centralized power in the dynasty, and eventually led to the Warring States period as various powerful families claimed more autonomy and defied the king's rule.

As leaves fall from the trees
States move from king to themselves
Zhou's autumn arrives

...yeah, I know, haiku is Japanese.  Just roll with it.

The Spring and Autumn Period begins with the Quanrong invasion of the western part of the kingdom, forcing the king to flee to an Eastern capital. In the process of moving to the Eastern capital in Luoyi, the king lost much of his official control over the feudal rulers of the further reaches of the kingdom.  Many of those smaller regions later broke into their own states; the chronicles for the period list 148 individual states, which would absorb into merely 20 by 476 BC.

In opposition to the declining centralization, the Zhou kings would name the most powerful military state "hegemon," and they would be tasked with defending the king, as well as weaker states.  There arose four primary states: Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu.  These states were often at odds in a power struggle, usually absorbing smaller states under pretext of aid and protection.

That's a nice state you have there, Wei.  Shame if something were to...happen to it.

What follows is a series of hegemonies, which deserve their own post.  However, I'll leave with this thought.  As an American, my country's entire history falls within a span of maybe 240 years, if you mark the Declaration of Independence in 1776 as the 'soft start' of the nation.  The period between the start of the Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou/Spring and Autumn period (which is still part of the same dynastic era) is 275 years.

Myself and others have often theorized that part of the reason American patriotism is so virulent is that it is, essentially, our only binding element.  Our history is remarkably short, and the 'melting pot' aspect gives us several disparate histories and heritages.  One thing above all others unites us, and that is our citizenship.  Patriotism as a national identity, as opposed to the more complex historical elements like the Roman Empire, the Norse expansions and explorations, or the Egyptian or Ottoman empires (of which I know too little to comment on).  While the history of China is a long tale of dynasties coming and going (it's been long reading just for these bites, and I'm not even to AD yet!), it's still a contiguous history wherein most ancestries can be locally traced.  Contrasted with the US and the tendency for geneaology to be a complex international research project...it might explain some of our jingoism as being the main thing to reach across cultural, social, and racial divides and embrace each other as Americans.

Zaijian,

-L