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after the succession of dynasties in ancient china, the rulers always had to face the problem of how to deal with the remnants of the old dynasty. after king wu defeated king zhou and the transition from yin to zhou, the zhou people did not choose to exterminate the remnants of the shang dynasty. on the contrary, most of them were treated relatively friendly after entering zhou. the eight edicts of the early zhou dynasty in the book of documents mentioned the resettlement of the remnants of the shang dynasty many times, such as:

"you still have your land, you should be content and keep it to yourself, you should be respectful, and heaven will bless you... now it is time to settle down in your city and continue your residence" ("duo shi")

it means that the remnants of the yin dynasty who respected the will of heaven and submitted to the rule of the zhou dynasty should be allowed to live and work in peace.

"the king first served the yin government, and then i served the zhou government. his integrity and character will improve day by day." (zhao gao)

"heaven has bestowed favor on you, and i have given you great favors. i have appointed you to the royal court, and i have respected you and served you well." ("duofang")

it reflects that the king of zhou attached great importance to employing the old ministers of the shang dynasty and promoting talented new ministers among the remnants of the shang dynasty, and he encouraged the officials of the zhou and shang people to live in harmony and actively incorporated the remnants of the shang dynasty into the ruling system of the zhou dynasty.

generally speaking, the lives of the survivors of the shang dynasty in the zhou dynasty were as follows.

served as an official

many officials of the zhou dynasty were descendants of the shang dynasty, and the most representative of them was the system of historians, the taishiliao. these numerous shang dynasty historians were familiar with the rules and regulations, proficient in sacrifices and divination, and in charge of documents, calendars, and classics. they were inherited and served as officials for generations, playing an important role in the operation of the zhou dynasty. they were listed as the two major official systems of the western zhou dynasty, along with the qingshiliao, which was in charge of administrative affairs.

when the zhou people established their own ruling order, they attached great importance to the role of the historians of the shang dynasty. long before the demise of the shang dynasty, some historians of the shang dynasty joined the zhou king. "zuo zhuan·xiang gong 4" said that the historian xin jia "commanded all officials and admonished the king's shortcomings", which means that he could command all officials and admonish the zhou king's mistakes. "shi ji·zhou ben ji" quoted liu xiang's "bie lu" and mentioned that xin jia was originally a minister of king zhou of shang. because his repeated admonitions were not accepted, he chose to abandon shang and join zhou in anger, and was treated with courtesy by king wen of zhou. in addition, in the "yi zhou shu·shang shi jie", king wu of zhou mentioned the old officials of the shang dynasty, tai shi bi and xiao shi xi. the "shi ji" also recorded that after king wu ascended the throne, the tai shi and shao shi qiang of the shang dynasty "fled to zhou with their sacrifices and musical instruments". "lüshi chunqiu·xian shi lan" also recorded: "the yin internal historian xiang zhi saw that zhou was becoming more and more confused, so he took his map and law and fled to zhou." the shang dynasty historians represented by xin jia and xiang zhi brought the system and culture of the shang dynasty to the zhou dynasty, promoting the development of zhou culture. the historians of the shang dynasty who survived the shang dynasty played an indispensable role in the smooth transition of power and the smooth inheritance of culture during the shang-zhou transition.

the yin survivors who entered the zhou dynasty as historians after king wu conquered shang were also highly valued, as recorded in many bronze inscriptions of the western zhou dynasty. according to the wall plate unearthed in fufeng, shaanxi, the ancestor of the weishi family defected to the zhou dynasty after king wu conquered shang and became a historian of zhou (compendium of yin and zhou bronze inscriptions 10175). after that, the weishi family followed the zhou king for generations and was active on the political stage of the western zhou dynasty for more than 200 years. the large number of bronzes unearthed with the wall plate not only reflect the rich financial resources of the weishi family, but also show that the family was highly trusted by the zhou king. the yin survivor zuoce (historian official position) lu ling, who came from the junce clan, was highly valued during the reign of king zhao of zhou and was rewarded by the zhou rulers many times (compendium 4300-4301, 6016), and the descendants of zuoce lu ling also served as zuoce officials and continued to serve the zhou dynasty (compendium 2758). some scholars even pointed out that the historians of the western zhou dynasty, such as the recorder and the censor, were all descendants of the yin dynasty; all the historians recorded in the bronze inscriptions of the western zhou dynasty were yin people. this shows the importance of the yin dynasty's historians in the zhou dynasty.

the upper class nobles of the shang survivors had the opportunity to be enfeoffed as princes. the most typical example was the state of song, which was enfeoffed by king zhou of shang's half-brother wei ziqi. as the legitimate heir of the shang king, the state of song was specially approved to use the rituals and music of the emperor level, and was respected by the zhou people. its status was relatively respected in the western zhou dynasty. in addition, some of the shang survivors retained the title of marquis since the shang dynasty. for example, the marquis of yu, which had appeared in the bronze inscriptions of the shang dynasty, still retained the title of marquis in the bronze ware of yu in the zhou dynasty. he was often rewarded by the zhou dynasty, had close relations with the state of yan, and was even able to intermarry with the king of zhou (jicheng 4146, 9439, 10240). the marquis of xian and the marquis of ding, who came from the tianyuan (yuán) tribe of the shang survivors, also continued their status as princes because they surrendered to the zhou dynasty (jicheng 2346, 2626).

the figures of yin survivors were often seen among the subordinates of the princes and ministers. for example, the inscription on the neng lao zun records that neng lao was rewarded by a superior to make a zun yi ritual vessel for his father (jicheng 5984). the inscription calls his father "wen fu ri yi" and there is a clan emblem at the end of the text, which shows that neng lao was undoubtedly a yin survivor. the western zhou yan state ruins in liulihe, beijing, also found bronze vessels fu ding and fu zun that record the reward given by the yan hou to the yin survivors of the whole clan (jicheng 2507, 5987).

incorporate the army

during the western zhou dynasty, the army directly commanded by the zhou emperor was divided into six divisions and eight divisions. the six divisions were the original armed forces of the zhou people before they conquered the shang dynasty, while the eight divisions of the yin dynasty were reorganized from the surrendered yin shang army after the zhou people conquered the shang dynasty. "shuowen jiezi" points out that 2,500 people make up a division, which shows that in the central army of the western zhou dynasty, the number of yin survivors not only exceeded that of the zhou people, but was also very large. many of the tombs of yin survivors discovered by archaeology in the zhou dynasty were buried with weapons, reflecting the identity of the tomb owner as a warrior during his lifetime.

the army formed by the remnants of the yin dynasty was the main force of the western zhou dynasty to quell local unrest and external expansion. it was usually stationed near chengzhou, so it was also called the eight divisions of chengzhou. when fighting with surrounding tribes, this army charged into battle, actively conquered the territory of the zhou dynasty, and maintained national stability. among the military leaders of the eight divisions of the yin dynasty, there were also old nobles of the yin dynasty who had made great military achievements. according to the inscription on the ding of the zhou dynasty, the remnant of the yin dynasty, ding (dong ge), led the eight divisions of the yin dynasty to fight bravely against the huaiyi tribe in the south and was rewarded for it. the inscription on the ding (dong ge) recorded the specific military exploits of killing and capturing the enemy, and the inscription on the lid of the ding (dong ge) gui recorded in detail the generous rewards (compilation 4302, 4331, 5419-5420). the various vessels of the ding (dong ge) fully proved the possibility that the remnants of the yin dynasty became military nobles in the zhou dynasty.

in addition to the local troops, the remnants of yin also participated in the "tiger ministers" who served as the zhou king's guards to protect the safety of the zhou king. bo (dong ge) also led the tiger ministers to defend against the invasion of huai rong.

migrate the whole family

at the beginning of the establishment of the western zhou dynasty, king wu of zhou allowed the remnants of the yin to stay in their homeland, and wu geng, the son of king zhou, led and managed them to continue the sacrifices of the shang royal family. however, not long after king wu's death, the three supervisors rebellion broke out, which was launched by wu geng and other zhou nobles such as guan shu and cai shu. after suppressing the rebellion, duke zhou was no longer confident in letting the remnants of the yin live in the old land of the shang dynasty. therefore, except for some yin people who were able to stay and move to the song state ruled by the descendants of the shang king, many remnants of the yin were moved to the jurisdiction of the zhou people through coordinated planning. some moved to the zongzhou and chengzhou areas, and some moved to various countries with the feudal princes. these migrated people basically retained the original clan organization structure and customs.

the book of the later zhou dynasty, zuo luo jie, records that after duke zhou put down the rebellion of the three guards, he “moved” the captured yin survivors to jiubi. “bi” is “li”, which means “li”, indicating that the yin survivors who moved to luoyi, chengzhou, were organized in the geographical form of “li”, and the chief who managed the li was called li jun. however, while using li to manage the yin survivors in luoyi, the traditional clan organization of the yin people was also maintained, combining blood organization with geographical organization. the yin survivors were managed by li jun and ruled by clan leaders. in the book of the later zhou dynasty, shang shi jie, the king of zhou declared to “you, the people, live in the li, gentlemen” that the zhou people received the great mandate of heaven. “the people” embodied the blood clan organization, while “li” embodied the geographical form organization, reflecting a complex ruling model.

"zuo zhuan·dinggong 4" records the situation of the remnants of the yin dynasty migrating to various vassal states. the state of lu was divided into six clans of the yin people, namely tiao, xu, xiao, suo, changshao, and weishao, and the state of wei was divided into seven clans of the yin people, namely tao, shi, fan, ji, fan, ji, and zhongkui. the ruling policies of wei and lu were summarized as "starting with shang politics and bordering with zhou", which means that the governance of the yin remnants should respect the traditions of the yin and shang dynasties and govern according to customs on the basis of abiding by the rules of the zhou system. archaeological discoveries can also be mutually confirmed with the records in the classics. the remnants of the yin dynasty who migrated to various places still lived and moved in clans, and the traditional clan power was very strong. therefore, the zhou dynasty rulers continued to use the clan leaders of the yin remnants as grassroots managers, and ordinary people were responsible for taxes and labor service, engaged in handicraft production, etc., which was basically the same as the zhou people. in the book of documents, duke zhou announced his decrees to the "yin hou and yin min". yin min should refer to the officials who were originally responsible for grassroots management in the shang dynasty. after entering the zhou dynasty, they still held the power to manage the people.

the old shang nobles still retained certain economic and political power in the zhou dynasty. at the same time, a large number of shang survivors gradually communicated and integrated with the zhou people in the process of serving as officials, incorporating the army and migrating with their families. except for the wu geng rebellion in the early zhou dynasty, there were no large-scale unrest among the old dynasty survivors in the western zhou dynasty, thanks to the zhou people's effective resettlement policy for the shang survivors.

references:

1. gu jiegang and liu qizhuo, on the annotation and translation of the book of documents, beijing: zhonghua book company, 2005.

2. yang bojun: commentary on zuo zhuan (revised edition), beijing: zhonghua book company, 2017.

3. sima qian, records of the grand historian, beijing: zhonghua book company, 1959.

4. huang huaixin et al., collected and annotated collection of the lost books of zhou dynasty (revised edition), shanghai: shanghai ancient books publishing house, 2007.

5. xu weiyu: collection and interpretation of lüshi chunqiu, beijing: zhonghua book company, 2009.

6. institute of archaeology, chinese academy of social sciences, ed., annotations of yin and zhou bronze inscriptions, hong kong: institute of chinese culture, the chinese university of hong kong, 2001.

7. zhu fenghan: research on family morphology in shang and zhou dynasties (revised edition), tianjin: tianjin ancient books publishing house, 2004.

8. zeng yiwei: “an investigation into the political path of the survivors of the yin dynasty”, master’s thesis, tianjin normal university, 2020.