There are two main reasons why the Zhou Dynasty was able to maintain its rule for nearly 800 years.
An important reason for the fall of the Shang Dynasty was to strengthen the royal power and weaken the clan nobles. In addition, it was the main army of the Shang Dynasty that was far away on the Dongyi front line that could not return in time. The sub-feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty made up for this deficiency very well.
The Zhou Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty were just the opposite, not to suppress the clan nobles, but to reuse them, to divide them into feuds, and the princes around Zhou Wangji were used to defend the royal family, and the remote princes were used to expand their territory and become the vanguard of resisting foreign invasion.
This pioneering system of the Zhou Dynasty is very timely. Because the Zhou Dynasty had just been established at that time, it was very unstable, on the one hand, the various princes who fought together against the Shang Dynasty back then, they were not directly ruled by the Zhou Dynasty, and they could rebel against the Zhou Dynasty at any time; On the other hand, the Shang Dynasty had just fallen, but the remaining strength of the Shang Dynasty was still there, and they could rise up at any time to "restore the country".
On the other hand, that is, outside the Central Plains Dynasty, Dongyi, Xirong, Beidi, and Nanban, these other forces with different cultures distributed around the Zhou Dynasty will encroach on the frontier of the Zhou Dynasty at any time. In the face of hostile forces in these remote areas, if you go on an expedition, you may be attacked from behind by some forces like the Shang Dynasty, when the transportation was not developed, and it was not easy to return to the division; If you don't line up to conquer them, they will keep eating away at you.
The sub-feudal system solves this problem very well, allowing the princes of the clan to go to the front line of the frontier to guard, so that the Zhou Dynasty does not have to shoot the expedition of the first army and labor division, and can also avoid the invasion of the enemy. For example, the Yan State was located on the frontier of the Zhou Dynasty at that time, guarding the northeast frontier for the Zhou royal family.
The princes near Zhou Wangji and the princes surnamed Ji scattered in the hinterland of the Central Plains played the role of monitoring other princes, and if there was a rebellion, they could put down the rebellion nearby, and they could prevent them from attacking the Zhou royal family directly.
After the Zhou Dynasty divided the princes, it formulated detailed and complicated Zhou rites to restrain the princes and form a sense of identity of the Zhou Dynasty.
For example, the propaganda "Under the whole world, it is not the king's land." The shore of the land, it is not the king's ministers", that is, let the princes always remember that the land in the world is the land of the king of Zhou, and the land under management is the courtiers of the king of Zhou.
The various hierarchies stipulated by the Zhou rites formulated a pyramidal hierarchy of the Son of Heaven, the princes, the princes, the ministers, the commoners, and the slaves, so that the vassal states and people at all levels could form a centripetal force and cohesion towards the Zhou Tianzi.
Therefore, the Zhou Dynasty can last for nearly 800 years, which has a lot to do with the system he formulated at the beginning of its establishment.
What do you think about this?