On the characteristics of national audit in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties

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I state structure: kinship and state

Influenced by the unified social reality after Qin and Han dynasties, people often imagine and build ancient countries into a centralized country. Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, describing the rise and fall of Xia, Shang and Zhou as the change of the unified dynasty. Of course, later generations built it for a reason, and this tendency has long existed in ancient literature. In Poetic Birds, Yin people call it "the territory of the son of heaven is everywhere", in Poems of Beishan it is called "Nine Selections", and Zhou people call it "Universal World", "Murphy's Land" and "Wang Chen". In fact, the "universal world" and "Murphy Wang Chen" in Shang and Zhou Dynasties are different from the unified countries after Qin and Han Dynasties.

According to the research of scholars in recent years, the country of Shang Dynasty is an alliance between the two countries. Some scholars call this alliance "the alliance of countries", while others call it "tribal countries" or "early countries". The so-called "tribe" refers to a social group based on blood relationship, which evolved from tribal organizations in primitive times, and is the early form of China country.

Judging from the situation reflected by Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there are two characteristics in the relationship between the Shang State and other countries: on the one hand, they coexist with each other; on the other hand, the Shang State is superior to other countries. Look at the coexistence relationship first. There is a word "bi" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Mr. Lin Yun pointed out that the word "bi" here is used as a verb, which means "intimate combination". Oracle Bone Inscriptions is often referred to as "Sheng Wang" or "". Don't worry about Bedanbo, okay? "(Part B, Volume 3387)" Clothes make up ... make many sub-races more aggressive than dogs? " (Preface 5.2.2) Mr. Lin Yun believes that "Oracle bone inscriptions do reflect that many countries in the Shang Dynasty had an alliance with the Shang king, and those who can be known by the examination are ghosts, dragons, wells, dragons, dogs, violence, reunion, hope and so on. Shang said that most of these Oracle bones explicitly involved conquest. It is not difficult to find the situation of the League of Nations at that time. The poem "Long Hair" describes the process of Shang Tang's cutting, "Gu and Wei both cut, Kunwu and". Gu, Wei and Kunwu are allies of Xia Guo. Similarly, Shangshu Pastoral Oath describes the attack of King Wu of Zhou Dynasty, among which "I am a friend of the country". Shi Di Yi. The Shang Dynasty and its allies were unequal. According to the data of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the business countries not only "compare" with other countries, but sometimes "order" other countries. For example, "turtle hair cloth, binzhen ... mesh ■■ square?" ("Pre-editing" 6.60.6) ",Zhen, Lingwang ■■■ Fang? "(Beijing-Tianjin 4386)" Guihai, Zhen, Tomb, Hou Fa ... "("Zhang Jin "368) The" order "here is obviously the relationship between command and obedience. At the same time, Wang Shang, as the leader of the League of Nations, has the functions of collecting tribute from allies, patrolling allies, arbitrating disputes between countries and punishing countries.

After Zhou Bang overthrew the rule of Yin Bang, he established a new alliance between Fang and Guo-Zhou. On the whole, there is no fundamental difference in the national structure and nature between Zhou and Shang countries. The main difference lies in the replacement of "* * *": Zhou rose from a small country to a "* * *" country, and Shang fell from a "* * *" country to an ordinary country. After the week, people called this process "recommendation". The so-called "praise and seal" is nothing more than the establishment of a birthright between Zhou Wang and existing countries with different surnames and the formation of a new national alliance. But in Zhou literature, most of them are called "princes". At the same time, Zhou people also "feudal" a number of vassal States with the same surname. The traditional saying is "feudal relatives, relying on governors to sift around." Although this explanation makes sense, there are still problems. Because the enfeoffment system of Zhou people actually continued until the Spring and Autumn Period, not only among the royal family, but also among the princes, and even "there are two cases of doctors". Simply using the theory of "vassal shielding" to explain it is obviously unconvincing. It is true that the enfeoffment system has important political significance, but from a commercial point of view,

Generally speaking, from the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the feudal system of Zhou people showed two stages: the Western Zhou Dynasty was "the emperor founded the country"; During the Spring and Autumn Period, "princes established clans". Judging from the distribution of tribal population, "A Clan of Governors" is a continuation and reprint of "The Founding of the Emperor". However, under the concept of "kingdom of kings" and "vassal state" at that time, the furniture, vassal state and doctor of the kingdom had roughly similar but not exactly the same clan regime characteristics.

The kingdom of the son of heaven is the highest political entity or country with the royal family as the core. In fact, Wang mainly ruled the region. This political pattern of "Wang Bang" and "ruling the world" is called "internal administration" (Wang Ji) and "external use" (outside discipline) system. The order of "oral administration" and "external use" in the Zhou Dynasty showed a gradual decline. In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the dynasty had a strong control over overseas governors. When Zhou Kangwang acceded to the throne, he instructed, "Men guard the back hall, an ordinary country, but only report sports to one person." ("Gu Ming Shangshu") At that time, many princes attended the ceremony of Kang Wang's accession to the throne, expressing their firm obedience to Zhou Wang's orders and saying, "One or two ministers escorted and dared to hold a funeral. (ditto) By the early Spring and Autumn Period, this flourishing age had ceased to exist, and Zhou Zheng made a Covenant as an obvious example. The reason, in its own words, is that the princes are sitting on their backs; In its own words, it is the growth of clan organizations. The foundation of clan politics is clan organization. Under the clan system, when the population of a clan reaches a certain number, a new clan will be derived, and the original matriarchal clan will become a phratry. As a secondary form of clan organization, clan organization still retains this feature to some extent. At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, Wang Bangqiang, a new vassal, was weak. Later, the power of the vassal States continued to grow. On the other hand, due to the continuous enfeoffment, Wang Bang developed slowly. When the vassal States and Wang Bangli check and balance each other, the conflict between them is inevitable. " The hegemony of the prince is similar to the hegemony of the kingdom. From the internal structure of clan politics, the main body of political power is the clan aristocracy, and in Wang Bang it is the royal family. In the royal family, it was further condensed into the "patriarch". In the Zhou royal family, the struggle for state power is directly reflected in the struggle for the status of "patriarch". This is the reason for the royal civil strife in the Spring and Autumn Period. The main objects of clan politics are civilians, the rule of nobles over civilians and the rule of patriarchs over civilians. Some poems in "Poems of National Style" show people's antipathy and dependence on nobles. For aliens, the Zhou royal family has a religious and ethical relationship with them, although they are not related by blood. The king is regarded as the direct descendant of God, while the world is regarded as the people of God (lower in rank). Therefore, from the perspective of God, there is a sacred "quasi-"blood bond between the royal family and the aliens, and between the royal family and the aliens. It is based on the belief that kingship is God's "voter" and represents God's rule of the world. Zhou Guo's so-called "oral" is "oral".

The vassal state is a secondary state power and political organization with the public as the core. Judging from the vassal's initial feudal status, it is necessary to hold a conferring ceremony to grant people territory, and the principal officials of the feudal status should also be appointed by Zhou Wang. "Zuo Zhuan" records that in the twelfth year of Gong, Guan Zhong went to the royal family to see the king, who was received by Wang Shangqing. Guan Zhong refused: "I am a minister, a secretary and a son of heaven." It can be seen that Wang Ting intervened in the politics of vassal states to some extent. The vassal States should bear certain obligations to the dynasty, such as sending troops to help the war, paying tribute and making pilgrimage. But this is only one side of the problem. On the other hand, for an existing vassal state, its internal affairs are not limited by dynasties in terms of succession to the throne, appointment of doctors, and handling of specific economic and political affairs. Within the clan, who will be the chief in power is the last point. Although there is also a struggle for the throne within the clan, power will definitely fall within the clan. Once this principle is destroyed, it means the collapse of a clan and the collapse of the country (or changing the surname). "Three clans divided into Jin" and "Tian Dai Qi" are examples. The reason why vassal States have such great independence. In the vassal state, the relationship between the vassal and the doctor's family is directly manifested as the political relationship between the vassal and the doctor. Today, we tend to pay too much attention to the political relationship between princes and doctors, while people at that time paid more attention to clan relations. Words such as praising ancestors and praying for "eternal use by future generations" in bronze inscriptions regularly reflect the importance of clan organization and clan interests. The vassal was independent, and it also maintained a formal vassal relationship with the king of Zhou, which was the inevitable result of clan politics at that time. In essence, there is little difference, or almost the same, between the countries with the same surname (or marriage) in the Zhou Dynasty and the countries with different surnames in the Shang Dynasty.

Doctor's home is a grass-roots political power and a hidden country with family organization as the core. "Wang Hou Li Shi" prevailed in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. In the relatively credible literature of the middle and early Western Zhou Dynasty, he was not called "doctor". As mentioned earlier, "establishing a nation by princes" is not only a political act, but also related to the population expansion of mass organizations, which is similar to "establishing a country by emperors" in the early Zhou Dynasty. "Prince married" defends the public. Doctors' homes exist as a "branch" of the public. At first, it was also "granting land to the people", but on the surface it did not have the state form of modern concept. Some scholars have noticed that there are kingdoms and vassal states in the Zhou Dynasty, which is a step forward than Zhou Li's "kingdom" model, but they still haven't noticed the relative national nature of doctor's furniture. In fact, the vassal States were surrounded at the beginning of the week. It has gone through a long historical period. So is the doctor's house. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, many doctoral regimes not only did not listen to the command of the governors, but also competed with them, almost forming a completely independent state power. In this sense, it can be said that there is no qualitative difference between "three Huan weak Lu" and "Zhou Zheng crossed toes" "Three clans are divided into Jin" is a continuation of "vassal hegemony" within a country. Mr. Li made a concrete study on the doctor's residence in Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. He pointed out that during the whole Spring and Autumn Period, there were many family-based social organizations in Lu, which could not be roughly counted 15. They maintain a relationship with the monarch, but they are very independent. (65438+) The "patriarch" is of course a doctor. Therefore, lujun actually does not interfere in who will be the doctor of each family. (2) The doctor's home is based on the city. Dr. Qing built a building in Beijing for political convenience, and the real lair was fief. Family has fiefs, uncle has fiefs, and history has fiefs. The vassals in the fief were all arranged by the family themselves. The monarch doesn't care. (3) The family has its own armed forces. The armed forces of the doctor's family are composed of family members and ordinary people in fiefs, so they have great independence. When they listen to the doctor, Lu Jun can't give orders directly. This is very similar to the political situation in Western Europe in the Middle Ages that "my lieutenants are not my lieutenants". It is precisely because the armed forces of "home" are independent that the confrontation between "home" and "country" is possible.

From the relationship between the kingdom, the state of Hou and the doctor's family, we can see that the state of Zhou Dynasty has dual characteristics: on the one hand, it has the nature of national alliance; On the other hand, it has the color of aristocratic monarchy. The deep reason for this historical situation is clan politics, which is a blood country. Blood relationship (or religious ethics) is like a chain, which binds the order of the whole kingdom and the world. Ignoring the ethnic organizations at that time, it is difficult to deeply understand the particularity of the country at that time.

The special nature of.

Second, the head of state: the patriarch and the imam.

During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the consanguineous organizations and ethnic political organizations cooperated with each other, which made the leaders of ethnic organizations at all levels have special social status and political roles. They become not only the owners of secular power (patriarchs), but also the owners of religious power (imams). The so-called "imam" refers to the person in religious organizations who has the highest power to interpret beliefs and the highest power to decide on religious affairs. In Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the right to dominate religious affairs was prominently reflected in the rights of priests. Specifically, the monarch of the vassal state, as the leader of various religious organizations in Hou, is not only the representative of Hou Zu God, but also the vassal of the king, and is the dean in a relative sense. The status of monarchs at all levels is one and two: they are the rulers of secular society and the deciders of religious affairs. At that time, people called this social status "patriarch" or "monarch".

In order to show his special and supreme status, Shang Wang called himself "Yu Yi Ren" to show his uniqueness. What does "Yu Yi Ren" mean? We can understand it from two aspects.

First of all, the Shang king is considered as the representative of God on earth. In the "world" at that time, Shang Wang was regarded as the "only" god or the highest representative of the divine world in the world. He is a direct descendant of God and an angel of God. In Tang Shi, which was sung by later generations, Shang Tang attacked Xia Jie. He announced that he had been ordered to say, "Geer, people, listen to me." Xia Jie's cruelty is unreasonable, but the crux of the matter is that not anyone else can claim to be God's mission to crusade against Xia Jie. Only Shang Tang has this qualification: he has a heavenly constitution and a human mission. This is not only the boast of Shang Wang, but also widely recognized by the whole society. In the middle and late Shang Dynasty, for some reason, the Yin people moved their capital to Yin (now Anyang, Henan). In the process of moving the capital, the Yin people suffered all kinds of hardships. Pan Geng, King of Shang Dynasty, was severely criticized for this. In desperation, he told people, "God will restore my great-grandfather's virtue and turn my house upside down. I will be respectful to the people's lives. " "I want to remember Raul before God, and ... I want to worship sin and disease and say: Why mistreat our people! ..... I have always felt guilty for your illness and said: I can't compare with my little grandson! " "Continuity is providence" in Shangshu Pan Geng shows that Pan Geng is not only regarded as the messenger of God, but also the spokesman of the ancestor God and the embodiment of Heaven. Whether God punishes the king himself or tribal people, his imperial edict can only be conveyed through the king himself. According to the actual situation, there are tens of thousands of Oracle bones.

Second, the Shang king is the highest priest in the kingdom. Shang Wang is not only the messenger of God, but also the highest priest in the kingdom. According to some data, Shang Wang is not only the main body of divination activities, but also the main body of temple fair sacrifice activities. Look at the divination activities first. There are two situations in the Royal Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Yin Ruins. In one case, under normal circumstances, the officials in charge of divination routinely divined on behalf of Shang Wang. For example, "Yi Si Bu" ("Displacement 252") "Wu Wu Bu, ■ Zhen, the coffin cuts earthwork, is it?" (Part I 17.5) "Ren Chenbu, Zhen, ■, Communication and Disaster?" (Pre-edited 2.38.4) Although the divination activity here is presided over by Zhen people, it can be seen from Oracle Bone Inscriptions's content that the main body of divination is the king, not Zhen people. Another situation is that Wang directly presides over divination, that is, the so-called "harmony" and "Wang Buzhen". For example, "Wu Wu no, don't be a prince ■, ("Zhang Jin "4 15), Wang Buzhen, Tian rate, exchanges and disasters?" (Pre-edited 2.43.3) "Wu Shen, Wang Buzhen, Tian■, is there still this disaster?" (Pre-edited 2. 16. 1) Wang personally divines, which directly shows that it is the subject of divination. The handed down literature reflects this situation from another angle. When Pan Geng explained the reason for moving the capital in Shangshu Pan Geng, he said, "Buji said, is it like a stage? "The first king had a suit, but he abided by his fate." "I don't want to urge people, I don't want to waste my tricks, I want to hang their spirits. I dare not violate the divination and want to use the macro book. " This clearly tells us that divination in case of disaster follows the imperial edict, which is the system of Shang Dynasty. As a fortune teller and a master of chastity, Wang Shang was recognized as the real divination subject at that time. Therefore, the real owner of Shangshu is Shang Wang, and he is the only one. Similarly, when the rule of the Yin people was in crisis, people thought that the king's divination right or chastity master qualification was in crisis. Xibo Zhali, a senior minister, said, "Xibo was afraid of Li Zuyi, so he ran to the King and said,' Son of Heaven, Heaven has fulfilled my life. Of course, it is "unlucky". Let's look at the temple fair sacrificial activities. According to the literature, the ancestors worship activities of the Yin people in the ancestral hall are very frequent, and the host of the ancestor worship activities in the ancestral hall is the direct descendant of the owner of the ancestral hall. As far as the activities of ancestor worship are concerned, the host is a direct descendant of Tang. "Ode to Shang Na": "Drumming is simple, simple." General Tang Sun. "Ode to the Ancestors of Shang Zhou" also intones: "When you come on holiday, you will never tire of it, and your happiness will be endless. Grain Rain will taste it, and Tang Sun will be a general. " So Pan Geng, king of Shang Dynasty, said confidently, "I will give it to my predecessor, and my ancestors will follow and enjoy it." (Shangshu Pan Geng) refers to Bubu.

As can be seen from the previous discussion, the king has all the characteristics of an imam who dominates the religious life of the kingdom. His power and position are considered to be endowed by God, and every activity he engaged in is considered to be completed under the protection of God. The people obey the king because they must obey the will of God. On the other hand, the king is a realistic monarch and a secular ruler. While holding high the sacred banner, it exposes the tyrannical rule and the cruel suppression of the rebels all the time. Everyone has said a lot about this situation, needless to say. In a word, whether the kingship used religious power or religious power cultivated kingship, they always coexisted and complemented each other in Shang Dynasty.

The situation in the Zhou Dynasty was basically the same as that in the Shang Dynasty, and the King of Zhou still appeared as the highest monarch and imam in the world. Because the written materials of the Zhou Dynasty are richer than those of the Shang Dynasty, it can reflect the essence of the status of the Zhou King more comprehensively.

In the kingdom of Zhou people, God is the supreme master, and there are many natural gods and ancestor gods under it. Fear of God means fear of the sacred world. The angel of God is the angel of heaven. The messenger is charged with the mission of conveying God's will to the world. Zhou people called this religious mission "following the emperor" or "worshiping God". In Historical Records, it was announced to the adherents of Yin: "I have many scholars, but now I, King Zhou, will inherit the emperor." Shangshu Zhao Yu recorded Zhao Gong's attitude towards Yin people and people. ..... The king came to worship God and serve himself on the earth. "For a real king,' respecting God' is an extremely heavy religious responsibility and a sacred mission that no one else can replace." According to Jin Xuan in Shangshu, at the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, the king of Wu was dying, so historians prayed for the king of Thailand, Wang Ji and Wang Wen in heaven, saying, "Only (the king of Wu)."

The so-called "inheriting the emperor's affairs", "respecting God" and "matching heaven" mean that God rules the world. This representative position has been fully reflected in the statement that King Wen was appointed by Zhou people. Because of the "appointment", Zhou Wang replaced Shang Wang as the messenger of God. Shi Daming: "Wei Wangwen, be careful, show great power, and Huai Yu is blessed." Wen Fu is next. But it was God who put his life on King Wen. "Because of his" authorization ",Zhou Wang became the monarch of secular society." Book of History Zi Cai ":"The emperor paid for the Chinese people to cross the border to the former king. "The king's sovereignty over the land and over the people comes from God or heaven. It is because people think that the whole world is not the land of the emperor, not the minister of the emperor. Wang is regarded as the "plenipotentiary" of the emperor. Some chapters in the poem vividly describe Zhou Wang's position as the chief priest and diviner of the "Hundred Gods". You Sheng said, "If Wang Kao doesn't do it, whose turtle is the son of heaven and whose prince of Wu is the son of heaven." Two words "Wei". In Mao Chuan's view, the "gentleman" in the poem refers to becoming a king. The so-called "God Lord" means that the son of heaven or the king is the God Lord. Han Yun described a drought in the late Zhou Dynasty, and people lived in dire straits. Guibi is dead, and I'd rather not listen. ""I don't want to sacrifice myself, but I want to go to the palace from the suburbs; According to Mao Chuan, the master of this poem is Xuan Wang. From the point of view of poetry, Zhou Wang worships a group of gods all over the world, offering sacrifices to ancestors in the suburbs, and worships gods, Hou Ji, Xiuli and others. As the chief priest of this series of religious activities, Zhou Wang showed incisively and vividly in his poems. In the temple where Zhou people worship their ancestors. People praise: "There is Lu (reed) in nakata and melons in the border. It was enshrined by the ancestors of the emperor who peeled off reeds. His great-grandson lives a hundred years, God bless him. " ("Poetry New Nanshan") Great-grandson is the founder of Zhou Wang. He offered reeds and melons as sacrifices to the late king. In "Dabao", Zhou Gongdan said: "Wang Ning only used divination, so he decided to do so. "Only Wang Can used divination to represent the country, which can be mutually confirmed with the poems in Wang Wensheng. Zhou Gongdan went on to say, "Yes ... Leave me a turtle and Shao. "Zhou Gongdan used' big turtle' because he was the regent. Wang Yi died in Xinyi for the New Year. Wang Wenniu Yi Yi and Wang Wuniu Yi Yi. Wang Ming wrote a book to escape the book, but after telling Duke Zhou, Wang Bin killed Brother Xian. Wang entered the palace naked, wrote a book and fled. 1February. " The literature records that this kind of sacrificial activity has accurate time, place and sacrificial object.

The enfeoffment system in the Zhou Dynasty granted people territory and established different levels of political power (restricted the country). The emperor founded the country, the princes settled down, and the people and land they got were all given by God. Moreover, it is precisely because of the natural and sacred qualifications of princes and doctors that they can be influenced by the people and establish state organizations at different levels.

First of all, the vassal is the monarch and dean of the vassal state. A large number of data show that in every vassal state, the monarch of the vassal state, as a God-given ruler, has the absolute and only right to worship. As far as monarchical power and church power are concerned, church power is more profound than monarchical power, reflecting the essence of power at that time. No one else can divide or infringe on the monarch's right to worship. Let's take Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period as an example to illustrate.

(1) In autumn and July, he was buried in the Great Temple as a wife. (Spring and Autumn Annals has been published for eight years)

(2) He invaded Qi without knowing the truth, so he attacked me and asked my uncle and grandson to chase him, which was a lucky success. ("Zuo Zhuan" Wen Gong eleven years)

(3) September is ugly and the suburbs are used to it. (The Spring and Autumn Annals was published for seventeen years)

(4) In the summer, Chu, Lu, Wei, Cao, Zhu and other governors are not good. Cao and Zhu Yan were difficult, and they were offered as sacrifices. (Zuo Zhuan was published for four years)

(5) In February, I went and had something to do with Wu Palace. (The Spring and Autumn Annals was published for fifteen years)

You are related to the temple.

The monarch is in the music of sacrifice. ("Gu Liang" in the same year)

(6) Qi Huangong said: "Your kindness to your predecessors and the deceased will help you serve your monarch ..." (Zuo Zhuan is thirty-one).

(1)(3)(5) Although the Spring and Autumn Annals did not mention who was the subject of sacrificial activities, it was self-evident to people at that time, so it was called "Jun" in the biography; (2) According to Gong Bu, the main body of Bu is Lu Wengong; (4) It is recorded that "public words are offered at the time", and the main body of the sacrifice is Lu; (6) It goes without saying that Zhao Gong said that "feces should be removed from the ancestral home".

Secondly, the doctor is the monarch and priest in the fief. As the monarch in the most basic square in Zhou Dynasty, the doctor also has some characteristics of a priest. During the Spring and Autumn Period, "politics" and "worship" coexisted, and people used to call the existence of a doctoral regime "worship". In the Song Dynasty, the monarch crusaded against dogs and fled to the nest in fear. Song Jun sent someone to persuade him to stay in the nest. You can't always worship Lu Gong. "("Zuo Zhuan "mourned for four years) continued to put fireworks to the stone ancestral hall, which is to keep the stone regime. When Dr. Hua visited Lu, he said to Duke Wen of Lu, "Your former minister offended Duke Song and was famous for his vassal policy. How dare he humiliate you if I accept his sacrifice? "Here, inheriting the regime of the doctor is called' Chengji'. Wei Guo, wei ren crusaded against Ning Party, and Shi Xie fled to Jin State. " Wei ren set up his own nursery to keep the stone family's sacrifice (Zuo Zhuan, "xianggong" is 28 years old). In the state of Zheng, Zuo Zhuan recorded his son's property for sixteen years and said, "Kong Zhang! Stand in the dynasty and worship at home. " This paper makes the problem more clear, and points out that Kong Zhang is a dual role of "carrying on the family line" and "worshipping at home". Therefore, Yang Bojun's note: "Standing in the DPRK means that the DPRK has an official position and worships at home, that is, the home has an ancestral temple. "Although there are not many such examples in the literature, the facts are equally clear. The doctor is not only the monarch of "home".

To sum up, under the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty, the son of heaven was the absolute monarch and imam, and his will had the highest political authority. He has the sole right to interpret God's will and the highest arbitration right for religious activities. Princes and doctors are relative monarchs and imams. Their will has political authority in their respective fiefs and they have the right to sacrifice and arbitrate religious activities in their fiefs. Therefore, the emperors, vassals and doctors in the Zhou Dynasty are different from the administrative officials at all levels in the country after Qin and Han Dynasties, and also from the monk officials at all levels in religion after Qin and Han Dynasties. They are the leaders of the unity of politics and religion. Mr. Gu Jiegang has keenly noticed that "it is unknown whether the so-called Tang Yu world in ancient China is similar to Indian; Or the monarch belongs to the Brahmin class and takes power as a priest, which is also unknown. What we know today is that in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the monarch was either called the' emperor' or the' heavenly king', which shows that his status was higher than that of human beings and close to heaven. Although the Brahman caste in ancient India was noble and its religious power flourished, it was inevitably eclipsed by the emperors, governors and doctors in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in China: the latter not only had the divinity of sacred objects.

I hope it helps you.