The Zhou Dynasty: Feudal Order and the Hundred Schools of Thought

After the conquest, the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046-771 BCE) established its capital at Haojing, near present-day Xi'an, and organized its territory through the fengjian ("establishment through enfeoffment") system, granting extensive lands to royal relatives, military allies, and, more rarely, descendants of earlier local elites, in exchange for military loyalty, tribute, and participation in shared ancestor-worship rituals. These feudal territories were governed by lords holding one of five hierarchical titles, gong, hou, bo, zi, and nan, under the nominal sovereignty of the Zhou king, who sat atop the whole system as "Son of Heaven" (Tianzi) and ritual guarantor of the Mandate of Heaven, even as his direct control weakened with distance and the passage of generations.