Social, political, and cultural changes

Question 1

Social, political, and cultural changes

Answer 1

• old feudal structure was replaced by systems of incipient bureaucracy under monarchy
• Simultaneous with the demise of feudalism was a rise in urbanization. Minor fortified cities were built, radiating out from each of the major centres, and other towns radiated from the minor cities.
• The period of urbanization was also a time of assimilation. The non-Zhou population caught in the reach of feudal cities could not but feel the magnetic attraction of the civilization represented by the Zhou people and Zhou feudalism.
• Internal political changes also took place as states grew in population and area. The most basic of these was in the pattern of power delegation. Under feudalism, authority had been delegated by the lord to the vassal. The new state rulers sought ways of maintaining and organizing their power.
• Battles were fought mostly by hordes of foot soldiers, most of them commoners, aided by cavalry units; war chariots apparently served only auxiliary roles, probably as mobile commanding platforms or perhaps as carriers.
• Irrigation became necessary as population pressure forced cropland to be expanded, and irrigation works were constructed in many states beginning in the late Chunqiu period.