Presentation Outline
02/08/05

Aristocracy to Bureaucracy: Political Transition in Early China

1. Early Nobiliary Society

Local rulership was tightly controlled by exclusive family cults, which would retain the title to their respective fiefs over the course of generations. Authority transmitted to first-born son of a ruler's primary wife.

Families maintained their control of their respective territories due to their privileged access to the religious establishment and longstanding social connections with the royal house and other powerful families.

They also maintained power due to their superior ability to wield lethal force (i.e., possession of chariots, horses, weapons and fighting skills). The peasant's role in warfare was auxiliary. Combat was a craft practiced by the nobles, most of whom were well-trained fighters. Warfare a heroic and individualistic endeavor.

All local officials were subordinate to the ruling house of a respective territory.

Although the position of local aristocrats was originally sanctioned by the royal house, they became increasingly sovereign with respect to their rule. Nobles served as a check upon the extension of royal authority, and acted as laws unto themselves.

2. Political Devolution In The Warring States Period, 5th Century - 221 BC

Factors that helped consolidate power in the hands of the princes: incursion of nomadic non-Chinese peoples from the north, replacement of conscription with taxation, codification of local laws.

Civil wars between aspiring local rulers take place, fragmenting territories into smaller units. Weaker principalities swear loyalty to stronger principalities during desperate situations, and are absorbed. Princes now call themselves "kings" -- the original king has no power to enforce unity among them.

3. The First Stages of Political Consolidation

Changes in military strategy and the nature of warfare. Previously, the scope and duration of warfare was limited, but the increasingly contentious struggle for power between now independent "kings" required an increased mobilization of resources: more chariots, longer campaigns, development of infantry and cavalry, increased reliance upon commoners (who were rewarded for their successes). Raw numbers of troops became to determine victory.

The draining of marshes and the extension of irrigation created new productive regions not under the direct control of nobles. The desire to maintain power led to increased resource extraction, leading to technological innovation and the rise of a merchant class. Merchants would become strong contenders for local power. Intensified resource extraction required an increased deployment of transportation infrastructure, thus enabling more efficient rule from a distance. A growing economy led to the extension of credit -- and consequently, debt -- to farmers, thus creating a class of landless industrial laborers.

4. The Founding of the Centralized State

The Qin principality began delegating responsibilities according to merit: nobles who accomplished nothing were demoted, while commoners who aided the state were rewarded with new titles. The Qin's extensive army composed of farmer-soldiers proceeded to annex other independent states, creating the first unified empire of China.

Innovations that aided the Qin's centralization of power: establishment of a common currency and standard of measurement, the issuance of a common script, standardization of cart wheel gauges, removal of physical walls between territories, extension of roads and irrigation canals, abolition of the private ownership of arms.

China divided into 36 commandaries -- districts administered by officials who reported directly to the emperor. Established nobility removed from power.

The Qin based its system of government upon the Legalist philosophy, rewarding individuals according to their service to the state and punishing them for their transgressions.

5. The Han Makes the Transition Permanent

The harsh rule of the Qin drew discontent from scholars, dispossessed nobles, and commoners alike. While the Han relaxed the Qin's laws against such activities as free philosophical discourse, they retained the Qin's meritocratic system of government.

The Han initially divided half of its commandaries into "kingdoms", which it allocated to the individuals who played an essential role in enabling to Han to seize power. However, this did not entail a return to decentralized rule. Although the figures who received these "kingdoms" were granted a great deal of latitude with respect to their governance, the state progressively reigned in the recipients' authority and reestablished their own. In 154 B.C., the selected leaders of seven of these "kingdoms" revolted against the reestablishment of state power in their domains, but were crushed easily and totally.

All officials reported directly to the capital, and recieved a rank and payment in accordance with the importance of the respective services they each provided. The local power structure, which now also included merchants, assumed responsibility only for matters that did not concern the security or preservation of the empire.