1. The following studies are representative: Moruo, Guo 郭沫若, “Zhou guan zhiyi” 周官質疑, in Jinwen congkao 金文叢考 (Tokyo: Bunkyūdō, 1932), 80–87Google Scholar; Weizhi, Si 斯維之, “Xi-Zhou jinwen suojian guanming kao” 西周金文所見官名考, Zhongguo wenhua yanjiu huikan 中國文化研究彙刊 7 (1947), 1–25Google Scholar; Yachu, Zhang 張亞初 and Yu, Liu 劉雨, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi yanjiu 西周金文官制研究 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1986)Google Scholar; Hanping, Chen 陳漢平, Xi-Zhou ceming zhidu yanjiu 西周冊命制度研究 (Beijing: Xuelin, 1986), 131–219Google Scholar (chapt. 4, “Ceming gaoming yu Xi-Zhou guanzhi” 冊命誥命與西周官制).

2. Creel, Herrlee, The Origins of Statecraft in China, vol. 1, The Western Chou Empire (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971), 123–29Google Scholar. On bureaucractic government, see Weber, Max, “Bureaucracy,” in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, trans. and ed. Gerth, H. H. and Mills, C. Wright (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946), 197Google Scholar.

3. Hsu, Cho-yun, “Some Working Notes on the Western Chou Government,” Zhongyang yanjiuyuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 36 (1966), 523–24Google Scholar; the same point was made again in Hsu, Cho-yun and Linduff, Katheryn, Western Chou Civilization (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988), 255CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Hsu's argument is based on his analysis of the inscription of the Cai gui 蔡簋. I demonstrate later in this article that the role of the Steward was basically confined within the sphere of administration of the royal household.

4. Kamenka, Eugene, Bureaucracy (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989), 157Google Scholar. Max Weber did not define the term bureaucracy but characterized the “ideal” or “pure” type of bureaucracy that was most closely approximated by modern governments with certain features. Weber also allowed the possibility of other types of bureaucracy, for instance, “patrimonial bureaucracy,” a term that he used to refer to the bureaucracies in China from the Qin unification to the nineteenth century. See Weber, , “Bureaucracy,” 196–98, 205, 243Google Scholar; Albrow, Martin, Bureaucracy (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970), 40–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5. After the Qin dynasty, the word gong literally means “imperial palace.” However, in the language of bronze inscriptions, as will be shown below, gong means “hall” or “building.”

6. Youzhe 右者 designates the person who introduces the appointees or awardees to the king in appointment ceremonies. Since he customarily guides the appointees entering the main gate of the court and stands to the right of the appointees during the ceremonies, he is conventionally called youzhe by scholars. The role of the youzhe and his relationship to the appointees is examined below, pp. 31–39.

7. Representative of this view are Moruo, Guo 郭沫若, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi tulu kaoshi 兩周金文辭大系圖錄考釋 (Tokyo: Bunkyūdō, 1935), 7Google Scholar; Mengjia, Chen 陳夢家, “Xi-Zhou tongqi duandai” 西周銅器斷代, pt.2, Kaogu xuebao 考古學報 10 (1955), 87–91Google Scholar.

8. Lan, Tang 唐蘭, “Xi-Zhou jinwen duandai zhong de Kang Gong wenti” 西周金文 斷代中的康宮問題, Kaogu xuebao 1962.1, 15–48 (esp. 31–32)Google Scholar. Tang expressed this view in an earlier article, “Zuoce Ling zun ji Zuoce Ling yi ming kaoshi” 作冊令尊及作冊 令彝銘考釋, Guoli Beijing daxue guoxue jikan 國立北京大學國學集刊 4.1 (1934), 22–25. For the Kang Gong debate, see also, Shaughnessy, Edward L., Sources of Western Zhou History: Inscribed Bronze Vessels (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 199–201Google Scholar; Vandermeersch, Leon, Wangdao ou la Voie Royale, vol.1 (Paris: École Française d'Extrême-Orient, 1977), 74–118Google Scholar.

9. Shi Zifu Gong 師汓父宮 appears in the inscription of the Mu gui 牧簋, discovered during the Northern Song dynasty. In a recent article, I suggest that the Shi Zifu Gong 師汓父宮 is probably a miscopy of Shi Tangfu Gong 師湯父宮 by the Song scholars who transcribed the inscription. See Li Feng, “Textual Criticism and Western Zhou Bronze Inscriptions: The Example of the Mu Gui,” forthcoming.

10. Shirakawa Shizuka interpreted most of these gong as temples of officials; see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 14.37:818, 19.104:364, 20.109:402, 22.124:11. In an important recent index to inscriptional names, Wu Zhenfeng 吳鎮烽 also followed the convention in identifying these gong as temples; see Zhenfeng, Wu, Jinwen renming suoyin 金文人 名索引 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1987), 73, 195, 196Google Scholar.

11. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 5426; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 16.80:69–77.

12. Awards by the Zhou queen to noble ladies are documented in three other inscriptions, the Shang zun 商尊, Shang you 商卣, and Yin Ji ding 尹姞鼎. According to the Yin Ji ding, Mu Gong's 穆公 wife was rewarded by the queen. According to the Shang zun and Shang you, Geng Ji 庚姬, a lady of the famous Scribe Wei 微 family was rewarded by the queen. By contrast, Geng Ying's direct access to the Zhou king who personally visited her gong, seems to suggest her personal relationship with the king. For the three inscriptions mentioned, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.50:370, ho.50:369, 14.72:794.

13. The shape and ornamentation of the Geng Ying you certainly suggest a King Zhao 昭 or King Mu 穆 dating. In the Geng Ying ding 庚贏鼎, another inscription cast by the same Geng Ying, the year notation is “twenty-second year.” Since most scholars agree that King Zhao's reign lasted less than twenty-one years (many believe that he died on the southern campaign in his nineteenth year), a King Mu dating seems more reasonable. The Geng Ying ding mentions that she was praised and rewarded by the Zhou King in another building, the X Gong □宮 (the word preceding gong is untranslatable); Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 16.80:79–81.

14. See Shuda, Yang, Jiweiju jinwen shuo 積微居金文說 (supplemented ed.; Beijing: Zhonghua, 1997), 194Google Scholar.

15. Shirakawa, , “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 16.80:70–72Google Scholar. The term wang ge 王格 appears in almost every appointment inscriptions, and it is clearly not restricted to sacred places.

16. For the three inscriptions, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, nos. 9451, 9893, 2706; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 11.60:618, 11.60:626, 11.60:624. Most scholars would date these inscriptions to the reign of King Kang 康. See Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 42–43Google Scholar; Shirakawa, , “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 11.60: 645–46Google Scholar.

17. For the Mai fangzun, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 11.60:629.

18. The word gong is written in the inscriptions as 寳. Xingwu, Yu 于省吾, Shuangjian chi jijin wenxuan 雙劍誃吉金文選 (Beijing, 1933)Google Scholar, 2.3.14, translated it as gong 宮. Shuda, Yang 楊樹達, Jiweiju xiaoxue shulin 積微居小學述林 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1983), 302Google Scholar, pointed out that the component gong 宮 is the pictograph of a building and the component jiu 九 marks its sound. Fagao, Zhou 周法高, Jinwen gulin 金文詁林 (Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 1975), 4686–4691Google Scholar, carefully studied the character gong 寳 and concluded that undoubtedly it should be read as gong 宮.

19. Shuda, Yang, Jiweiju jiwen shuo, 135Google Scholar, reads guo 宯 as guo 過 “to go over”; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 11.60:621, reads it as zan 瓚, a kind of jade spoon used in the guan 裸 ritual.

20. I like to note my thanks to Professor Ken-ichi Takashima who suggested to me this explanation in a private conversation.

21. Received sources also attest to gong that are named for a living individual: Guoyu 國語 (Shanghai: Guji, 1988), 14Google Scholar (“Zhouyu” 周語), refers to the place where Shao Gong 召公 lived as Shao Gong zhi Gong 召公之宮; Zuozhuan 左傳 (Shisanjing zhushu 十三 經注疏 ed. [Beijing: Zhonghua, 1980])Google Scholar, 1824 (Xi 28), refers to the residence of the Cao 曹 minister Xi Fu Ji 僖負羈 as Xi Fu Ji zhi Gong 僖負羈之宮. The auxiliary zhi 之 never appears in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions and is not a feature of Western Zhou language.

22. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4284; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 21.120:508.

23. I follow the reading of He Hannan 何漢南 in Shaanxi sheng wenwu guanli weiyuanhui, “Shaanxi sheng Yongshou xian Wugong xian chutu Xi-Zhou tongqi” 陝 西省永壽縣武功縣出土西周銅器, Wenwu 文物 1964.7, 24. This reading is rejected by Shirakawa (“Kinbun tsūshaku,” 21.120: 511–13), who read it as Sima Gong of Zhoushi 周師 (personal name); and by Michiharu, Itō 伊藤道治, Chūgoku kodai kokka no shihai kōzo 中國古代國家の支配構造 (Tokyo: Chūō kōronsha, 1987), 253Google Scholar, who read it as Sima Gong in Zhoushi (military garrison in Zhou). These later readings were proved wrong by the publication of the Yang gui 養簋, which clearly says: 王才師)馬宮. In fact, Zhoushi 周師 never appears as a place-name in Western Zhou inscriptions, but in one case, the Shougong pan 守宮盤, as a personal name. By contrast, 王才周 appears in dozens of inscriptions, e.g. in the context of 王才周, 康宮; in the Mu gui 牧簋, it is said: 王才 周，才師汓父宮. Undoubtedly, the character shi 師 in the context 王才X 師 Y 宮 must be read together with what follows it, not what precedes it. This is a very important point in my future discussions. For the Yang gui, see “Tianjin shi faxian Xi-Zhou Yang gui gai” 天津市發現西周羖簋蓋, Wenwu 1979.2, 94; for the Shougong pan and Mu gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 21.119:495, 19.104:360.

24. See pp. 15–27.

25. For the Shi Kuifu ding and Zou gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 21.121: 515, 21.122:520.

26. For the Yang gui, see “Tianjin shi faxian Xi-Zhou Yang gui gai,” 94.

27. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4259.

28. This inscription is also interesting in that the king was the announcer of the command, a role that was usually performed by the Scribes or the Document Makers.

29. See Lan, Tang, “Kang Gong wenti,” 22Google Scholar.

30. For the Jing gui, Jing you, Xian Fei gui, and Thirteenth Year Xing hu, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 17.87:162, 17.87:153, 17.88:167, ho.50:385. Both Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 66Google Scholar, and Chengyuan, Ma 馬承源, Shang Zhou qingtongqi mingwen xuan 商周青銅器銘文選 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1986–1988)Google Scholar, 3.122–23, date the Jing 競 bronzes to the reign of King Mu.

31. For the Shi Hai gui, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4116. For the Hu ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 23.135:113.

32. For the Nanji ding and Jian zun, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, nos. 2781, 6008; for the Shi Chen ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 22.125:18.

33. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 2803; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 14.73:811. The term “Zhai Gong” 溓宮 was transcribed as Kang Gong 康宮 in some old works, for instance, Rongguang, Wu 吳榮光, Junqingguan jinshi wenzi 筠清館金石文字 (woodblock, ed.; Guilin, 1842), 4.1–3Google Scholar; and Shifen, Wu 吳式棻, Jungu lu 捃古錄 (woodblock, ed.; Haifeng: 1850), 3.11Google Scholar. Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 30Google Scholar, transcribed it as 溓宮 which, judging from the extant rubbings, is undoubtedly correct. The traditional reading of 溓宮 is Qian Gong. Xueqin, Li 李學勤, “Shi Guodian jian Zhai Gong zhi guming” 釋郭店簡祭公之顧命, Wenwu 1998.7, 44–45Google Scholar, has recently demonstrated that 溓 is the archaic form of zhai 祭; therefore, it should be read as Zhai Gong.

34. Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 30Google Scholar.

35. Two other figures, Zhai Gong 溓公 and Zhai Ji 溓季, are mentioned in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. Since these people were all active during the early Western Zhou, it is likely that they were from the same lineage as Zhai Zhong. Shirakawa Shizuka, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 14.73:818, suggested that the Zhai Gong was the lineage temple of Zhai. However, given the specific context of the Spring Plowing Ritual in the Ling ding, it is difficult to explain why the king had to run into, and to promulgate the command in the Zhai lineage's temple.

36. Hanzhang, Wang 王翰章 et al., “Hu gui gai ming jianshi” 虎簋蓋銘簡釋, Kaogu yu wenwu 考古與文物 1997.3, 78–80Google Scholar. For the Dou Bi gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 20.109:400.

37. See below, pp. 52–53.

38. Such separation was considered by Weber as necessary to define his “ideal bureaucracy.” See Weber, “Bureaucracy,” 197.

39. For these buildings, see Chih, Li, Anyang (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977), 188–89Google Scholar; Chang, Kwang-chih, Shang Civilization (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980), 92–95Google Scholar; kaogudui, Shaanxi Zhouyuan, “Shaanxi Qishan Fengchu Xi-Zhou jianzhu jizhi fajue jianbo” 陝西岐山鳳雛西周建築基址發掘簡報, Wenwu 1979.10, 27–34Google Scholar.

40. Lloyd, Seton, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia (London: Thames and Hudson, 1978), 75–77, 119–21Google Scholar; Tobler, Arthur J., Excavations at Tepe Gawra, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1950), 47, fig. 20Google Scholar. Even in these temples, administrative activities were also evident. See Rothman, Mitchell, “Centralization, Administration, and Function at Fourth Millennium B.C. Tepe Gawra, Northern Iraq” (Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1988), 602, 614–21Google Scholar.

41. Zhouli 周禮 (Shisanjing zhushu ed.), 863.

42. For the excavations at the capitals Feng and Hao, see Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo, Xin Zhongguo de kaogu faxian he yanjiu 新中國的考古發現和研究 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1984), 253–57Google Scholar.

43. Quanfang, Chen 陳全方, Zhouyuan yu Zhou wenhua 周原與周文化 (Shanghai: Renmin, 1988), 21–36Google Scholar.

44. Liancheng, Lu 盧連成, “Zhou du Yu Zheng kao” 周都棫鄭考, in Kaogu yu wenwu congkan 2: Guwenzi lunji 考古與文物叢刊 2: 古文字論集 (Xi'an: Shaanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo, 1983), 10Google Scholar; Hui, Wang 王恢, “Zhou jinei diming xiaoji” 周畿內地名小記, Kaogu yu wenwu 考古與文物 1985.3, 26–27Google Scholar. For a discussion of the Zheng-related inscriptions, see also Yoshinori, Matsui 松井嘉德, “Sei-Shū ki Tei no kōsatsu” 西周期鄭 (奠) の考察, Shirin 史林 69.4 (1986), 3–5Google Scholar.

45. For the location and importance of Bi, see Lu Liancheng 盧連成, “Xi-Zhou Feng Hao liangjing kao” 西周豐鎬兩京考 (Paper presented in the conference for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Banpo Museum, 1988), 43–48.

46. For the location of Zhou, see also Xueqin, Li 李學勤, “Qingtongqi yu Zhouyuan yizhi” 青銅器與周原遺址, in Xinchu qingtongqi yanjiu 新出青銅器研究 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1990), 229Google Scholar.

47. The location of the capital Pang has been debated for a long time. The inscription on the newly discovered Wu Hu ding 吳虎鼎 suggests that it was located to the northwest of Bi 畢, pointing to a location very close to the capital Hao. See Xiaojun, Mu 穆曉軍, “Shaanxi Chang'an xian chutu Xi-Zhou Wu Hu ding” 陝西長安縣出土西周吳虎鼎, Kaogu yu wenwu 1998.3, 69–71Google Scholar.

48. See Akira, Musha 武者章, “Sei-Shū satsumei kinbun bunrui no kokoromi” 西周冊命金文分類の試み, Tōyō bunka 東洋文化 59 (1979), 49–132Google Scholar, for a multi-faceted survey of ninety-one appointment inscriptions. Michimasa, Yoshimoto 吉本道雅, “Sei-Shū satsumei kinbun kō” 西周冊命金文考, Shirin 史林 74.5 (1991), 38–66Google Scholar, relies solely on the occurrence of the term ceming 冊命, and reduces the number of appointment inscriptions to forty.

49. Shaughnessy, Edward L., “Western Zhou History,” in The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 B.C., ed. Loewe, Michael and Shaughnessy, Edward L. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 322–31Google Scholar. This change has also been called the “Ritual Revolution”; see Rawson, Jessica, “Western Zhou Archaeology,” in The Cambridge History of Ancient China, ed. Loewe, and Shaughnessy, , 433–40Google Scholar.

50. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4277; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 22.124:9.

51. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 2817; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 22.125:18.

52. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4462; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.50:380.

53. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4285; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 22.127:55.

54. Xizhang, Luo 羅西章, “Zai Shou gui ming luekao” 宰獸簋銘略考, Wenwu 1998.8, 83–87Google Scholar.

55. The Shi Yu gui and Shi Chen ding inscriptions were first recorded in Shifen, Wu 吳式棻, Jungu lu jinwen 捃古錄金文 (woodblock, ed., 1895Google Scholar; composed around 1850), 3.2.21–22. The Jian gui first appeared in Fang, Duan 端方, Tao zhai jijin lu 陶齋吉金錄 (woodblock, ed., 1908), 10–11Google Scholar. For the excavation of the Xing xu, see kaogudui, Shaanxi Zhouyuan, “Shaanxi Fufeng Zhuangbai yihao Xi-Zhou qingtongqi jiaocang fajue jianbao” 陝西省扶風莊白一號西周青銅器窖藏發掘簡報, Wenwu 1978.3, 1–24, 42Google Scholar. For the discovery of the Zai Shou gui, see Xizhang, Luo, “Zai Shou gui ming luekao,” 83Google Scholar.

56. The chronological position of Xing 寞 in the Wei 微 Family genealogy would date the Xing xu sometime around King Xiao 孝. See Xueqin, Li 李學勤, “Xi-Zhou zhongqi qingtongqi de zhongyao biaochi” 西周中期青銅器的重要標尺, in Xinchu qingtongqi yanjiu, 85, 90–93Google Scholar. The Shi Chen ding suggests that Shi Chen was contemporary with Shi Su 師俗, who can be identified with Shi Sufu 師俗父 in the Yong yu 永盂 and Bo Sufu 伯俗父 in the Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding 五年裘衛鼎 (the dating of the two bronzes to the Gong-Yih 恭懿 period is generally agreed). In addition, the Yang gui 楊簋 suggests that the Interior Scribe Nian who appears in inscriptions of the Xing xu and Jian gui was contemporary with Shan Bo 單伯, who also appears in the Qiu Wei he 裘衛盉. The Zai Shou gui mentions Rong Bo 榮伯 who is also mentioned by the Yong yu and Qiu Wei he. In short, there can be no doubt that these inscriptions were cast during the mid-Western Zhou, roughly in the time of King Yih or King Xiao. However, some other views should be mentioned. Shirakawa Shizuka (“Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.50.380) notes that the date of Xing xu does not match the calendar reconstructed based on the Shi Yu gui, Shi Chen ding, and the Jian gui, which he dates to the reign of King Yih; Nivison, David, “The Dates of Western Zhou,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 43 (1983), 493–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar, dates the Shi Yu gui, Shi Chen ding, and Jian gui to the reign of King Li but Xing xu to the reign of King Yi; Shaughnessy, Edward, Sources of Western Zhou History, 284–85Google Scholar, dates the Shi Chen ding to the reign of King Xiao and Xing xu to the reign of King Yi. For the inscriptions of the Yong yu, Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding, Yang gui, and Qiu Wei he 裘衛盉, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.3:191, ho.11:262, 23.131:81, ho.11:256.

57. The meaning of the word 壾 is still being debated. Guo Moruo, “Li qi ming kaoshi” 盝器銘考釋, Kaogu xuebao 1957.2, 6, first read it as ji 藉, but later on read it as she 攝; Shirakawa Shizuka, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 19.101:318, reads it as bing 併, meaning “to hold secondary responsibility”; Kuang, Wu 吳匡 and Zhemao, Cai 蔡哲茂, “Shi X” 釋壾, Gugong xueshu jikan 故宮學術集刊 11.3 (1994), 77–95Google Scholar, suggest that the character should still be read as she 攝, meaning “to be in charge of.”

58. According to Ranwei, Huang 黃然偉, Yin Zhou qingtongqi shangci mingwen yanjiu 殷周青銅器賞賜銘文研究 (Hong Kong: Lung Men, 1978), 160Google Scholar, and Kane, Virginia, “Aspects of Western Chou Appointment Inscriptions: The Charge, the Gift, and the Response,” Early China 8 (1983), 14–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar, these were insignia or accoutrements rather than ordinary gifts.

59. The character is clearly identified with the character zhou 琱 appearing in the inscriptions of the Fifth Year Shi Shi gui 五年師事簋, Yuan pan 奏盤, and the Zhou Sheng li 琱生鬲 as and appearing in the inscriptions of the Zhou Sheng gui 琱生簋 (or Shao Bo Hu gui 召伯虎簋) and Zhou Fafu gui 琱伐父簋 as 瑟. There is no problem in reading the character zhou 琱 as zhou 周. The character zhou with the ren 人 signifier is perhaps used especially to refer to the people of Zhou 周. According to Xueqin, Li, “Qingtongqi yu Zhouyuan yizhi,” 229–31Google Scholar, Zhou 琱 referred to the old capital Qi 歧, and was used by the descendants of the Duke of Zhou as their lineage name. The character is a variant of ren 人, and was written in an opposite way. In the same inscription, the ren part of the character xiu 休 is written, quite similar to this form. In the Ji gui 即簋, Ji 即 was given the mission of 楟琱宮人 “supervising the people in the palace in Zhou”; this also supports my reading of 楖楴人 in the Shi Yu gui. For the Fifth Year Shi Shi gui and Yuan pan, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 25.140:229, 29.177:590; for the Zhou Sheng li, Zhou Sheng gui, Zhou Fafu gui, Ji gui, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, nos. 744, 4292, 4048, 4250.

60. The term shi 師 “marshal” preceding the name Yu has not been adequately understood in previous studies, which treat shi as an official title. As I show below, many officials with civil administrative missions were still carrying the name shi. Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 4–6, suggest from a synthesis of bronze inscriptions that the shi's duties included military, civil, and educational functions, covering almost all aspects of the Zhou government. In my judgment, there is a basic error in the attempts to explain shi as an official title. Rather than indicating a fixed government post, I would argue that the use of shi indicated one's earlier experience in military service. In a society such as the Western Zhou, it must have been common for men to serve in their youth as warriors and then to transfer into the civil service. Such was the case of Shi Yu. Shi Yu's earlier career was recorded by two other inscriptions, the Shi Yu zun 師艅尊 and Shi Yu ding 師艅鼎, saying that he accompanied the king in visiting Shang Hou 上侯. According to the Qi zun 啟尊 and Qi you 啟卣, two inscriptions cast by another individual following the king in the same visit, the event happened during a southern military expedition against Ceshangu 楴山谷, the “bandits” of the southern mountain. This seems to suggest the Shi Yu was previously a military man. This is a part of the problem of recruitment and promotion of the Western Zhou government, which I have discussed in Li Feng, “Succession and Promotion: Elite Mobility during the Western Zhou,” forthcoming. For the Shi Yu zun and Shi Yu ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 22.124:14, 22.124:15; for the Qi zun, and Qi you, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, nos. 5983, 5410.

61. Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 115Google Scholar; Yachu, Zhang and Yu, Liu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 52–53Google Scholar. The character yi 邑 is corrupted, but based on the remaining part, it should be read as yi 邑. See Yu Xingwu, Shangjian chi jijin wenxuan, 2.15.

62. Chen Mengjia 陳夢家, “Xi-Zhou tongqi duandai,” pt. 6, Kaogu xuebao 1956.4, 117. I have learned from the Shigaku zasshi 史學雜誌 summary translated in Early China 20, that Matsumato Yoshinori 松本嘉德 has an article entitled “Yūjin kō” 邑人考, holding similar view, which I have not yet seen. See Atsushi, Suzuki 鈴木敦 and Shin'ichirō, Watanabe 渡邊信一郎, “Shigaku Zasshi Summary of Japanese Scholarship for 1993,” trans. Giele, Enno, Early China 20 (1995), 454CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

63. Lan, Tang, “Yong yu mingwen jieshi” 永盂銘文解釋, Wenwu 1972.1, 53–62Google Scholar.

64. Zhouli, 882.

65. In the inscription of the Bo Chen ding 伯晨鼎, Bo Chen was commanded by the Zhou king to be the Lord of Huan. Many believe that Bo Chen and Shi Chen were the same person. See Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 22.128:29–31.

66. For the Scribe Wei family bronzes and Xing's position in the family's genealogy, see kaogudui, Shaanxi Zhouyuan, “Shaanxi Fufeng Zhuangbai yihao,” 1–24, 42Google Scholar; Shengping, Yin 尹盛平, Xi-Zhou Wei shi jiazu qingtongqi qun yanjiu 西周微氏家族青銅器群研究 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1992), 1–93Google Scholar; Xueqin, Li, “Xi-Zhou zhongqi,” 84–87Google Scholar; Shaughnessy, , Sources of Western Zhou History, 84, 114–15Google Scholar.

67. See Shijing 詩經 (Shisanjing zhushu ed.), 525.

68. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4283; See Shirakawa, , “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 21.120:508Google Scholar.

69. “Tianjin shi faxian Xi-Zhou Yang gui gai,” 94. The name of the vessel given in the report is Yang gui 羖簋. My reading of the name of the caster is based on the archaic form of yang 養 as, as given in the Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1963), 107Google Scholar.

70. The occurrence of Jing Bo in the Shi Yun gui and Yang gui would date them slightly earlier than the preceding five inscriptions, to the reign of King Mu or King Gong. See Shaughnessy, , Sources of Western Zhou History, 118–20Google Scholar.

71. Michiharu, Itō 伊藤道治, Chūgoku kodai ōchō no keisei 中國古代王朝の形成 (Tokyo: Sōbunsha, 1975), 331Google Scholar; Itō, , Chūgoku kodai kokka, 253Google Scholar.

72. Scholars have been confused in the past by the various ways by which officials were referred to in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. A full designation of an official's “name” is composed of three elements: 1) place-name (P), usually combined with the character ren 人; 2) official title (T); and 3) personal name (N). The first type is T/P/N, e.g. 工邑人服 (Wei he); 土邑人,馬人邦 (Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding); 師氏邑人奎父, (師氏) 畢人師同 (Yong yu). There are good reasons to believe that these people were the officials of the court, and in their combined “names,” the official title stands more prominent than the place-name that represents their native towns. This phenomenon is also evident at a lower level of the Zhou bureaucracy. For example, officials of Bangjun Li's 邦君厲 small “court” are referred to as 有季, (有) 荊人敢, (有) 井人偈屖; it is clear that .季, 敢, and 偈屖 were natives of (申), 荊, and 井. The second type is P/T/N, e.g.鄭嗣徒西父, 周人嗣工眉 (Yong yu), 豆人虞, 原人虞, 隹人有嗣井, (工隹人有嗣)丂 (San Shi pan 散氏盤). Itō suggested that the place-names 豆, 原, and represent small areas where these people resided. Indeed, these places appear earlier in the inscription of the San Shi pan as regions along the new border between the states of San 散 and Ze 矢. This indicates that they were local officials of these bordering regions; that is, 原人虞蒼 means 蒼 who was the “supervisor of forests” (yu 虞) at 原. In short, in the type T/P/N, the place-name represents one's native town, but in the type P/T/N, the place-name represents the administrative unit to which an official belonged. For Itō's analysis of the place-names in the San Shi pan, see Itō, , Chūgoku kodai ōchō, 188Google Scholar. For the Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding, Yong yu, and San Shi pan, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.3:262, ho.3:256, 24.139:191.

73. For the Ling ding, First Year Shi Shi gui, and Dong gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 14.73:811, 25.140:229, ho.12:303.

74. Hsu, and Linduff, , Western Chou Civilization, 247Google Scholar.

75. “Tianjin shi faxian Xi-Zhou Yang gui gai,” 94. The character shou 守 is written, with an extra dot on the Shou Gong niaozun 守宮鳥尊, and is written on the Ceshou Fu yi gu 冊守父乙觚 as, whose reading as shou 守 is ensured by the term shouce 守冊 written as on the Shouce Fuji jue 守冊父己爵. In addition, 寸 is written straight up as on the Shu Zhong gui 尌仲簋. For the four inscriptions mentioned, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, nos. 5959, 7224, 8935, 4124. The calligraphy of the Yang gui inscription is inferior, and such variation is understandable. Grammatically, the second character should be read as the subject (usually the name of the caster) of the next sentence, but such a reading should be rejected in this case because the character is too different from Yang, the name of the caster. Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 22, read the first character as shou 守 and the second character as yan 堰. They also think that Yang's duty was of a military character.

76. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 31.128: 705.

77. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.3:191.

78. Yachu, Zhang and Yu, Liu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 50Google Scholar. For the Ling fangyi, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 6.25:276.

79. Itō, , Chūgoku kodai kokka, 163–69Google Scholar. For the Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.3:262.

80. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 20.119:400.

81. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 23.131:81.

82. Lingui, Hu 呼林貴 and Dongxing, Xue 薛東星, “Yaoxian Dingjiagou chutu Xi-Zhou jiaocang qingtongqi” 耀縣丁家溝出土西周窖藏青銅器, Kaogu yu wenwu 1986.4, 4–5Google Scholar.

83. Yang Kuan, “Xi-Zhou wangchao gong qing de guanjue zhidu” 西周王朝公卿的官爵制度, in Xi-Zhou shi yanjiu 西周史研究 (Renwen zazhi congkan 人文雜誌叢刊, no. 2; Xi'an: 1984), 100–113.

84. Zhongwen, Wang 汪中文, Liang Zhou guanzhi lungao 兩周官制論稿 (Gaoxiong: Fuwen, 1993), 46–48, 58–62Google Scholar. Treating shi as a specific official title, Wang finds that shi was accompanied in the appointment ceremonies by youzhe who had various government roles. For the misunderstanding of shi, see also n. 60 above.

85. Creel, , The Origins of Statecraft, 420Google Scholar.

86. Lewis, Mark, “Ritual Origins of Warring States,” Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient 84 (1997), 95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

87. Whether or not the Western Zhou government still exhibited the mode of government described by Lewis is open to question. First, it would be a mistake to regard the Western Zhou government as a homogeneous solidarity of the Ji 姬 clan based on “kin order.” From the very beginning, the Zhou government comprised officials of diverse origins, many of whom served in high positions throughout the Western Zhou. Second, marriage relationships, which played a prominent role in the political life of the Western Zhou, could easily alter the existing balance of power, even if it were derived from ancestral cults. Third, such government was essentially static and predetermined, precluding the possibility of promotion and mobility. However, although heredity was an important channel to government service, promotion and transference were practiced by the Western Zhou government. I have discussed the recruitment process and promotion in the Western Zhou government in “Succession and Promotion.”

88. Even though we cannot determine the government role of the youzhe, in some of the cases in Table 2, the relation between two officials accompanied by the same youzhe is still suggestive. In his analysis of appointment inscriptions, Yoshimoto has made an important observation that an official's government duty must be distinguished from his official title. See Yoshimoto, “Sei-Shū satsumei,” 62. For the purpose of discovering the workings of the Zhou bureaucracy, examining an official's administrative duty is of primary importance.

89. Yachu, Zhang and Yu, Liu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 40–42Google Scholar.

90. Yipu also appears in the Jing gui 靜簋, listed after xiaozi 小子, fu 服, and xiaochen 小臣 to be taught archery by Jing. These people were the king's attendants; yipu were servants of foreign origin. For the Hai gui, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4258; for the Jing gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 16.84:123.

91. Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 75Google Scholar, suggested that bai was the king's flag used during military campaigns and shujin should be read as sujin 素錦, referring to a kind of silk. This interpretation is followed by most scholars. For the Wu fangyi, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 19.105:370.

92. For the Wang gui, Cai gui, and Song ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 22.129:69, 23.131:81, 24.137:165.

93. Guo Moruo first read xiaofu as shaofu 少傅, the minor teacher of the princes, and zhonggu as another official title. After the discovery of Fu Shi Li gui 輔師釐簋 in 1957, Guo changed his opinion and read fu as bo 鎛, interpreting xiaofu as boshi 鎛師, player of vertically-hanging-bells, and zhonggu as player of obliquely-hanging-bells and drums. This new interpretation has won wide support among scholars. See Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 149Google Scholar; Guo Moruo, “Fu Shi Li gui kaoshi” 輔師釐簋考釋, Kaogu xuebao 1958.2, 1. See also Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 31.189: 772; Chengyuan, Ma 馬承源, Shang Zhou qingtongqi mingwen xuan, 265Google Scholar.

94. For the Chu gui, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4249; for the Xing xu and Yuan pan, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.50:380, 29.177:590.

95. Situ 土 used to be considered as the archaic form of situ 徒. Michiharu, Itō, Chūgoku kodai kokka, 217Google Scholar, suggested that the change from situ 土 to situ 徒 reflects the important change from the state's control of people through controlling land to the control of land through controlling people.

96. As mentioned above, Shi Sufu (Bo Sufu) was for a time the court representative of civil administration of the major cities, and Shi Chen was commanded to assist him. For the Nanji ding, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 2781.

97. The term fang'an has not been deciphered. Character fang 榁 should be correctly transcribed as fang 汸, most likely the name of a river. Shuowen jiezi, 249, defines an 闇 as “to close a gate” (閉門也). Thus, an could have referred to a floodgate or other mechanism on the Fang river. For the Shi Ying gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 26.152:344.

98. For the Yin gui, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 4294; for the Yang gui and Ci ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 23.131:81, ho.11:281.

99. The meaning of xiansi is not clear, but it is certainly the name of a storage (眝). Itō, , Chūgoku kodai kokka, 377Google Scholar, reads yin 飲 as a place-name, and suggests that yinxianren were people contributed to the court by Yin. However, given Ke's role as food provider, it seems more acceptable to read yin in its original meaning as “drink,” and yinxianren as people who provided special kinds of drinks for the xiansi. For the Shanfu Shan ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 26.154:357.

100. For the Tong gui and Shi Xun gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 26.150: 326, 31.183:710.

101. The Jing lineage in the royal domain in Shaanxi, written in the inscriptions as, with a dot in the center, is not to be confused with the state of Xing (Hebei province), written in the inscriptions as 幷, without a dot in the center. For the dinstinction between the two names, see Chen Mengjia, “Xi-Zhou tongqi duandai,” pt. 6, 107. A late bronze cast by one of Duke Mu's descendants, the Yu ding 禹鼎, comments on Duke Mu's career as “having assisted the previous king in pacifying the four directions.” There was another Duke Mu who accompanied Zai in the inscription of Zai gui 簋, dated to late Western Zhou by Guo Moruo. See Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 150Google Scholar; “Li qi ming kaoshi” 盝器銘考釋, Kaogu xuebao 1957.2, 6.

102. The inscription of the Li fangzun has been the focus of much speculation on the Zhou central bureaucracy and its relation to the military. There are three issues that need to be addressed. First is the meaning of wangxing 王行. Moruo, Guo, “Li qi ming kaoshi,” 5Google Scholar, suggested that wangxing were military generals appointed by the king in the Six Armies, but he also acknowledged that the sanxing 三行 of the state of Jin 晉 merely meant sanjun 三軍, the three legions. Developing Guo's thesis, Michiharu, Itō, Chūgoku kodai kokka, 236–40Google Scholar, suggests that xing referred to a military unit similar to jun 軍 or shi 師, and wangxing were the king's guarding legions formed by young noblemen or the royal kinsmen. The second issue is the structure of the sentence recording the king's command. Guo punctuated it as 用)六師王行, 參有: 土、馬、工, basically considering 六師王行 and 參有 as two parts. Itō, , Chūgoku kodai kokka, 240–241Google Scholar, punctuated it as “用六師,王行, 參有: 土、馬、工 treating 六師, 王行, and 參有 as three different units. Itō considers 參有 to be court bureaucrats separate from the military. According to Itō's interpretation, Li was appointed head not only of the Six Armies and the king's guarding legions, but also of the entire court bureaucracy. Judging from the Li inscriptions, and in view of the fact that the Western Zhou bronze inscriptions do not attest to anyone holding a position of such supreme and sweeping authority, Itō's conjecture is very unlikely. A more reasonable reading was proposed by Kimura Hideumi 木村秀海, “Rokushi no kankōsei ni tsuite: Rei hōson meibun o chūshin ni shite” 六師の官構成について—–盝方尊銘文を中心にして, Tōhōgaku 東方學 69 (1985), 3–4, who punctuated the sentence as 用六師王行, 參有土馬工. Kimura thinks that wangxing and sanyousi were the internal organizations of the Six Armies, and this is supported by the inscriptions of the Hu hu 曶壺 and Qi ding 鼎, which indicate that there were the posts of situ and sima inside the Zhou armies. The third issue is the meaning of yi 藝. Guo Moruo, “Li qi ming kaoshi,” 6, argued that it referred to artists or artisans of low status in the Six Armies. Yu Xingwu 于省吾, “Luelun Xi-Zhou jinwen zhong de liushi he bashi jiqi tuntian zhi” 略論西周金文中的六和八及其屯田制, Kaogu 考古 1964.3, 154, suggested that it means “to plant trees,” implying that Li was commissioned to be in charge of the tillage and gardening in the Six and Eight Armies. Later, Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 19.101: 318–19, read it as xi 璽, referring to the seal or tally of command of the Six Armies. Kimura, “Rokushi no kankōsei,” 4–5, reads it as zhi 治, meaning “to administer.” My interpretation is still different. According to the Zhong fangding 中方鼎, in the year when the Zhou king campaigned against the Hufang 虎方, Zhong marched in advance, penetrating into the south and yi wangju 藝王居 (the term is simplified as yiju 藝居 in the Zhong yan 中甗 by the same principal caster), which means that he “established the king's residential camp in the front-line.” The original meaning of yi is “to plant trees,” and in the Li fangzun it is extended to mean “set up” or “build up” camps or buildings. This explains well Li's duties in the Six and Eight Armies in relation to his role as the head of the king's personal legion that belonged to the Six Armies. For the Hu hu and Qi ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 23.136:147, 16.83:114; for the Zhong fangding and Zhong yan, see Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, nos. 2751, 949.

103. For the Duoyou ding and Lü Fuyu pan, see Yin Zhen jinwen jicheng, nos. 2835, 10169; for the Nangong Liu ding and Wu gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 27.163: 464, 27.164:469.

104. For the Shi Yun gui and Dou Bi gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 21.120: 508, 20.109:400; for the Yang gui, see “Tianjin shi faxian Xi-Zhou Yang gui gai,” 94.

105. Fanjing is a difficult term. Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 74Google Scholar, read it as jingfan 旌繁, suggesting that Shi Hu was commanded to be in charge of horses in the two auxiliary legions. Chen Mengjia, “Xi-Zhou tongqi duandai,” pt. 6, 93, suggested that xi 戲 referred to flags of the military generals, fan 繁 and jing 荊 referred to tassel and flagstaff. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 19.104: 358, read jing as xing 刑, proposing that Shi Hu was to be in charge of the military law. They all agree that Shi Hu's duty was military in nature.

106. For the Shi Kuifu ding, Shi Maofu gui, Li ding, and Seventh Year Quecao ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 21.121:515, 15.79:65, 20.111:419, 20.106:377.

107. Hanzhang, Wanget al., “Hu gui gai ming jianshi,” 78–80Google Scholar.

108. Zouma 走馬 is often identified by scholars with quma 趣馬 in the poems “Shiyue zhi jiao” 十月之交 and “Yunhan” 雲漢 in Shijing, 562. There is disagreement as to whether zouma were ministers of horses at the court, or were low-ranking officials in charge of horses. I suspect that the function of zouma was probably similar to zouya 走亞, and that both were military units of some kind. See Yachu, Zhang and Yu, Liu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 20–21Google Scholar; Chengyuan, Ma, Shang Zhou qingtongqi mingwen xuan, 200Google Scholar.

109. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 26.153:348.

110. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.3:191.

111. Two other special cases should be noted. In the Zha zhong 柞鐘, Zha was appointed governor of peasants of the Five-cities under the companionship of the taishi 太師. Yachu, Zhang and Yu, Liu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 3Google Scholar, consider taishi to be the superior of all shi 師, marshals and military generals. While this is probably true, the extant evidence suggests that taishi was also an eminent court magnate. In the Shi Wang ding 師望鼎, Shi Wang entitled himself taishi xiaozi 太師小子 “Youngster of the taishi,” indicating that he was the subordinate of taishi. Yet, in describing his own career, Shi Wang says that he has been “diligent day and night, sending out and taking in the orders of the king (出內王命).” No doubt Shi Wang was serving in the palace in a position similar to zai; and as his superior, taishi must have had substantial influence over the royal household and the court politics. The superior status of taishi in the court bureaucracy is also reflected in the inscription of Shi Zai ding . For the Zha zhong, Shi Wang ding, and Shi Zai ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 33.189:898, 22.130:71, ho.10:237. The second case is the Jin Hou Su bianzhong 晉侯蘇編鐘 in which the lord of the state of Jin was rewarded for his military collaboration with the king, but was accompanied in the ceremony by Sigong Yangfu . Since this was an award to a regional lord by the court, it might not have been conducted in accordance with the general rule. For the newly discovered Jin Hou Su bianzhong, see Chengyuan, Ma, “Jin Hou Su bianzhong” 晉侯蘇編鐘, Shanghai bowuguan jikan 上海博物館集刊 1996.7, 1–17Google Scholar.

112. For the special status of Yi Gong, Jing Bo, and Rong Bo, see below, n. 115.

113. Hanping, Chen, Xi-Zhou ceming, 110–11Google Scholar, has given five examples that he argues demonstrate the superior-subordinate relations between the youzhe and the appointees.

114. Yang Kuan 楊寬, “Xi-Zhou zhongyang zhengquan jigou poxi” 西周中央政權機構剖析, Lishi yanjiu 歷史研究 1984.1, 81–82, suggests that the Duke of Zhou held the title of taishi 太師, and the Duke of Shao held the title of taibao 太保. For the prominence of the two dukes in early Western Zhou history, see also Shaughnessy, Edward L., “The Duke of Zhou’s Retirement in the East and the Beginning of the Minister Monarch Debate in Chinese Political Philosophy,” Early China 18 (1993), 41–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

115. A list given in the Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding includes: Jing Bo, Bo Yifu 伯邑父, Ding Bo 定伯, Qiong Bo , Bo Sufu 伯俗父; in the Qiu Wei he: Bo Yifu, Rong Bo, Ding Bo, Qiong Bo, Shan Bo 單伯; the Yong yu lists Yi Gong, Jing Bo, Rong Bo, Shi Su. Interestingly, despite the difference in composition of these three lists, the order in which they appear is constant: Yi Gong, Jing Bo, Bo Yifu, Rong Bo, Ding Bo, Qiong Bo, Shan Bo, and Bo Sufu (Shi Su). In the Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding, Jing Bo, Bo Yifu, Ding Bo, Qiong Bo, and Bo Sufu together commanded the sanyousi . For the Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding, Qiu Wei he, and Yong yu, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.11:262, ho.11:256, ho.3:191.

116. This reconstruction has been proposed by Yang Kuan, Kimura Hideumi 木村秀海, Zhang Yachu, and Liu Yu between 1984–1986, based on three inscriptions: in the Mao Gong ding 毛公鼎, Mao Gong was commanded to head the qingshiliao and taishiliao; in the Fan Sheng gui 番生簋, Fan Sheng was commanded to be in charge of gongzu 公族, qingshi 卿事, and taishiliao; in the Ling fangyi 令方彝, the king appointed Mingbao 明保, a son of the Duke of Zhou, to handle the three affairs and the four directions, with which to be entrusted with qingshiliao. See Kuan, Yang, “Xi-Zhou zhongyang zhengquan,” 82–85Google Scholar; Hideumi, Kimura, “Sei-Shū kansei no kihon kōzō” 西周官制の基本構造, Shigaku zasshi 史學雜誌 94.1 (1985), 38–66Google Scholar; Yachu, Zhang and Yu, Liu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 102–10Google Scholar. For the Maogong ding, Fan Sheng gui, and Ling fangyi, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 30.181:637, 27.160:421, 6.25:276.

117. Kimura, “Sei-Shū kansei,” 43–46, places zhenzhishi 朕執事 “royal service men” of the Mao Gong ding under the taishiliao.

118. Instead, Kimura, , “Sei-Shū kansei,” 55–56Google Scholar, constructed another division, the gongzuliao 公族寮, or the “division of the royal kinsmen,” and assigned zai as its head. However, the term gongzuliao does not appear in the inscription, and it is not clear whether the management of gongzu belonged to the royal household or to the qingshiliao.

119. Yachu, Zhang and Yu, Liu, Xi-Zhou jinwen guanzhi, 102–10Google Scholar.

120. In fact, the term taishiliao only appears in late Western Zhou bronzes. The Mao Gong ding and Fan Sheng gui, in which taishiliao appears, are dated to the reign of King Xuan by most scholars. See Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 30.181:637, 27.160:421.

121. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.11:262, ho.11:256.

122. Itō, , Chūgoku kodai kokka, 261Google Scholar. By the same token, the sanyousi who served as the youzhe in the appointment ceremonies can all be regarded as officials of the central court because the ceremonies took place in the central court and were hosted by the Zhou king.

123. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” ho.13:313.

124. The Qiu Wei he dates to the third year of King Gong, and the Fifth Year Qiu Wei ding dates to the fifth year of King Gong. See Shaughnessy, , Sources of Western Zhou History, 110–11Google Scholar.

125. In the Hu hu 曶壺, Hu was appointed zhong situ in the Eight Armies stationed in Chengzhou; and in the Qi ding ;, Qi was appointed zhong sima in the military garrison in Xi(?). Si Weizhi 斯維之, “Xi Zhou jinwen suojian,” 6, suggested that zhong situ means dasitu “Grand Minister of Land” in the Zhouli. Itō, , Chūgoku kodai kokka, 255Google Scholar, supposes that zhong situ and zhong sima referred to the situ and sima of regions other than the capital area. Given the fact that both zhong situ and zhong sima only appear in connection with the military, it is probable that the term zhong 塚 was used to distinguish them from the sanyousi in the central bureaucracy. For the Hu hu and Qi ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 23.136:147, 16.83:114.

126. The evidence for this includes four inscriptions: the Li fangzun, Qi ding, Hu hu, and the Nangong Liu ding. As early as 1964, Yu Xingwu 于省吾 proposed that the Zhou had carried out military cultivation of land under the organizations of the Six and Eight Armies. See Xingwu, Yu, “Luelun Xi-Zhou liushi bashi,” 152–55Google Scholar; Yu Xingwu, “Guanyu ‘Lun Xi-Zhou jinwen zhong liushi bashi he xiangsui zhidu de guanxi’ yiwen de yijian” 關於 《論西周金文中六八%和鄉遂制度的關係》一文的意見, Kaogu 1965.3, 131–33. Debating Yu's thesis, Yang Kuan argued that the organization of the Six Armies was itself the organization of liuxiang 六鄉, the “six districts” of the xiangsui 鄉遂 system, recorded in the Zhouli. According to the Zhouli, the residents of the six districts, located outside the capital, were obligated to provide military service, forming the liujun 六軍, the six armies. See Kuan, Yang, “Lun Xi-Zhou jinwen zhong liushi bashi he xiangsui zhidu de guanxi” 論西周金文中六%八%和鄉遂制度的關係, Kaogu 1964.8, 414–19Google Scholar; Kuan, Yang, “Zailun Xi-Zhou jinwen zhong liushi he bashi de xingzhi” 再論西周金文中六和八的性質, Kaogu 1965.10, 525–28Google Scholar. Yang's view is accepted by Itō, , Chūgoku kodai kokka, 154–62Google Scholar, who, then suggests that the Six Armies or Eight Armies appearing in inscriptions were essentially geographic units, and that only when warfare rose were they moved to function as military organizations. For the Ling fangyi and Nangong Liu ding, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 6.25:276, 27.163:464.

127. In the entire corpus of Western Zhou inscriptions, we have only two exceptions. In the inscription of the Mao gui 卯簋, the appointment ceremony was hosted by Rong Bo; Mao, whose father and grandfather had all served the Rong 榮 family, was accompanied by Rong Ji 榮季, clearly one of Rong Bo’s kinsmen, and was commanded to supervise the Pang Palace and the Pang people . I have mentioned Rong Bo's status as one of the magnates at court; this inscription indicates that the Pang Palace where the Zhou king made frequent appearances was under Rong Bo's supervision. In the inscription of the Shi Hui gui 師毀簋, Shi Hui was commanded by Shi Hefu 師和父 to supervise the attendants of Shi Hefu's family. Shi Hefu is considered to be Gong Bo He 共伯和, who had served as a regent after King Li went to exile in 842 B.C. See Shaughnessy, , Sources of Western Zhou History, 272Google Scholar. For the Mao gui and Shi Hui gui, Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 26.149:315, 31.186:740.

128. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 2828; “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 24.137:165.

129. Liji 禮記 (Shisanjing zhushu ed.), 1605.

130. By “institutionalized” I mean conduct that has been regularized by certain institutions, which require such conduct to be carried out in the same way over a long period.

131. The inscription of the Guo Cong xu is one of the most difficult of all inscriptions. According to Moruo, Guo, Liang Zhou jinwen ci daxi, 124–25Google Scholar, the inscription records that the king commanded the Scribes to document the land exchange between Guo Cong and two other individuals on the same day. See also Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 29.179: 617–22.

132. Ranwei, Huang, Yin Zhou qingtongqi shangci, 58–62Google Scholar, has conducted a somewhat similar statistical study of inscriptions recording the fact of awards. He concluded that the first month has the largest number of award-granting events, and the seventh month has the smallest number of such events. Huang's database was built according to different criteria. For instance, inscriptions recording awards granted by lords or ministers but not the king are included by Huang, but are excluded from my database; inscriptions recording appointments without gifts are excluded by Huang, but are included in my database.

133. See Yates, Robin D. S., “State Control of Bureaucrats under the Qin: Techniques and Procedures,” Early China 20 (1995), 351–52, 357CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Lewis, , “Ritual Origins of Warring States,” 85Google Scholar.

134. The lunar phase in the Da ding is incomplete. Based on a calculation with the Da gui, Shaughnessy, , Sources of Western Zhou History, 279Google Scholar, suggests that it should be jisiba, “after the dying brightness.” For the Da ding and Da gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 29.176:581, 29.175:571.

135. Accordingly, a sacrificial cycle was twelve xun 旬 (120 days) during which all ancestors on the table received one offering. The cycle was repeated three times during the year with one of the three types of offerings offered each time. See Mengjia, Chen, Yinxu buci zongshu 殷墟卜辭綜述 (Beijing: Kexue, 1956), 386–88Google Scholar.

136. Matsumaru Michio 松丸道雄 demonstrated that from period II of oracle bone inscriptions the Shang king's hunting activities began to be concentrated on days yi 乙, wu 午, and xin 辛. With day ren 壬 added to the time table, such stipulation became very stable and was carried on through periods III and IV. However, in period V, since more days were added, the timetable returned to the original condition of period I, during which the king hunted on any days. See Michio, Matsumaru, “Inkyo bokuji chū no tenryōchi ni tsuite: Indai kokka kōzō kenkyū no tameni” 殷墟卜辭中の田獵地について: 殷代國家構造研究のために, Tōkyō daigaku tōyō bunka kenkyūjo kiyō 東京大學東洋文化研究所紀要 31 (1963), 43, 70–71Google Scholar.

137. Hanping, Chen, Xi-Zhou ceming, 29–31Google Scholar.

138. Lewis, , “Ritual Origins of Warring States,” 74Google Scholar.

139. For instance, see Albrow, , Bureaucracy, 91–92Google Scholar.

140. See Eisenstadt, S. N., The Political Systems of Empires (London: Free Press of Glencoe, 1963), 274–75, 80–81Google Scholar.

141. Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng, no. 133; Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 33.189:898.

142. Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 31.186:740.

143. In regard to the use of documents, some misconceptions in previous studies need to be corrected. Let us compare the following three inscriptions:

頌鼎: 尹氏受王命書, 王呼史虢生冊命頌。

Song ding: The Chief Governor received the document of royal command, and the king called out to Scribe Guo Sheng to command Song with the written document.

: 史受王命書, 王呼史淢冊易l。

Yuan pan: Scribe X received the document of royal command, the king called out to Scribe Yu to command with the document and to reward Yuan.

免簋: 王受作冊尹書, 俾冊命免。

Mian gui: the king handed over the document to the Chief Document Maker Yin, and let (Yin) command Mian with the written document.

Ranwei, Huang, Yin Zhou qingtongqi shangci, 90, 95Google Scholar, read the word shu 書 as a verb meaning “to write,” resulting in the interpretation that yinshi 尹氏 and Shi X 史 were commanded by the king to write the document in front of the king and the appointees during the appointment ceremony. However, this interpretation does not work with the inscription of the Mian gui. In the Mian gui, Zuoce Yin 作冊尹 played the same role as Shi X and the yinshi in the Song ding and the Yuan pan. According to Huang's logic, the inscription should be worded 作冊尹受王命書 or 王命作冊尹書, but not 王受作冊尹書. Clearly, Huang is mistaken. The term shou 受 in the Mian gui must be read as shou 授, meaning that the king gave the document over to Zuoce Yin. It is only because Zuoce Yin both received the document from the king and was commanded by the king to describe it (this is done by another person in the Song ding and the Yuan pan), that the king becomes the subject of the sentence, differing from the inscriptions of the Song ding and Yuan pan. For the Song ding, Yuan pan, and Mian gui, see Shirakawa, “Kinbun tsūshaku,” 24.137:165, 29.177:590, 21.115:465.

144. Keightley, David, “The Religious Commitment: Shang Theology and the Genesis of Chinese Political Culture,” History of Religions 17. 3–4 (1978), 214CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The evidence adduced by Keightley for such “bureaucratic logic” can be summarized as follows: 1) the world of the Shang ancestors was hierarchically or systematically ordered; 2) the offerings, which followed a rigid sacrificial schedule, anticipate the conception of a routine salary system; 3) the procedures of the sacrificial offerings and divination were themselves frequently bureaucratic; 4) all areas of experience were seen as a series of ritual jurisdictions, each falling within the domain of particular ancestors and their sacrifices; 5) the faith that the world is manageable in stipulated, negotiable, discoverable terms is a necessary corollary of bureaucratic logic.

145. Divination sources from the Western Zhou are available to us in the form of oracle bone inscriptions excavated in Zhouyuan 周原. However, these oracle bones are few and are poorly preserved; and research on them has not yet produced significant results. See Shaughnessy, Edward, “Zhouyuan Oracle-Bone Inscriptions: Entering the Research Stage?” Early China 11–12 (1985–1987), 147–63 (esp. 162–63)Google Scholar.

146. Creel, , The Origins of Statecraft in China, 116–17, 423–24Google Scholar.

147. Creel, H. G., “The Beginnings of Bureaucracy in China: The Origins of the Hsien,” The Journal of Asian Studies 23.2 (1964), 163, 171–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

148. See Hsu, and Linduff, , Western Chou Civilization, 245–49, 54–56Google Scholar.

149. See Shaughnessy, , “Western Zhou History,” 323–26Google Scholar.

150. Weber, , “Bureaucracy,” 196–98Google Scholar.

151. Weber, , “Bureaucracy,” 205, 207, 243Google Scholar.

152. Creel, , “The Beginning of Bureaucracy in China,” 157–60Google Scholar.

153. According to Weber, “where there is a hierarchical organization with impersonal spheres of competence, but occupied by unfree officials—like slaves or dependents, who, however, function in a formally bureaucratic manner—the term ‘patrimonial bureaucracy’ will be used.” See Weber, , The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, trans. Henderson, A. M. and Parsons, Talcott (Glencoe, IL.: Free Press, 1947), 335Google Scholar. Weber also talks about recruitment from “patrimonial sources,” referring to persons in a state of dependency on the chief through kinship, serfdom, or a client relationship. (Weber, , The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, 62Google Scholar). The term “prebendal” is used when “the lord assigns to the official rent payments for life, payments which are somehow fixed to objects or which are essentially economic usufruct from lands or other sources” (Weber, , “Bureaucracy,” 207Google Scholar).