The Five-rank System 五等爵制 as seen in the Chun-qiu 春秋

Abstract

The theory that the five-rank system, consisting of gong 公, hou 候, bo 伯, zi 子 and nan 男 bestowed by Zhou kings 周王 upon feudal lords actually existed can be seen in the classical scriptures and historical documents. In so far as we accept this theory, we therefore must consider that the Zhou kings, after their overthrow of the Yin 殷, reorganized their territorial domain and various 'tribes' once subjected to the Yin. Although the real existence of such a system is now in doubt, the reorganization of the ruling structure by the Zhou kings is accepted by the experts. This, however, will resort in a contradiction. Furthermore, even if the theory of the 'five-rank system' itself is a later fabrication, the reference in the bronze inscriptions to gong, hou, and bos, for example, suggests that that theory as a whole is a later fabrication. As a result of having examined this problem as seen in the Chun-qiu, one of the classical scriptures, the author has found that only in the case of the hou and bo are their founders in the main members of the Zhou royal family. He has also found that, on the other hand, many of the members of the Zhou royal family were given the titles of hou or bo. In addition, it is observed that after the middle of the Chun-qiu period there are many states whose historical background is unclear and yet begin to appear frequently on the historical scene and are given the title of zi. We should, therefore, say that the main purpose of early Zhou feudalization was to make the members of the Zhou royal family into hou or bo and was limited at most to assigning them to their respective feudal proprithorships. In other words, at the beginning of the Zhou we know from the bronze inscriptions that there existed the hou and bo who were enfeoffed by thd Zhou kings, as well as those hou and bo titles remaining from the Yin kings. This leads us to conclude that the reorganization of the Zhou ruling structure mentioned above was not carried out in such a way as to extend to the entire regions, "tribes", and "clans" under the rule of the Yin royal court.