Post date: Oct 13, 2016 2:46:52 PM
This is the third post in a series for those who:
1- desire to read or teach Confucius' Analects as philosophy, but
2- lack knowledge about classical Chinese language, culture, history, philosophy.
(The translations from Chinese are my own; bear in mind, I'm still learning and practicing.)
Part 1, On The Analects
Part 2, On Confucius
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On the Zhōu
The Analects refers to Confucius as “Master,” and it mentions many others who are Confucius’ students or contemporary political leaders with whom Confucius consulted. But the Analects also, on occasion, refers to historical figures. These figures are paradigms of respectable and authoritative persons. The three most important are King Wén of Zhōu (周文王 Zhōu Wén Wáng), King Wǔ of Zhōu (周武王 Zhōu Wǔ Wáng), and the Duke of Zhōu (周公 Zhōu Gōng). Knowing something about them provides helpful context for understanding Confucius’ approach to living well.
4.1 Kings Wén and Wǔ
King Wén is the first epic hero in Chinese history. He began a revolt against the Shāng Dynasty (商朝 Shāng Cháo), which had ruled the Yellow River Valley since roughly 1750 BCE. He was revolting, in particular, against Emperor Xīn (帝辛 Dì Xīn), known posthumously as King Zhòu (紂王 Zhòu Wáng = King Horse Crupper; the crupper is the part of a saddle most likely to be soiled by a horse). Xīn’s reign had descended into tyranny, as Xīn ignored the duties of governance in favor of carnal pleasures. Wén governed a territory in the Shāng empire known as Zhōu (先周 Xiān Zhōu). In response to Xīn’s abuse of power, Wén prepared an army and succeeded in conquering a few small territories loyal to the Shāng. He died in 1050 BCE as a rebel. He became a king posthumously, as an honor bestowed by his son Jī Fā (姬發).
Jī Fā continued his father’s resistance against Emperor Xīn on behalf of the Zhōu people. In 1046 BCE, he led a coalition against Xīn in the Battle of Mùyě (牧野之战 Mùyě Zhīzhàn). Jī Fā‘s forces numbered around 50,000; Xīn’s, 53,000 with an additional 170,000 armed slaves. Because the Zhōu troops were better trained, and because Xīn’s corrupt rule caused the slaves defect into the Zhōu army and Xīn’s subjects to support the rebellion, Jī Fā won decisively. Taking the name Wǔ, which means martial, he established the Zhōu Dynasty (周朝 Zhōu Cháo) as successor to the defeated Shāng, naming his father as the first king of the dynasty out of respect.
4.2 Duke of Zhōu
King Wǔ died in 1043 BCE, only three years after assuming his rule. He left the kingdom to his son Chéng (成). But, because Chéng was too young to assume power, he charged his younger brother Jī Dàn (姬旦) with acting as regent on Chéng’s behalf. Known to history as the Duke of Zhōu. Jī Dàn is the paradigm for a good brother, good uncle, good governor, and exemplary person. The Duke of Zhōu suppressed lingering revolts from Shāng supporters, and he defeated several rebellions from members of Zhōu eager to usurp power. After seven years as regent, when his nephew Chéng reached an appropriate age, the Duke of Zhōu relinquished control without resistance.
In addition to extending the territory under Zhōu control, the Duke of Zhōu is responsible for two innovations that, in hindsight, turned out to be incredibly significant for subsequent Chinese history. First, he codified a system of feudal governance later known as fēngjiàn (封建, literally system for conferring titles). In order to maintain control over distant lands, the Duke of Zhōu built walled cities through the territories, appointing relatives or trusted locals to positions of power. He arranged marriages for those unrelated to the King of Zhōu, for the sake of unifying territorial rulers as a family with the King as their head. The local rulers were responsible for maintaining order in their territory, and they owed allegiance to the King of Zhōu on the model of sons owing allegiance to their father (as head of family).
The Duke of Zhōu also developed the idea that the Shāng had lost the mandate to rule by virtue of their immoral behaviors. The Shāng people claimed authority to rule by virtue of descending from Shàngdì (上帝), the supreme diety responsible for governing the world. The Duke of Zhōu concurred in part, but also dissented in part. He agreed that Shàngdì bestows authority for legitimate rule over others. He disagreed, however, that Shàngdì bestows authority by virtue of hereditary relation. Instead, according to the Duke of Zhōu, Shàngdì bestows authority to those who govern well. This is known as the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven (天命 tiānmìng), so named by virtue of the Duke associating Shàngdì with heaven (天 tiān, as a complement to 帝 dì, which means earth). The Duke used this doctrine to resist objections to Zhōu rule from those loyal to Shāng, arguing that the Shāng lost the mandate by virtue of Emperor Xīn’s immoral behaviors, and that the Zhōu received the mandate by virtue of defeating the corrupt Emperor Xīn.
4.3 Decline of the Zhōu
The Zhōu Dynasty flourished from roughly 1046 to 771 BCE. Over time, familial bonds between local rulers and the central Zhōu lineage weakened. This led to growing resistance to continuing Zhōu rule from the territories. For example, King Yí of Zhōu (周夷王 Zhōu Yí Wáng, 885-878 BCE), the ninth ruler in the Zhōu Dynasty, apparently boiled Duke Āi of Qí (Qí Āi Gong 齊哀公) in a cauldron as punishment for disobedience.
By 771 BCE, growing resistance forced the Zhōu royalty to relocate their capital to a more secure location in the east. This relocation marks the end of the Western Zhōu Dynasty and the beginning of the Eastern Zhōu Dynasty. The Eastern Zhōu Dynasty extends from 771 BCE to 256 BCE; later history divides it into the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時代 Chūnqiū Shídài) and the Warring States Period (戰國時代 Zhànguó Shídài). The Spring and Autumn Period, 771 to 475 BCE, marks the Zhōu royalty’s loss of control over their territories, as well as the rise of large independent states that grow by annexing smaller regions. The Warring States Period, 475 to 221 BCE, marks outright revolt of the states against the Zhōu and against each other, with each vying to dominate all others. The period is among the most brutal in world history, two hundred years of total warfare during which armies killed soldiers as well as innocents, razed conquered cities and villages, and torched conquered countryside.
The Warring States Period ends in 221 BCE with the victory of the State of Qín (秦) over the State of Qí (齊). This victory marks the beginning of the first imperial dynasty, and this might be the dynasty for which China is named. (Qín is pronounced in the Mandarin dialect as something like cheen; scholars disagree about the accuracy of this etymology.) The Qín Dynasty (秦朝 Qín Cháo) leveraged its massive military power to minimize the need for local rulers. This created a stable economy, resulting in massive public works such as Great Wall of China and the life-sized Terracotta Army (兵马俑 Bīngmǎyǒng). But the dynasty was fundamentally unstable. When the self-titled First Emperor of the Qín, Shǐ (秦始皇 Qín Shǐ Huáng), died in 210 BCE, senior ministers vied against each other to secure power on behalf of their favored son to the emperor.
These intrigues eventually led to Liú Bāng (劉邦), a lieutenant for rebels from the State of Chǔ (楚), rising to dominance in 206 BCE as the founding emperor of the Hàn Dynasty (漢朝 Hàn Cháo). In 135 BCE, this dynasty established Confucianism as the official system for education and political training. Confucianism retained this status until the end of the Qīng Dynasty (清朝 Qīng Cháo) in 1911 CE.