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The Origin of the Xia
The names of the baseborn knights are now no longer heard of. The famous
Lords of Yanling, Mengchang, Chunshen, Pingyuan, and Xinling must surely
be virtuous people since they have gathered under them many knights-errant.
Being relatives of the Emperor, and in possession of land and wealth allow
them this privilege. Their fame has spread in the same manner as calling
down the wind: even though the voice is not loud, the wind carries it a
long way. Since it is now much more difficult, so much more valuable is
it for commoners to try to distinguish themselves by practicing knight-errantry.
Much to my regret, both the Confucians and the Mohists have neglected to
record the exploits of the baseborn knights. Subsequently , these gallant
men of the pre-Qin era have fallen into oblivion. -- Sima Qian
The Zhou dynasty which lasted from about 1027 BC
to 221 BC was China's longest lasting dynasty, as well as the final period
in China's golden age of antiquity. The Zhou maintained a semi-feudal political
system in which the Zhou sovereign ruled conquered territories by enfeoffing
kinsmen, favored supporters, and potential political allies. Those who
held title to rule these lands did so without much in the way of centralized
governmental control. In return, this new class of Zhou nobility was obligated
to provide tribute to the royal court, and men for military service when
required.
During this period, warfare was a highly ritualized
affair conducted by shi, the traditional warrior class of the lower
nobility following the rules of li. In 771 BC, the Zhou capital
was sacked by barbarian nomads, and the court re-established itself near
the city of Luoyang, starting the period known as the Eastern Zhou dynasty.
In the following century, Zhou royal power began to decline, and the Zhou
king became a mere figurehead as his dukes vied for supremacy. In an attempt
to maintain order, the Zhou king appointed his most powerful duke as pa
(Lord Protector, overlord), in a system similar to the bakufu of
feudal Japan. The first half of the Eastern Zhou, known as the Spring and
Autumn period (Chun Qiu), was a time of great intellectual activity.
It was during this time, that the shi became divided into wu-shi
(military shi) and wen-shi (scholarly shi) groups.
There was great turmoil during this period, as ministers usurped their
princes, and large states began to engulf their weaker neighbors. Under
such conditions, the shi became highly prized as men of unquestioned
loyalty who could assist in the preservation and expansion of a kingdom.
The second half of the Eastern Zhou was known as the period of Warring
States (Zhan Guo). As competition between the Zhou states became
more bloody and ruthless, conflicts that were formerly settled through
knightly combat between shi became battles between vast armies of
peasant conscripts. Warfare became increasingly brutal, and the code of
chivalry that bound conflict in the past was trampled in the yellow dust
of the Northern Chinese plains. As kingdoms were destroyed, social displacement
of the shi created a large body of roving warriors who offered their
services as swords for hire to the highest bidder.
These men have been called you-xia or roving
knights, and were patronized by feudal princes as ke (resident guests,
or rather swordsmen). Among these lords were men who charged their retainers
with carrying out justice and maintaining order in a time of chaos and
upheaval. The most famous xia in these times were the lords of Yanling,
Mengchang, Chunshen, Pingyuan and Xinling, who were described by Sima Qian
as men of virtue for gathering many xia under their banners. Influenced
by the writings of Sima Qian, the historian Qian Mu suggested that these
lords were the original xia, and that the term only came later to
be applied to the swordsmen who were in their employ. However, the truth
of the matter can never be verified, as records of xia prior to
the Qin dynasty have been lost to history.
After Qin unification of China, there was a suppression
of xia by the Qin government, which adopted the Legalist principles
Han Feizi, and condemned xia, along with Confucian scholars, as
among the "five vermin of society." The xia were temporarily driven
underground, but soon after the death of the First Qin Emperor, the empire
began to founder, and
xia once more played a decisive role in the
unification of China. The race to claim the Mandate of Heaven became a
struggle between the commoner Liu Bang, and the aristocratic Xiang Yu.
Liu Bang eventually became emperor, and his generals and supporters received
lands and titles. This turn of events brought many xia into the
ranks of officialdom during the early part of the dynasty, and seemed to
herald a period of ascendancy for the xia. However, Liu Bang was
an advocate of centralized authority, and adopted a certain brand of Confucianism
that was heavily influenced by Legalism as his ruling ideology. The major
concern of Confucianism was in establishing social harmony. The xia
were a disruptive force in society, and their activities were seen as a
challenge to Han authority. To counter this challenge, the severe measures
advocated by Legalism were used to suppress xia during later years
of the dynasty.
As opportunities in the upper reaches of society
became closed to them, xia began migrating to the lower levels of
society, where they often assumed roles of leadership in local communities.
Under these circumstances, the composition and nature of the xia
gradually began to change. The new xia who emerged were those of
common origin. Many of these new xia were uneducated, and though
they could boast of skill in arms, they were not the professional warriors
of the previous era. Frequently, they were impoverished vagabonds who drifted
into cities to attach themselves to rich and influential families. These
landowners and feudal lords organized private armies, and their xia
were used to control local power and resist the authority of the central
government. The common xia who lived up to the ideals of chivalry
still existed, but the haoqiang xia (local bully) who used his physical
strength to exploit the defenseless, and to carry out the whims of his
patron became the rule. These haoqiang xia became the enforcers
of the local gentry families. They extorted peasants, intimidated local
authorities, and even murdered in the frequent vendettas between rival
clans.
The names of most post-Han xia have fallen
to obscurity. Except for those who made the transition into the world of
literature little is known of their deeds. During the close of the Han
dynasty, xia like Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu rallied to save
the empire (at least temporarily), and later went on to be influential
personalities of the Three Kingdoms period. During the turbulent era following
the fall of the Sui dynasty, a new kind of xia emerged -- the Shaolin
monk. Bandits and warlords ravaged the countryside, and fighting monks
came to the forefront as icons of stability and justice. Zhicao, Huiyang,
Jueyuan and Tanzong were among the thirteen monks charged by Li Shimin
(who would later become the Emperor) to capture the warlord Wang Shichong.
During the Song dynasty, barbarian incursions from the north saw
xia
of a more military nature emerge. Generals like Yue Fei and She Siahua,
matriarch of the Yang Family Women Warriors fought against the Liao invaders.
Xia
of
the Ming dynasty included Ou Qianjin, famous for his wu-gong, and
Zhang Songxi who could still break stone slabs bare-handed at age seventy.
As the Ming dynasty began to wane, xia once again were called upon
to fight barbarian invaders. The Shaolin monks Yue Kong and Da Zaohua fought
Japanese pirates ravaging the coasts of eastern China. Qin Liangyu and
her White Lance Troops held Sichuan against Manchu invaders for fourteen
years following the conquest of the Ming dynasty. Ming restorationist ideology
began to coincide with xia behavior, and they were driven underground
by the new Qing dynasty. The xia of this era were Shaolin trained
fighters who fought against Manchu tyranny. They were monks, outlaws, and
members of the anti-Qing Hong-men. The Five Elders of Shaolin, and Zhi
Shan were some of the most famous fighting monks of the period. Ming loyalists
trained by Shaolin who formed the Hong-men, became known as the Five Ancestors
of Shaolin. The Five Ancestors and their disciples solidified the association
between xia and secret societies during the Qing dynasty. Xia
were called upon to lead village militias against oppressive landlords
and their private armies (min tuan), rapacious tax collectors, as
well as against bandits. The anti-government sentiments of these xia
led to their suppression, and the rise of a more acceptable form of xia
-- the piao ke or biao shi (security escort). These xia
guarded bank shipments, and acted as bodyguards to Qing officials. This
development was in some ways counter to xia non-conformity, but
the biao shi embodied the xia virtues of loyalty, courage and incorruptibility.
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