The System of Feudal Princes (Fong-wang 封王) of the Western Chin Dynasty

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  • 西晋の封王の制
  • ニシシン ノ フウオウ ノ セイ

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Abstract

This paper discusses the Fong-wang system which formed the core of the feudal system of the Western Chin.The intention of the Fong-wang system of the Western Chin was to bring about the return of the feudal system of the Chou Dynasty, but the part it played in government was chiefly bureaucratic. From the standpoint of being bureaucratic, the Fong-wang system of the Western Chin can be divided roughly into an early and late period. This paper deals chiefly with the late period.During the late period of the Fong-wang system, the feudal Princes usually had a strong grasp on the bureaucratic organs and it became part of the system for them to hold all the bureaucrats in vassalage. The Fong-wang also had control of a great many government troops and it seems likely that these troops came to be composed mainly of men levied by the Fong-wang in their own fiefs 封國 rather than of hereditary soldiers 世兵 which were controlled by the central government. The government began appointing Fong-wang to the posts of Tu-tu 都督 and Ssu-chêng chiang-chun 四征將軍, the area (Fan-mien 方面) of which frequently coincided with their fiefs. As a result, the Fong-wang frequently possessed great military power, composed mainly of provincial troops 國兵.Originally, the Fong-wang system as it was conceived in the late period, was an aristocratic system in which the Emperor used his own family to rule the country, but the Fong-wang, with the bureaucratic characteristics mentioned above, gradually strengthened their relative independence from the Emperor both politically and militarily. The Rebellion of the Eight princes 八王 is one of the results of this.

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