Fengjian

Political ideology during the latter part of the Zhou dynasty

Fengjian, literally "demarcation and establishment" but often (controversially) described as Chinese feudalism, was a governance system and political thought in Ancient China and Imperial China, whose social structure formed a decentralized system of confederation-like government. The ruling class consisted of the Son of Heaven (king or emperor) and aristocracy, and the lower class consisted of commoners categorized into four occupations (or "four categories of the people", namely scholar-officials, peasants, laborers and merchants). Elite bonds through affinal relations and submission to the overlordship of the king date back to the Shang dynasty, but it was the Western Zhou dynasty who granted land to their clan relatives and fellow warriors in return for continued political loyalty.

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