5.6. Ancient Society, Laws, and Customs

5.6.a. Divisions: Four classes of people were recognized in the days of the Zhou rulers, viz., scholars, husbandmen, mechanics, and merchants. A son necessarily followed the calling of his father. Only the scholars were eligible to government offices which were more or less hereditary. Thus the office holders and the educated formed the noble class and the rest were commoners. The saying of the time was "no penal code was ever above a noble while no ritual was below a commoner." It appears from the Spring and Autumn Classic that the only punishments which were received by nobles of those days, according to the nature of their crimes, were death, imprisonment, and banishment.

5.6.b. Eunuchs and their origin: The Zhou Dynasty is commonly credited with having introduced the custom of keeping eunuchs. The fact is, eunuchs had existed for centuries before the family became supreme in China.

"This class of men seems to have originated with the law's severity rather than from the callous desire on the part of any reigning house to secure a craven and helpless medium and means for pandering to, and enjoying the pleasures of the harem without fear of sexual intrigue. Criminals whose feet were cut off were usually employed as park-keepers, simply because there could be no inclination on their part to gad about and chase the game. Those who lost their noses were employed as isolated frontier pickets where no children could jeer at them, and where they could better survive their misfortune in quiet resignation. Those branded in the face were made gate-keepers, so that their livelihood was perpetually marked out for them. It is sufficiently obvious why the castrated were specially charged with the duty of serving females in a menial capacity. Eunuchs were so employed because they were already eunuchs by law."

Since the abolition of the law, 197 BC, however, men have been purposely made eunuchs in order that their services as menials could be conveniently rendered.

5.6.c. Publication of written laws: While various forms of punishment had been provided for, there had been no written laws published for the information of the public. The "Son of Heaven" (emperor) was the law giver and executive; and this sacred authority he could bestow on any one of his ministers.

The first publication of laws was made in the year 536 BC in the feudal state of Cheng. Zi Zhan, who thought it advisable to cast the laws in metal for the information of his people, was a good friend of Confucius.

In the latter part of the Zhou Dynasty, there had grown up a party who advocated the enforcement of severe laws as the only means of securing peace in an empire. This party is known as "Legalists," among whom Wei Yang was preeminent. He was a native of Wei, but was obliged to enter the service of Qin, and tradition makes him author of many cruel forms of punishment provided for in the penal code of the latter state.

5.6.d. Polygamy: Polygamy has not only existed in China, but has been legalized by Confucianism. During the fifth and sixth centuries BC, it was customary for a feudal chief to marry his daughter to another chief with many of her cousins or other relatives as maids (the number went up as high as nineteen), so that in case she should die one of them would succeed her at the head of the harem.

The practice of making concubines wives was almost universal among the states. For over two thousand years no one seems to have regarded this evil as sin, and much less, as a crime, until one Li Kui, a legalist and statesman of Wei in the time of the Seven States, saw fit to declare polygamy a crime punishable by death. While this has been the basis of later legislation, law had never been stronger than Confucianism. The reason why Confucianism sanctions polygamy lies in a belief that death without an heir is a sin unpardonable.

5.6.e. Divorce: The ancients sanctioned seven reasons why a husband could divorce his wife, including inability to bear a child. How far divorce was actually effected on this ground, we are not informed. It must not be understood that divorce in those days required legal proceedings as it now does. All the husband had to do to get rid of an undesirable wife was to expel her by force. On the other hand, no ground ever existed in law for a wife to break away from a wretch!

5.6.f. Respect for the old: The government of the Zhou Dynasty may be described as follows: a father was supreme in a family, a king in a state, and old age in a village. Every three years the people of each village met, when a banquet was given, presided over by a representative of the Crown and with guests of honor seated according to their ages. This was one of the most solemn occasions and detailed rituals were prescribed and followed.

5.6.g. Religion: Before the introduction of Buddhism into China (65 AD) no religion in the true sense of the word was in existence among the ancients. As already stated, Confucianism is not a religion but a system of morality. "No word for religion was known to the language; the notion of church or temple served by a priestly caste had not entered human's mind." (Parker's "Ancient China Simplified.")

That the ancients had some knowledge of God, history abundantly attests. His worship, however, was one of the prerogatives of the reigning house or family; and, as "Son of Heaven," the king alone could offer sacrifice to the Highest Divinity on behalf of his nation. Lesser ranks worshipped lesser divinities, such as the elements of nature, mountains, and streams. The worship of the common people was confined to their own ancestors. It must be noted also that what the ancients did in the way of worship was nothing more than the performance of prescribed rituals, such as that of sacrifices and prayers.

5.6.h. Burial of companions to the dead: This evil custom was almost universal during the sixth and seventh centuries BC. In the Book of Odes, we read an account of the funeral of Duke Mu of Qin. Before his death, he had decreed that three of the ablest ministers of the time (brothers) should be interred with him. Although the nation did not approve of the choice thus made, yet the decree was faithfully carried out, and the three "good men of Qin" accompanied the remains of Duke Mu to their last resting place.

5.6.i. Education and literature: There was a very good educational system with schools for the nobles as well as for the common people. There was a primary school for every 25 families; a higher school for every 500 families; and a college for every 12,500 families. Children were of school age when they reached their eighth years. The higher branches of learning consisted of (1) rituals, (2) music, (3) archery, (4) horsemanship, (5) literature, and (6) mathematics. In other words, education embraced moral, military, and intellectual training.

"It is the father's fault if at the binding of the hair (eight years of age) children (mostly boys) do not go to the teacher; it is their own fault if after having gone to the teacher they make no progress; it is their friends' fault if they make progress but get no repute for it; it is the executives' fault if they obtain repute but no recommendation to office; it is the prince's fault if they are recommended for office but not appointed."

In the pre-Confucian period, books were comparatively few. The best known are the Book of Record, Book of Odes, Book of Change, Rites of Zhou, and Guanzi (or Kuan Tze) or Political Economy. Books were made of bamboo slips and the characters were painted on them. Interstate correspondence was confined to a small area in the north, but the dialectical barrier was gradually overcome, and by the time of Mencius, even Chu could boast of its literary renown. The State of Qin never produced any famous literary person. In fact, those who did anything for her were all aliens. The period of the Seven States was a golden time in Chinese literature. The influence of the Perpendicular and Horizontal diplomats upon Chinese literature has been permanent and beneficial.