Some aspects of royal and princely administrative interrelationship in Western Chou : a preliminary investigation based upon the evidence as recorded in inscribed bronzes of the period

Abstract

The present survey is an attempt to investigate two institutions in Western Chou, namely the Royal investiture ceremony and the practice of subinfeudation, based upon records in bronze inscriptions. Inscriptions on bronzes have the merit of being contemporaneous with the period and the events they record; therefore, investigations based upon such materials can be regarded as appropriate and reliable. According to the bronze inscriptions, the Royal investiture ceremony was conducted by the King mainly to formalize the granting of awards for services rendered, to define the duties required of the investee, and to confirm the investee's tenure of office or his promotion to a new office. The ceremony was usually held in Spring and Winter, in the first half of a month, and generally on the chia-days, the ting-days and the keng-days. Before granting the Royal Decree, the King would reside in a particular place such as Chou, Tsung-Chou, Fang or in a particular palace such as the K'ang Kung, the K'ang Mu Kung, the Chao Kung, etc. On the actual day of the ceremony, the King arrived generally at the Grand Hall of Audience at dawn, facing south. An assistant-on-the-right would then enter the Central Courtyard to supervise the whole course of the ceremony. The investee entered the Courtyard later, facing north to the King and waited for the granting of the decree. The King then passed the document of the decree onto a first historiographer, and called forth a second historiographer to read out the decree to the investee. The decree was usually accompanied by various awards. After this the investee bowed his head low, extolled the King's grace, and received the document containing the decree from the second historiographer, tied it to his girdle and retreated from the Central Courtyard. After a short period of time the investee returned to the Courtyard, and presented a chin-chang-sceptre to the King expressing respect and loyalty to him. The whole course of the Royal investiture ceremony was then complete. Earlier studies on the Royal investiture ceremony have been conducted by scholars such as Ch'en Meng-chia, Ch'i Ssu-ho, Wong Yin-wai, Cheung Kwong-yue, Musha Akira, etc.; the present survey is, in effect, an updating (in terms of materials) and where the occasion requires it, a reappraisal of the earlier research. In addition, particular attention has also been made on the attenuated nature of the bronze inscriptions which earlier scholars have not fully appreciated. The study of attenuation of inscriptions can thus be regarded as a new line of approach. In Part Two, attention has been paid to the practice of subinfeudation in Western Chou. Altogether 97 inscriptions of the redivision of land and transaction of gifts are collected for study. Such a survey has not hitherto been carried out in this systematic manner, and therefore may be claimed to be a contribution to research in this area. The practice of subinfeudation was generally held in Spring and Autumn, in the first half of a month, and on the ting-days and the keng-days. This practice was mainly conducted between a Prince of State and his officers, or between a Royal officer and his subordinates or household-attendants. The investees received their awards usually because of their participation in Royal or Princely services, and the awards were granted in places such as Tsung-Chou, Ch'eng-Chou, the military garrisons and the residences of the seigneur/feoffers or investees. The items of award did not vary much from those granted by the King during a Royal investiture ceremony except that the granting of ming-fu by the King is rarely found in the practice of subinfeudation and as such can be regarded as a perogative enjoyed by the Chou Sovereigns. Awards made by a seigneur/feoffer other than the King were usually accompanied by a ceremony similar to that of a Royal investiture ceremony. However, there were no formal acceptance of the document of the decree and no presentation of a chin-chang-sceptre to the seigneur/feoffer by the investee during a subinfeudation investiture ceremony. Apart from introducing the above two institutions in Western Chou, the present survey is also designed to provide a deeper understanding of the nature and function of the bronze inscriptions and their value as historical documents of the period. It is hoped that this study based upon bronze inscriptions will lead to further critical sifting of the traditional literary sources in order to achieve a more extensive understanding of the Western Chou period in terms of institution, economy, society, etc.