Zhou Period in China

Military

Western Zhou society focused on creating a large military with exposed power. With their large military, land was seized much more quickly and hereditary fiefs then divided the land. These fiefs then became self sustaining in their own manner. The army was divided into two units, the armies of the west and the armies of Chengzhou. The army’s power was at its height during the 19^th year of Emperor Zhao’s reign. The Zhou period brought a large number of commanders dedicated to a focus of protection. One of the final emperors of the period led 14 armies to fight barbarians in the south of China, but was later defeated, causing massive casualties to the army’s strength.

Philosophy

The Zhou dynasty fully developed Chinese philosophy. However, the earliest stages dated back to 6^th century BCE. Some famous Chinese philosophers who made a large impact on future generations  of Chinese and other major civilizations were Laozi, the founder of Taoism, and Confucius of Confucianism. The Chinese had a great hunger for knowledge and answers to lingering questions, aiding the increase for philosophy.

Social Structure

The social structure of the Zhou period was known as “Li.” The ritual system had codes to ethics, manners, expression, and social hierarchies. The people of China used this system for moralization purposes, direction, and ritualistic practices. This system was known to be the mentality of power for the Zhou period and led to great developments in social mannerisms. The structure gave birth to such things as the five orders of Chinese nobility, the guidelines to construction of temples, and the outline to ceremonial practices.

Agriculture

As a main source of food and life, agriculture was extremely important in the Zhou period. The agriculture sector was built off of socialist mentalities and was government run. The land was owned by the upper-class or nobles. Serfs were used to maintain the crops. The farms were split into squares with a well-field system. Farmers were responsible for their own square. Farming tools were made with the revolutionary idea of bronze smelting. This would later prove useful for weapons too. Agriculture in this period led to other inventions such as irrigation and the earliest form of hydraulic engineering methods.

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