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107-582: The usual story for the origin of the Cold Food and Tomb-Sweeping Festivals concerns the 7th-century-BC Jin nobleman Jie Zhitui , a model of self-sacrificing loyalty . During the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history , the Zhou Kingdom began to break up into its constituent parts and their lords gained more and more freedom from central control. One of these states was Jin , around modern Shanxi . As

214-457: A long siege at Taiyuan , Han and Wei switched sides and the three weaker clans annihilated the Zhi. They then divided the Zhi lands, as well as most of the rest of Jin, among themselves. When Duke You of Jin (433–416) came to the throne, the three clans had taken over much of the remaining Jin lands, leaving the dukes only the area around Jiang and Quwo . From then on, the three clans were known as

321-531: A "sun-charm" or "purification" from its similarities to other "fire-festivals". Claude Lévi-Strauss based his analysis of the festival as a kind of Chinese Lent upon a mistranslation of the relevant passage in the Rites of Zhou by Frazer . Eberhard connected it with his idea of a prehistoric spring-based calendar and made the Cold Food Festival a remnant of its original New Year. The unanimous connection of

428-521: A conclave of nobles met at Shen and declared the Marquis's grandson King Ping . The capital was moved eastward to Wangcheng , marking the beginning of the Eastern Zhou period. The Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC) was characterized by an accelerating collapse of royal authority, although the king's ritual importance enabled more than five additional centuries of rule. The Spring and Autumn Annals ,

535-451: A corrupt administration, he opted to simply remain in seclusion. Annoyed, the duke ordered a forest fire to be started around three sides of the mountain to smoke Jie and his mother out of hiding. Instead of coming out, they were burnt alive . Jie's charred corpse was found still standing, embracing or tightly bound to a tree. In his remorse, the duke renamed the mountain Mt.   Jie, established

642-543: A language largely similar in vocabulary and syntax to that of the Shang; a recent study by David McCraw, using lexical statistics, reached the same conclusion. The Zhou emulated Shang cultural practices, possibly to legitimize their own rule, and became the successors to Shang culture. At the same time, the Zhou may also have been connected to the Xirong , a broadly defined cultural group to

749-574: A mark of distinction for the good man". Other sources from the Zhou and early Han mention and praise Jie for various reasons. The poems of the Songs of Chu extol him for his loyalty and proper treatment of his lord's forgetfulness. The Spring and Autumn Annals compiled under Lü Buwei praises his altruism and lack of personal ambition. At some point before the composition of the Han-era Biographies of

856-432: A means of weakening Chu. Duke Li of Jin (580–573) allied with Qin and Qi to make an east–west front against the threat of Chu from the south. In 579   BC, a minister of the state of Song arranged a four-power conference in which the states agreed to limit their military strength. Four years later, fighting broke out again; Jin and its allies defeated Chu at the battle of Yingling. Duke Dao of Jin (572–558) strengthened

963-415: A number of Rong tribes . Some of the states conquered were Geng (耿), Huo (霍), old Wei (魏), Yu (虞) and Western Guo . His death led to a succession struggle which ended with the enthronement of Duke Hui of Jin (650–637). In 646   BC, Duke Hui was captured by Qin and restored as a vassal. Another son of Duke Xian was Duke Wen of Jin (636–628), who spent 19 years exile in various courts. He came to

1070-503: A number of smaller states between Jin and Qi. In 627   BC, Jin defeated Qin while it was attacking Zheng . Jin invaded Qin in 625   BC and was driven back the following year. In 598   BC, Chu defeated Jin at the Battle of Mi. In 589   BC, Jin defeated Qi at the Battle of An , which had invaded Lu and Wey . About this time, Jin began to support the southeastern state of Wu as

1177-484: A piece of land was divided into nine squares in the well-field system , with the grain from the middle square taken by the government and that of surrounding squares kept by individual farmers. This way, the government was able to store surplus food and distribute it in times of famine or bad harvest. Some important manufacturing sectors during this period included bronze smelting, which was integral to making weapons and farming tools. Again, these industries were dominated by

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1284-473: A system of mutual duty between superiors and inferiors. In contrast, the Legalists had no time for Confucian virtue and advocated a system of strict laws and harsh punishments. Agriculture in the Zhou dynasty was very intensive and, in many cases, directed by the government. All farming lands were owned by nobles, who then gave their land to their serfs , a situation similar to European feudalism . For example,

1391-480: A turning point, as rulers did not even entertain the pretense of vassalage of the Zhou court, instead proclaiming themselves fully independent kingdoms. A series of states rose to prominence before each falling in turn, and in most of these conflicts Zhou was a minor player. The last Zhou king is traditionally taken to be Nan , who was killed when Qin captured Wangcheng in 256 BC. Duke Wen of Eastern Zhou declared himself to be "King Hui", but his splinter state

1498-435: A vigorous duke would take power from his nobles and centralize the state. Centralization became more necessary as the states began to war among themselves and decentralization encouraged more war. If a duke took power from his nobles, the state would have to be administered bureaucratically by appointed officials. Despite these similarities, there are a number of important differences from medieval Europe. One obvious difference

1605-534: Is generally ignored in modern China, except to the extent that it has influenced some of the activities and traditional foods for the Tomb-Sweeping Festival . In the city of Jiexiu in Shanxi Province, near where Jie died, locals still commemorate the festival, but even there the tradition of eating cold food is no longer practiced. The Korean equivalent Hansik ( Korean :  한식 ), takes place on

1712-598: Is more prideful than sad and is not killed in a fire. The 4th-century-BC commentary on Confucius 's Spring and Autumn Annals traditionally credited to Zuo Qiuming includes a Thucydidean passage where Jie argues with his mother about their future. Jie credits Heaven with having restored Chong'er to his rightful place and is disgusted by the credit-seeking and job-hunting behavior of his fellows, whom he considers worse than thieves. He also finds his lord unworthy for failing to reward him despite his failure to present himself at court. His mother asks him to at least go before

1819-450: Is not the eldest and hence not heir to the lineage territory has the potential of becoming a progenitor and fostering a new trunk lineage (Ideally he would strike out to cultivate new lineage territory). [...] According to the Zou commentary, the son of heaven divided land among his feudal lords, his feudal lords divided the land among their dependent families and so forth down the pecking order to

1926-496: Is often considered to be the zenith for the craft of Chinese bronzeware . The latter Zhou period is also famous for the advent of three major Chinese philosophies: Confucianism , Taoism and Legalism . The Zhou dynasty also spans the period when the predominant form of written Chinese became seal script , which evolved from the earlier oracle bone and bronze scripts . By the dynasty's end, an immature form of clerical script had also emerged. According to Chinese mythology ,

2033-481: Is that the Zhou ruled from walled cities rather than castles. Another was China's distinct class system, which lacked an organized clergy but saw Shang-descent yeomen become masters of ritual and ceremony, as well as astronomy, state affairs and ancient canons, known as ru ( 儒 ). When a dukedom was centralized, these people would find employment as government officials or officers. These hereditary classes were similar to Western knights in status and breeding, but unlike

2140-520: The Book of the Later Han relates how the magistrate for Bingzhou (i.e., Taiyuan) found people rich and poor observing a "dragon taboo" against lighting a fire during the month of Jie's death in midwinter, lest they anger his spirit. Many of the old and young died every year because of the hardship this brought. The magistrate Zhou Ju ( 周 舉 ) wrote an oration around AD   130 praising Jie but admonishing

2247-402: The "Wen" or "Civilized Duke" of Jin .) In 635   BC, the new duke was generous to those who had helped him in adversity but overlooked Jie, who sadly withdrew into poor obscurity in the forests near Mt Mian . The duke sent repeated envoys to lure Jie back to court, but he felt no ambition for political power. Too loyal to directly criticize his master but too principled to accept a place in

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2354-534: The Di tribes north of China. Only 15 of his men followed him into exile. These included Jie Zhitui , who entertained the prince with his poems and music . He was so considerate of his lord that once, when their supplies were stolen while traveling through Wey , he used meat from his own thigh to make soup to relieve the prince's hunger. In 636   BC, the duke of Qin finally invaded Jin on Chong'er's behalf and installed him as its duke. (Posthumously, he became known as

2461-929: The Guanzhong , an area of the Wei River Valley that was the heartland of the Western Zhou and later of the Qin . To the south are the Zhongtiao Mountains and then the east–west valley of the Yellow River which was the main route to the Wei Valley to the west. To the east were the Taihang Mountains and then the North China Plain . This location gave ambitious Jin dukes the opportunity to move north to conquer and absorb

2568-539: The Later Jin (Five Dynasties) . Jin is represented by the star 36 Capricorni (b Capricorni) in the asterism Twelve States , Girl mansion . Jin is also represented by the star Kappa Herculis in asterism Right Wall , Heavenly Market enclosure (see Chinese constellation ). Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( [ʈʂóʊ] ; Chinese : 周 ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from c.  1046 BC until 256 BC,

2675-624: The Tang and remained more important than celebrations of the Qingming solar term as late as the Song . The present Tomb-Sweeping Festival on Qingming grew by incorporating the Cold Food observances along with the separate holiday of Shangsi . The Cold Food Festival had almost completely disappeared by the end of the Qing . Since the early 7th century, Chinese and Western scholars have argued for alternative origins for

2782-454: The Xirong and Rongdi (see Hua–Yi distinction ). Ju's son Liu , however, led his people to prosperity by restoring agriculture and settling them at a place called Bin , which his descendants ruled for generations. Tai later led the clan from Bin to Zhou, an area in the Wei River valley (modern Qishan County ). The duke passed over his two elder sons Taibo and Zhongyong to favor

2889-528: The Yellow River and defeated King Zhou of Shang at the Battle of Muye , marking the beginning of the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou enfeoffed a member of the defeated Shang royal family as the Duke of Song , which was held by descendants of the Shang royal family until its end. This practice was referred to as Two Kings, Three Reverences  [ zh ] . According to Nicholas Bodman, the Zhou appear to have spoken

2996-601: The Zhou dynasty kings via Ji Boqiao (姬 伯僑 ), who was the son of Duke Wu of Jin. Ji Boqiao's family became known as the "sheep tongue family" ( 羊舌氏 ). The Yang clan of Hongnong ( 弘農楊氏 ) were asserted as ancestors by the Sui Emperors like the Li clan of Longxi were asserted as ancestors of the Tang Emperors. The Li of Zhaojun and the Lu of Fanyang hailed from Shandong and were related to

3103-480: The dongzhi solar term . Since it also spread from Taiyuan to the surrounding commanderies of Shangdang , Xihe , and Yanmen and was still causing some hardship, Cao Cao attempted to outlaw the Cold Food Festival in AD   206. The heads of offending families were liable for 6 months' hard labor , their local official was liable for one month himself, and their magistrate was to lose one month's salary. Cao Cao's effort

3210-427: The "Three Jins" (三晉). In 403   BC, during the reign of Duke Lie of Jin (415–389), King Weilie of Zhou recognized Marquis Jing of Han , Marquis Wen of Wei and Marquess Lie of Zhao , as marquises of Han in the south, Wei in the center and Zhao in the north, completing the partition of Jin . The state of Jin still nominally existed for several decades afterwards. The Bamboo Annals mentions that in

3317-428: The "second sage" of Confucianism; Shang Yang and Han Fei , responsible for the development of ancient Chinese Legalism ; and Xunzi , who was arguably the center of ancient Chinese intellectual life during his time. The state theology of the Zhou dynasty used concepts from the Shang dynasty and mostly referred to the Shang god, Di , as Tian , a more distant and unknowable concept, yet one that anyone could utilize,

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3424-567: The 105th day after dongzhi , which translates to April 5 in the Gregorian calendar, except in leap years when it is on April 4 instead. It is a day to welcome the warm weather thawing the frozen lands. On this day, rites to worship ancestors are observed early in the morning, and the family visits their ancestors' tombs to tidy up. The custom of eating cold food on the day has, however, disappeared. Since this day coincides with Arbor Day , public cemeteries are crowded with visitors planting trees around

3531-418: The 20th year of Duke Huan 's reign (369 BC), Marquess Cheng of Zhao and Marquess Gong of Han moved Duke Huan to Tunliu , and after that there were no more records of Duke Huan or any other Jin ruler. Modern historians such as Yang Kuan , Ch'ien Mu , and Han Zhaoqi generally consider 369 BC the final year of Jin's existence. Jin united civil and military authority. Traditionally, Jin had three armies:

3638-452: The Cold Food Festival was not celebrated annually, though, but on every "wu day" of the old Chinese calendar , a generally unlucky day to some Taoists . The Cold Food Festival was originally observed at mid-winter (the Dongzhi solar term ), but moved to late spring (the Qingming solar term ) around the 2nd century. Its primary activity was a strict taboo against using fire, usually under

3745-507: The Confucian chronicle of the early years of this process, gave the period its name as the Spring and Autumn period . The partition of Jin during the mid-5th century BC is a commonly cited as initiating the subsequent Warring States period . In 403 BC, the Zhou court recognized Han , Zhao , and Wei as fully independent states. In 344, Duke Hui of Wei was the first to claim the title of "king" for himself. Others followed, marking

3852-457: The European equivalent, they were expected to be something of a scholar instead of a warrior. Being appointed, they could move from one state to another. Some would travel from state to state peddling schemes of administrative or military reform. Those who could not find employment would often end up teaching young men who aspired to official status. The most famous of these was Confucius , who taught

3959-530: The Grand Historian ( Shiji ) also has another Duke Jing after Duke Xiao. However, Shiji's account of the last rulers of Jin is often self-contradictory, and is further contradicted by the Bamboo Annals , which does not mention any Jin ruler after Duke Huan of Jin . Historians such as Yang Kuan , Ch'ien Mu , and Han Zhaoqi generally regard the Bamboo Annals as more reliable, as it was unearthed from

4066-587: The Immortals , Jie came to be revered as a Taoist immortal . The Cold Food Festival is first mentioned in Huan Tan 's New Discussions , composed around the beginning of the 1st century. It records that the commoners of Taiyuan Commandery avoided using fire in preparing their food for five days around midwinter , upholding this taboo even when they are gravely ill. This was done in Jie Zhitui's honor. A biography in

4173-644: The Liu clan which was also linked to the Yang clan of Hongnong and other clans of Guanlong. Duke Wu of Jin was claimed as the ancestors of the Hongnong Yang. The Yang clan of Hongnong, Jia clan of Hedong, Xiang clan of Henei, and Wang clan of Taiyuan from the Tang dynasty were claimed as ancestors by Song dynasty lineages. There were Dukedoms for the offspring of the royal families of the Zhou dynasty, Sui dynasty, and Tang dynasty in

4280-584: The Shang kings. Nobles of the Ji family proclaimed Duke Hui of Eastern Zhou as King Nan's successor after their capital, Chengzhou, fell to Qin forces in 256 BC. Ji Zhao, a son of King Nan, led a resistance against Qin for five years. The dukedom fell in 249 BC. The remaining Ji family ruled Yan and Wei until 209 BC. During Confucius's lifetime in the Spring and Autumn period, Zhou kings had little power, and much administrative responsibility and de-facto political strength

4387-400: The Shang's large scale production of ceremonial bronzes, they developed an extensive system of bronze metalworking that required a large force of tribute labor. Many of its members were Shang, who were sometimes forcibly transported to new Zhou to produce the bronze ritual objects which were then sold and distributed across the lands, symbolizing Zhou legitimacy. Western writers often describe

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4494-460: The Shang. Zhou rulers introduced the Mandate of Heaven , which would prove to be among East Asia's most enduring political doctrines. According to the theory, Heaven imposed a mandate to replace the Shang on the Zhou, whose moral superiority justified seizing Shang wealth and territory in order to return good governance to the people. The Mandate of Heaven was presented as a religious compact between

4601-541: The Western Zhou. During the Western Zhou (1045–771 BC), King Wu maintained the old capital for ceremonial purposes but constructed a new one for his palace and administration nearby at Haojing . Although Wu's early death left a young and inexperienced heir, the Duke of Zhou assisted his nephew King Cheng in consolidating royal power. Wary of the Duke of Zhou's increasing power, the "Three Guards", Zhou princes stationed on

4708-585: The Xirong tribes, move southwest to fight Qin, and move southeast to absorb the many smaller Zhou states. Also important to the region were the large states of Chu to the south in the Yangtze and Huai River regions and Qi to the east in Shandong . Jin had multiple capitals. The first capital of Jin was Tang (唐). The capital was later moved to E ( 鄂 ), then Jiang ( 絳 ), then Xintian (新田). From 746 to 677 BC, Quwo (曲沃)

4815-574: The Zhou expanded to the north and the northwest at the expense of the Siwa culture . When King You demoted and exiled his Jiang queen in favor of the commoner Bao Si , the disgraced queen's father the Marquis of Shen joined with Zeng and the Quanrong. The Quanrong put an end to the Western Zhou in 771 BC, sacking the Zhou capital at Haojing and killing the last Western Zhou king You . With King You dead,

4922-462: The Zhou lineage began when Jiang Yuan , a consort of the legendary Emperor Ku , miraculously conceived a child, Qi "the Abandoned One", after stepping into the divine footprint of Shangdi . Qi was a culture hero credited with surviving abandonment by his mother three times, and with greatly improving agriculture, to the point where he was granted lordship over Tai , the surname Ji , and

5029-428: The Zhou people and their supreme god in heaven. The Zhou agreed that since worldly affairs were supposed to align with those of the heavens, the heavens conferred legitimate power on only one person, the Zhou ruler. In return, the ruler was duty-bound to uphold heaven's principles of harmony and honor. Any ruler who failed in this duty, who let instability creep into earthly affairs, or who let his people suffer, would lose

5136-637: The Zhou period as feudal because the Zhou's fengjian system invites comparison with European political systems during the Middle Ages . There were many similarities between the decentralized systems. When the dynasty was established, the conquered land was divided into hereditary fiefs ( 諸侯 , zhūhóu ) that eventually became powerful in their own right. In matters of inheritance, the Zhou dynasty recognized only patrilineal primogeniture as legal. According to Hsi-Sheng Tao, "the Tsung-fa or descent line system has

5243-550: The Zhou period clearly intoned this caution. The Zhou kings contended that heaven favored their triumph because the last Shang kings had been evil men whose policies brought pain to the people through waste and corruption. After the Zhou came to power, the mandate became a political tool. One of the duties and privileges of the king was to create a royal calendar. This official document defined times for undertaking agricultural activities and celebrating rituals. But unexpected events such as solar eclipses or natural calamities threw

5350-490: The Zhou's establishment is supported by the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project and David Pankenier, but David Nivison and Edward L. Shaughnessy date the establishment to 1045 BC. The latter Eastern Zhou period is itself roughly subdivided into two parts. During the Spring and Autumn period ( c.  771  – c.  481 BC ), power became increasingly decentralized as the authority of

5457-507: The baron of Li Rong ( 驪戎男 ), after being defeated by Jin , married his daughter Li Ji off. According to historian Li Feng , the term "Rong" during the Western Zhou period was likely used to designate political and military adversaries rather than cultural and ethnic "others". Cultural artifacts of the Western Rong coexisted with Western Zhou bronzes, indicating close bonds between the Rong and

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5564-528: The development of Chinese astrology that considered the heliacal rising of Antares to be an occasion for great risk of conflagration and wildfire . Du was followed in his conjecture by others, including Li Fu . The Sinologist J.J.M. de Groot argued for its origin as a celebration of the sun's "victory" at the vernal equinox , based on a comparative anthropological analysis drawing on Ovid , Macrobius , Lucian , and Epiphanius of Salamis . James Frazer and his followers similarly considered it either

5671-411: The doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven while accommodating important Shang rituals at Wangcheng and Chengzhou . Over time, this decentralized system became strained as the familial relationships between the Zhou kings and the regional dynasties thinned over the generations. Peripheral territories developed local power and prestige on par with that of the Zhou. The conflicts with nomadic tribes from

5778-472: The duke, but Jie admits his bitter criticism of the other lords makes that impossibly embarrassing. His mother accepts his decision to withdraw to a hermitage and goes with him. Ji Chong'er belatedly remembers his obligations to Jie and looks for him. When this proves vain, he accepts the situation and sets aside the produce of the fields of "Mëenshang" to endow sacrifices in Jie's honor, "a memento... of my neglect and

5885-515: The eastern plain, rose in rebellion against his regency. Even though they garnered the support of independent-minded nobles, Shang partisans, and several Dongyi tribes, the Duke of Zhou quelled the rebellion, and further expanded the Zhou Kingdom into the east. To maintain Zhou authority over its greatly expanded territory and prevent other revolts, he set up the fengjian system. Furthermore, he countered Zhou's crisis of legitimacy by expounding

5992-699: The end of the Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the Warring States period . Jin was located in the lower Fen River drainage basin on the Shanxi plateau. To the north were the Xirong and Beidi peoples. To the west were the Lüliang Mountains and then the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi. To the southwest the Fen River turns west to join the south-flowing part of the Yellow River which soon leads to

6099-485: The festival in 478 and 496, but were also compelled to approve its observance around Mt Mian . These prohibitions failed to such an extent that, by the time of Jia Sixie 's c.  540 Qimin Yaoshu , a day-long Cold Food Festival had spread across most of China, moved to the day before the Qingming solar term . The Cold Food Festival grew to a three-day period and began to incorporate ancestral veneration under

6206-538: The festival to Jie Zhitui in the early sources and the dependence of these later theories on the Cold Food Festival's occurrence in late spring—when it in fact began as a mid-winter observance—suggests that none of them are likely accurate. One contemporary record of ritual fire-avoidance coming from a separate source in southeastern China concerned the late-2nd-century   BC "kings" of " Yue " Mi ( 越 糜 王 , Yuè Míwáng ) and Yao ( 越 王 遙 , Yuè Wáng Yáo , and 越 繇 王 , Yuè Yáowáng ). These were actually princes of

6313-464: The festival. Du Gongzhan , the editor of the late- Sui Record of the Seasons of Jingchu , connected it with a ritual avoidance of fire mentioned in the Rites of Zhou : "In mid-spring, they announce the prohibition of fire in the capital using a bell with a wooden clapper". This prohibition was related to the ancient Chinese use of different kinds of firewood according to the seasons, particularly after

6420-476: The following characteristics: patrilineal descent, patrilineal succession, patriarchate, sib-exogamy, and primogeniture" The system, also called "extensive stratified patrilineage", was defined by the anthropologist Kwang-chih Chang as "characterized by the fact that the eldest son of each generation formed the main of line descent and political authority, whereas the younger brothers were moved out to establish new lineages of lesser authority. The farther removed,

6527-496: The grandson of Duke Cheng, tried to break the power of the clans by fostering conflicts between them. In 573   BC, he was killed by the Luan (欒氏) and Zhonghang (中行氏) clans. Duke Dao of Jin (572–558) strengthened the ducal power, but could not eliminate the power of the other aristocratic families. After the reign of Duke Zhao of Jin (531–526), the Jin dukes were figureheads and the state

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6634-573: The importance of the Di troops. King Xiang of Zhou also married a Di princess after receiving Di military support. During the Zhou dynasty, the origins of native Chinese philosophy developed, its initial stages of development beginning in the 6th century BC. The greatest Chinese philosophers, those who made the greatest impact on later generations of Chinese, were Confucius , founder of Confucianism , and Laozi , founder of Taoism . Other philosophers of this era were Mozi , founder of Mohism ; Mencius ,

6741-582: The legal ruler of Jin, who became known as Duke Wu of Jin (679–677). With the establishment of the Quwo line, Jin became the most powerful state for three generations and remained powerful for a century or more after that. Duke Wu died soon after gaining control of Jin. He was followed by Duke Xian of Jin (676-651   BC). Xian broke with Zhou feudalism by killing or exiling his cousins and ruling with appointees of various social backgrounds. He annexed 16 or 17 small states in Shanxi, dominated 38 others, and absorbed

6848-495: The lesser the political authority". Ebrey defines the descent-line system as follows: "A great line (ta-tsung) is the line of eldest sons continuing indefinitely from a founding ancestor. A lesser line is the line of younger sons going back no more than five generations. Great lines and lesser lines continually spin off new lesser lines, founded by younger sons". K.E. Brashier writes in his book "Ancestral Memory in Early China" about

6955-510: The longest of all dynasties in Chinese history . During the Western Zhou period ( c.  1046  – 771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji , had military control over ancient China . Even as Zhou suzerainty became increasingly ceremonial over the following Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), the political system created by the Zhou royal house survived in some form for several additional centuries. A date of 1046 BC for

7062-483: The lords' loyalty and received from the King the title of "ba" or hegemon . At some point, there was a war with Qin, which ended in peace. Duke Wen erected monuments to the fallen on both sides. The Chinese proverb "The Friendship of Qin and Jin", meaning an unbreakable bond, dates from this period. Over the next century, a four-way balance of power developed between Qin (west), Jin (west-center), Chu (south) and Qi (east), with

7169-443: The lower army; commanded by his son Shengshen. Jin's central army was established in the year of 633 BCE by Duke Wen of Jin . In 634 BCE, Duke Wen additionally formed three "ranks" (三行) with the purpose of defending against a Beidi invasion. The three ranks were later redeployed into the "New armies" (新軍). The new armies were largely dependent on the actual military necessity instead of being permanent units. Due to their flexibility,

7276-436: The mandate. Under this system, it was the prerogative of spiritual authority to withdraw support from any wayward ruler and to find another, more worthy one. In this way, the Zhou sky god legitimized regime change. In using this creed, the Zhou rulers had to acknowledge that any group of rulers, even they themselves, could be ousted if they lost the mandate of heaven because of improper practices. The book of odes written during

7383-495: The name of Tang to Jin. There is little information about Jin for this period beyond a list of rulers. In 771   BC the Quanrong nomads drove the Zhou out of the Wei River valley and killed the king. Marquis Wen of Jin , the eleventh marquis of Jin, supported King Ping of Zhou by killing his rival, King Xie of Zhou , an act that King Ping heavily rewarded him for. When Marquis Zhao of Jin (745-739   BC) acceded to

7490-520: The new armies were sometimes omitted. According to Tang dynasty scholar Kong Yingda , The central army was the most prestigious army among Jin's three armies. Its commander Zhongjunjiang (中軍將) also governs the state of Jin as Zhengqing (正卿)----Jin's prime minister. Commander of the upper army ( Shangjunjiang , 上軍將) and commander of the lower army ( Xiajunjiang , 下軍將) did not have the access of political influence in Jin's court and were merely military staffs. Every commander ( Junjiang ) of an Jin army

7597-582: The nobility who directed the production of such materials. China's first projects of hydraulic engineering were initiated during the Zhou dynasty, ultimately as a means to aid agricultural irrigation. Sunshu Ao , the Chancellor of Wei who served King Zhuang of Chu , dammed a river to create an enormous irrigation reservoir in modern-day northern Anhui province. For this, Sunshu is credited as China's first hydraulic engineer. The later Wei statesman Ximen Bao , who served Marquis Wen of Wei (445–396 BC),

7704-500: The north and the northwest, variously known as the Xianyun , Guifang , or various "Rong" tribes, such as the Xirong , Shanrong or Quanrong , intensified towards the end of the Western Zhou period. These tribes are recorded as harassing Zhou territory, but at the time the Zhou were expanding northwards, encroaching on their traditional lands—especially the Wei River valley. Archaeologically,

7811-537: The northern Loess Plateau , modern Ningxia and the Yellow River floodplain. The military prowess of Zhou peaked during the 19th year of King Zhao 's reign, when the six armies were wiped out along with King Zhao on a campaign around the Han River . Early Zhou kings were true commanders-in-chief King Zhao was famous for repeated campaigns in the Yangtze region, and died on campaign. Later kings' campaigns were less effective. King Li led 14 armies against barbarians in

7918-641: The officers who had their dependent kin and the commoners who "each had his apportioned relations and all had their graded precedence"" This type of unilineal descent-group later became the model of the Korean family through the influence of Neo-Confucianism , as Zhu Xi and others advocated its re-establishment in China. There were five peerage ranks below the royal ranks, in descending order with common English translations: gōng 公 "duke", hóu 侯 "marquis", bó 伯 "count", zǐ 子 "viscount", and nán 男 "baron". At times,

8025-449: The old Yue royal family fighting over the southern successor state of Minyue . Supposedly, the Mi King was beheaded during a battle with Yao but his body continued to stay atop his horse all the way back to "Wu Village", where he was buried. As late as the 10th century, residents of the area avoided fire on the day of his death as a mark of respect to his spirit . This southern equivalent to

8132-453: The opposite view of the Shang's spirituality. The Zhou wanted to increase the number of enlightenment seekers, mystics, and those who would be interested in learning about such things as a way to further distance their people from the Shang-era paradigm and local traditions. Having emerged during the Western Zhou, the li ritual system encoded an understanding of manners as an expression of

8239-433: The others and Chinese society in sometimes unusual ways. The Mohists for instance found little interest in their praise of meritocracy but much acceptance for their mastery of defensive siege warfare; much later, however, their arguments against nepotism were used in favor of establishing the imperial examination system. The Zhou heartland was the Wei River valley; this remained their primary base of power after conquering

8346-501: The others were Confucianism as interpreted by Mencius and others, Legalism , Taoism , Mohism , the utopian communalist Agriculturalism , two strains of the School of Diplomacy , the School of Names , Sun Tzu 's School of the Military , and the School of Naturalists . While only the first three of these would receive imperial patronage in later dynasties, doctrines from each influenced

8453-448: The people for a tradition that harmed so many that it could not have been what the sage intended. He then had the oration displayed at Jie's temple and distributed among the poor. This did not end the Cold Food Festival, but the biography notes that local superstitions did improve "to a certain extent". The improvement is not explained but, at some point over the next century, it moved from the middle of winter to late spring, 105 days after

8560-410: The royal house diminished. The Warring States period ( c.  481  – 221 BC) that followed saw large-scale warfare and consolidation among what had formerly been Zhou client states, until the Zhou were formally extinguished by the state of Qin in 256 BC. The Qin ultimately founded the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC after conquering all of China . The Zhou period

8667-419: The ruler of Jin. Quwo was a cadet branch of Jin's ruling house; Ji clan descended from Shu Yu of Tang . The Zhou court, which regarded the lineal legitimacy as an extremely important matter, could not agree with such an usurpation. As a consequence, the king revoked Jin's permission to have three armies. In 661 BCE , Duke Xian of Jin lifted this prohibition by establishing the upper army; led by himself and

8774-413: The ruling house's mandate into question. Since rulers claimed that their authority came from heaven, the Zhou made great efforts to gain accurate knowledge of the stars and to perfect the astronomical system on which they based their calendar. Zhou legitimacy also arose indirectly from Shang material culture through the use of bronze ritual vessels, statues , ornaments, and weapons. As the Zhou emulated

8881-502: The social hierarchy, ethics, and regulation concerning material life; the corresponding social practices became idealized within Confucian ideology. The system was canonized in the Book of Rites , Rites of Zhou , and Etiquette and Ceremonial compiled during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), thus becoming the heart of the Chinese imperial ideology. While the system

8988-430: The south, but failed to achieve any victory. King Xuan fought the Quanrong nomads in vain. King You was killed by the Quanrong when Haojing was sacked. Although chariots had been introduced to China during the Shang dynasty from Central Asia, the Zhou period saw the first major use of chariots in battle. Recent archaeological finds demonstrate similarities between horse burials of the Shang and Zhou dynasties with

9095-449: The state by internal improvements rather than external wars. He absorbed a number of Rong tribes and was recognized as Hegemon. In 607   BC, Duke Ling of Jin (620–607) was killed by Zhao Chuan (趙穿) under the orders of his uncle Zhao Dun . Prince Heitun was placed on the throne as Duke Cheng of Jin (606–600). This was the beginning of the slow shift of power from the Jin dukes to the ministerial clans. Duke Li of Jin (580–573),

9202-511: The steppe populations in the west, such as the Saka and Wusun . Other possible cultural influences resulting from contact with these Iranic people of Central Asia in this period may include fighting styles, head-and-hooves burials, art motifs and myths. The Zhou army also included "barbarian" troops such as the Di people . King Hui of Zhou married a princess of the Red Di as a sign of appreciation for

9309-507: The superstitious belief that violations led to violent weather. Leading up to the 6th century, there was a patch of blackened trees on Mt Mian that were used for local worship of Jie Zhitui and had a reputation for miracles . Traditional cold foods included lǐlào ( 醴酪 ) , a kind of congee flavored with apricot pits and malt sugar . Later activities included visiting ancestral tombs , cock fighting , playing on swings, beating blankets, and tug-of-war games. The Cold Food Festival

9416-403: The throne in 636 escorted by the troops of his father-in-law, Duke Mu of Qin . Duke Wen quickly established himself as an independent ruler by driving the Di barbarians west of the Yellow River. In 635   BC he supported King Xiang of Zhou against a rival and was rewarded with lands near the royal capital. In 633   BC, he confronted the rising power of the southern state of Chu which

9523-573: The throne, he gave the land of Quwo to his uncle Chengshi who became Huan Shu of Quwo . In 739   BC, an official named Panfu (潘父) murdered Marquis Zhao and invited Huan Shu to take the throne. Huan Shu entered Jin but was driven out by the people and retreated to Quwo. All three Quwo rulers, Huan Shu (745–731), Zhuang Bo (731–716) and Duke Wu (716–678) made attempts to take over Jin. In 678   BC, Duke Wu of Quwo conquered Jin and killed Marquis Min of Jin (704–678). One year later, after receiving gifts from Duke Wu, King Xi of Zhou made Duke Wu

9630-501: The title Houji "Lord of Millet ", by the Emperor Shun . He even received sacrifice as a harvest god . The term Houji was probably a hereditary title attached to a lineage. Buzhu —Qi's son, or rather that of the Houji —is said to have abandoned his position as Agrarian Master ( 農師 ; Nóngshī ) in old age and either he or his son Ju abandoned their tradition, living in the manner of

9737-567: The tomb of King Xiang (died 296 BC) of the State of Wei , one of the three successor states of Jin. Duke Huan is therefore generally considered the final ruler of Jin. The Sui dynasty Emperors were from the northwest military aristocracy, and emphasized that their patrilineal ancestry was ethnic Han, claiming descent from the Han official Yang Zhen. and the New Book of Tang traced his patrilineal ancestry to

9844-493: The tombs of their ancestors. The Vietnamese equivalent Tết Hàn Thực is celebrated in most parts of the country on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month, but only marginally. People cook glutinous rice balls called bánh trôi but the holiday's origins are largely forgotten, and the fire taboo is also largely ignored. Jin (Chinese state) Jin ( traditional Chinese : 晉 ; simplified Chinese : 晋 , Old Chinese : * tsi[n]-s ), originally known as Tang (唐),

9951-402: The town still known as Jiexiu ("Jie's Rest"), and inaugurated the Cold Food Festival as a memorial period for Jie. In addition to the festival, the story also occasioned the Chinese proverb that, "while some can burn off an entire mountain, others are kept from even lighting up to eat their rice". The first part of this legend appears to be historical. In the earliest accounts, however, Jie

10058-404: The tsung-fa system of patrilineal primogeniture: "The greater lineage, if it has survived, is the direct succession from father to eldest son and is not defined via the collateral shifts of the lesser lineages. In discussions that demarcate between trunk and collateral lines, the former is called a zong and the latter a zu, whereas the whole lineage is dubbed the shi. [...] On one hand, every son who

10165-461: The upper army, the central army and the lower army. Three more armies were added in 588 BC. Each army contained 12500 soldiers. According to the convention of Zhou dynasty, a large fiefdom like Jin was allowed to have as many as three armies. However, Jin originally had only one army: the limitation was imposed by the Zhou dynasty king in order to observe the rite of Zhou. In 679 BCE , Duke Wu of Quwo assassinated Marquis Xiaozi of Jin and became

10272-435: The west of the Shang, which the Shang regarded as tributaries. For example, the philosopher Mencius (372–289 BC) acknowledged that King Wen of Zhou had ancestry from among the Xirong, as King Wen's descendants, the Zhou kings, claimed descent from Hou Ji , a legendary culture hero possibly related to the Xirong through his mother Jiang Yuan . Additionally, the late 4th-century BC Zuo Zhuan comments that

10379-609: The younger Jili , a warrior in his own right. As a vassal of the Shang kings Wu Yi and Wen Ding , Jili went to conquer several Xirong tribes before being treacherously killed by Shang forces. Taibo and Zhongyong had supposedly already fled to the Yangtze delta, where they established the state of Wu among the tribes there. Jili's son Wen bribed his way out of imprisonment and moved the Zhou capital to Feng (present-day Xi'an ). Around 1046 BC, Wen's son Wu and his ally Jiang Ziya led an army of 45,000 men and 300 chariots across

10486-551: Was a failure, with observance of the Cold Food Festival on Qingming and for up to a month around it being reported by the mid-3rd century. Shi Le , the Jie emperor of the Later Zhao in the early 4th century, again tried to forbid it. The next year a massive hailstorm devastated crops and forests throughout Shanxi. On the advice of his ministers, he again approved the festival in the region around Taiyuan. The Northern Wei similarly banned

10593-485: Was a major state during the middle part of the Zhou dynasty , based near the centre of what was then China, on the lands attributed to the legendary Xia dynasty : the southern part of modern Shanxi . Although it grew in power during the Spring and Autumn period , its aristocratic structure saw it break apart when the duke lost power to his nobles. In 403   BC, the Zhou court recognized Jin's three successor states: Han , Zhao , and Wei . The Partition of Jin marks

10700-498: Was accompanied by a Junzuo (軍佐) who was the assistant of Junjiang (軍將). Other posts in the Jin army were Junsima (軍司馬) and Junwei (軍尉), both of which were subordinated under Junjiang and Junzuo . The main military ranks were: List of Jin rulers based on the Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals . The original branch: The Quwo branch, replacing the original branch in 678   BC: The Records of

10807-489: Was common among wealthy Chinese at the time, its duke had many wives . One of them, Li Ji , was of lower status and came from the Rong tribes who lived to China's west, but successfully schemed to become a full wife and to establish her son as the duke's successor. Her older stepson Ji Chong'er was framed for revolting against the duke in 655   BC, forcing the prince to flee for his life to his mother's family among

10914-488: Was controlled by six clans: Fan (范) , Zhonghang (中行), Zhi (智), Han (韓), Zhao (趙) and Wei (魏). The clans soon began to fight among themselves. During the time of Duke Ding of Jin (511–475), the Fan and Zhonghang clans were eliminated by Xiangzi of Zhi . By about 450   BC, the Zhi were dominant and began demanding territory from the other clans. When Zhao resisted, Zhi attacked Zhao and brought along Han and Wei as allies. After

11021-509: Was fully disassembled by 249. Qin's wars of unification concluded in 221 BC with Qin Shi Huang 's annexation of Qi . The Eastern Zhou is also remembered as the golden age of Chinese philosophy: the Hundred Schools of Thought which flourished as rival lords patronized itinerant scholars is led by the example of Qi's Jixia Academy . The Nine Schools of Thought which came to dominate

11128-499: Was initially a respected body of concrete regulations, the fragmentation of the Western Zhou period led the ritual to drift towards moralization and formalization in regard to: The rulers of the Zhou dynasty were titled wang ( 王 ), which was also the term used by the Shang rulers, normally translated into English as 'king'. In addition to these rulers, King Wu's immediate ancestors— Danfu , Jili , and Wen —are also referred to as "Kings of Zhou", despite having been nominal vassals of

11235-525: Was the capital of a fragment of Jin. When the Zhou Dynasty was founded, the conquered lands were given to Zhou relatives and ministers as hereditary fiefs. King Cheng of Zhou , the second Zhou king, gave the land called Tang (唐), west of modern Yicheng County in Shanxi , to his younger brother, Tang Shuyu (唐叔虞) with the rank of a marquis . Tang Shuyu's son and successor, Marquis Xie of Jin (晉侯燮), changed

11342-527: Was the first hydraulic engineer of China to have created a large irrigation canal system. As the main focus of his grandiose project, his canal work eventually diverted the waters of the entire Zhang River to a spot further up the Yellow River . The early Western Zhou supported a strong army, split into two major units: "the Six Armies of the west" and "the Eight Armies of Chengzhou". The armies campaigned in

11449-439: Was then besieging Song . Instead of directly assisting Song, he attacked two vassals of Chu, Cao and Wei . The following year, he formed a military alliance with Qin, Qi and Song that defeated Chu at the Battle of Chengpu , perhaps the largest battle in the Spring and Autumn period. Shortly after the battle, he held an interstate conference at Jitu (踐土) with King Xiang of Zhou and the rulers of six other states. He affirmed

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