We all know from history that during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period, there were hundreds of countries entrusted by the Emperor of Zhou, big and small, and these countries were called "states of vassals", or "states of vassals" or "states". The status is divided into five titles such as Gong, Hou, Bo, Zi, and Male, and most of them are the same clan of the Zhou royal family, that is, Ji surnamed the country. So why are these countries called vassals?
After King Wu of Zhou destroyed the merchants, he began to implement the enfeoffment system. He entrusted the officials and royal families who had contributed to the destruction of merchants to various places, allowing them to establish their own territories and defend the royal family together. Different regions were entrusted to the ministers or members of the royal family. Each manages it by itself, but they must obey the Zhou royal family's orders and pay tribute on time. When a war breaks out, all countries must fight with the royal family.
Among the more famous ones are the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons and the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period. For example, Qi State, whose first monarch was one of the main planners of the extermination of business, Qi Taigong Jiang Ziya. After the extermination of business, he was sealed in Yingqiu and became The founder of Qi State, the title is Marquis. The founder of the Jin Kingdom was named Tang Shuyu. He was the youngest son of King Wu of Zhou. He began to be entrusted to the Tang Dynasty, and later moved to Jinshui, where he changed the title of the country to Jin and the title of Marquis.
are also big countries of Qin and Chu, one is an earl and the other is a viscount. Qin Feizi, the first ancestor of the Qin Kingdom, was appointed to Qinyi by King Zhou Xiao because he was good at raising horses. He mainly defended Xirong for the Zhou Dynasty. Later, he participated in escorting King Zhou Ping to move east, and he was officially listed as a prince, but he was only an earl. The Kingdom of Chu did not belong to the Central Plains, but a tribe in the south. During the period of King Wen, he realized the decline of the Shang Dynasty, so the tribal chief Wuxiong led his clan to seek refuge in King Wen and received attention. It was granted and established during the reign of King Zhou Cheng. In a formal country, the title is just a viscount.
said in the "Zuo Zhuan" Zhu Zhiwu to retreat to Qin Shi, "Jin Hou, Qin Bo encircle Zheng." From this, we can know that at that time, the princes were called the country's name plus the title. Therefore, the monarch of Qi, whether it is Qi Taigong or Qi Huangong, is called Qihou, and the monarch of Chu can only be called Chuzi. Once the title is given, you will know who the status of each country is higher and who is lower. In the Warring States Period, after Han, Zhao, and Wei were divided into Jin, the monarchs of the three kingdoms were named vassals by Zhou Weilie, and they were all marquis. They were called Hanhou, Zhaohou and Weihou.
In many countries, it is difficult to hear what kind of duke, because in the entire Zhou dynasty, there were only four dukes, namely Guo State, Yu State, Zhou State and Song State. Guo Zhong and Uncle Guo, the ancestors of Guo State, were the younger brothers of King Zhou Wen. They were sealed in East Guo and Xi Guo respectively as a barrier between the east and the west of the Zhou Dynasty. The ancestor of the Yu state, Yu Zhong, was a descendant of Zhong Yong, the son of the ancient father and father, and the king of Zhou Wu sealed him in Yudi and established the Yu state. Later, the Jin Kingdom destroyed the two countries, which is the famous "false road to destroy Guo". There are not many records of states and countries, so small that they can be ignored. The first ancestor of the Song Dynasty was the elder brother Qi of King Zhou. Because he was a former royal family, Zhou Gongdan sealed him in the old capital of Shang Dynasty, Shangqiu, and established the Song Kingdom. It was a small fire during Song Xianggong, but there was no major development afterwards. , Was finally eliminated by Qi, Chu, and Wei.
Among the countries that were entrusted before and after the Zhou dynasty, there were four dukes. They had the highest status and the richest fief. They were close to the Zhou Dynasty, such as Chu, Wu, Yue and other countries. They were located in remote areas. In other countries where the royal family expanded outward, the marquis had the most titles. Later, people referred to these feudal states collectively as vassal states, meaning the candidate states of various places.
The original intention of entrusting the princes was to consolidate the rule of the Zhou Dynasty. Later, some countries developed into giants, and some disappeared silently. Eventually, with the decline of the Zhou royal family, the princes broke away from Zhou's control and swallowed the Zhou Dynasty. .
