Chinese and Western historians call the type of government of the Zhou Dynasty a kind of feudal system (fengjian zhidu 封建制度) because in many parts, the custom of enfeoffment was similar to Middle Age Europe. The rule over the outstretched area of Zhou China made it necessary to give a large part of the territory as feuds (guo 國; the rest was the royal domain ji 畿) into the hands of trustworthy people (called feudal lords zhuhou 諸侯). The royal clan of the Ji 姬 bestowed some fiefs to members of the family, like Lu 魯 (Shandong), Jin 晉 (Shanxi), Cai 蔡, Cao 曹 and Wei 衛 (all Henan), some other fiefs to meritorious families like Jiang 姜, Ren 任, Gui 嬀 or Si 姒, like Qi 齊 (Shandong), and Yan 燕 (Beijing), others were given to descendants of older ruling houses (the fief of Ji 薊 near modern Beijing to descendants of the mythical ruler Yao 堯, Chen 陳 (Henan) to descendants of Shun 舜, Qi 杞 (Henan) to descendants of Yu the Great 大禹, Song 宋 (Henan) to the descendants of the Shang 商 royal house). During an enfeoffment, the noble was not only bestowed the terrain with its natural products and the population, but was also given jewels and precious objects. The nobles on their side were obliged to present tributes (gong 貢) to the court of Zhou every few months. There were five different titles of nobility (wujue 五爵: "duke" gong 公, "marquis" hou 侯, "baron" bo 伯, "count" zi 子, "viscount" nan 男). The domains to the west and south (Qin 秦 and Chu 楚) were ruled by peoples more distant to the Chinese of the Yellow River Basin. The basic structure of Zhou central government is said to be described by the Classic Zhouli 周禮 "Rites of the Zhou", a book compiled during the 3rd century BC. The king was assisted by the Three Dukes (Sangong 三公: Grand Preceptor Taishi 太師, Grand Mentor Taifu 太傅, Grand GuardianTaibao 太保) and the Three Solitaries (Sangu 三孤). The vast area made it necessary to establish a bureaucracy to manage the government. The general administration was in the hands of six ministers (qing 卿), surveying the six ministries (Liubu 六部): Ministry of State (Tianguan 天官, headed by the Chancellor Zhongzai 冢宰), Ministry of Civil Administration and Social Welfare (Diguan 地官, headed by the Minister of Education Situ 司徒), Ministry of Rites (Chunguan 春官, headed by the Minister of Rites Zongbo 宗伯), Ministry of War (Xiaguan 夏官, headed by the Minister of War Sima 司馬), Ministry of Justice (Qiuguan 秋官, head ed by the Minister of Justice Sikou 司寇), and the Ministry of Works (Dongguan 冬官, headed by the Minister of Works Sikong 司空). The state was centered around the walled capital (guo 國), the rest of the state, the countryside, was seen as "wilderness" (ye 野). Settlements around the capital were called VORSTADT (jiao 郊). The countryside was administered by the higher nobility (qing, dafu), the lowest aristocratic group, the shi were enfeoffed with the smallest territories far from the capital. The officialdom was divided into three ranks (ministers qing 卿, grand masters dafu 大夫, and servicemen shi 士) and nine honors (jiuming 九命 or jiupin 九品, each of the ranks divided into upper, ordinary and lower shang zhong xia 上中下). The office of the astrologer scribe (shi 史) became more and more important. From the personal rule of the shaman king of Shang times, the rule changed to a king that was simply the head of many officers among whom the ministers, intendants and provisioners became more and more important. Even military affairs had to be handed to the authority of generals. With the younger generations, the relatives became more distant and had to be enfeoffed with their territories. These territories would gradually become independent from their king in the course of centuries. Sometimes like during the reign of King Xuan 周宣王, succession struggles in the small states had to be solved by the king himself. The feudal system established by the first Zhou rulers had disintegrated during the Spring and Autumn period. The enfeoffed lords became rulers themselves. Among the multitude of big and small fiefdoms, a few gained hegemony over the smaller ones, including the territory of the Zhou kings. The permanent warfare made it necessary to build up standing armies and to create a centralized state. One of the first states to reorganizing its political structure was Qi 齊 under the guidance of Guan Zhong 管仲 (d. 645). "Master Guanzi" 管子 divided the territory into administration units and likewise organized traders, artisans, soldiers, citizens and peasants in units controlled by officials, that were rewarded or punished according to their effectiveness. This kind of centralized state would be much more capable to cope with all matters that required a strong organisation like war and public work. Guanzi was the first legist, a thinking school that should later be fundamental for the founding of the Chinese Empire. The other states one by one copied this system, giving up the old kinship official system. Instead of ministers (qing 卿) and secretaries (dafu 大夫), related to the lord's family, a class of professional officials called shi 士 took over the state service, additionally gaining high specialized knowledge in both military and civil service. Confucius mourned his life long for the old elite and their rites that now suffered a social downward. As a crucial person in the new administration, some prime ministers (xiang 相) could dominate over the whole state, making the ruler a simple puppet in their hands. It was the work of political advisors who restructured the state system of the feudal states in matters of administration, economy and military. Strengthening the state by concentrating the power within the hands of the sovereign and by codifying (penal) law, increasing the state income by enhancing agricultural productivity and systematizing the tax system, and professionalizing the military were the main strategies of these advisors. The first Warring States country to undertake such reforms was Wei under Marquis Wen 魏文侯 who was assisted by Confucian scholars like Zixia 子夏, Tian Zifang 田子方, and Duan Ganmu 段干木, and by legist and military advisors like Li Kui 李悝, Wu Qi 吳起 and Ximen Bao 西門豹. In the state of Chu, Wu Qi had King Dao 楚悼王 reformed the official system that was overloaded with useless persons and retainers. In the state of Qi, it was Zou Ji 鄒忌 and Shen Dao 慎倒 and who helped King Wei 齊武王 resp. Xuan 宣王 to eliminate the power of other feudal clans. The legist advisor Shen Buhai 申不害 helped Marquis Zhao of Han 韓昭侯 to install and exploite the most able state officials. But far the most influential advisor was Shang Yang 商鞅 (later Lord Shang 商君, hence his book Shangjunshu 商君書 "The Book of Lord Shang") who assisted Duke Xiao of Qin 秦孝公. By means of cruel penalties, awards and promotions the population of Qin was made productive and obedient. Measures and weights were standardized, and the whole territorial administration was reorganized in townships (xiang 鄉) and districts (xian 縣). Furthermore, the old well field system was finally abandoned and replaced. But it was not only the bureaucracy that caused a drastic change in state affairs. Becoming independent from their former lord, the king of Zhou, the dukes (gong 公) of the great states enfeoffed their own followers with new territories. Several of these families could gain independence from their lord, like the families Zhao 趙, Wei 魏 and Han 韓 (sometimes written "Hann" to distinguish it from the great Han 漢 Dynasty) in the state of Jin. The feudal system with the king of Zhou at the top thereby dissolved gradually. Penal law was an important point during the restructuting of the feudal states in the Warring States era. Almost every states began to codify penal law, but only few writings and documents have survived, like the fragments of Shen Buhai's Fajing 法經 "Classic of Regulations", or the Qin regulations discovered in a tomb near Yunmeng 雲夢/Hubei. It was especially state officials who were the target of exact law observation. Penal law of the Warring States era provided three kinds of punishments: death penalty (sixing 死刑), mutilation (rouxing 肉刑), and slavery (tuxing 徒刑). Of course, there were also lesser punishments like exile, beating, penalty fee, and compulsory labour. A very heavy penalty was the extinction of three generations (sanyi 三夷) of relatives of a guilty person. If we speak of an educational system, we must look at education that was restricted to members of the nobility. As can be seen from the ritual classics the main focus of early Zhou education was rituals (li 禮) and music (yue 樂), archery (she 射) and driving (yu 御), writing (shu 書) and mathematics (shu 數). These majors that partially reflect the military activities of the aristocracy were thought to princes and members of the aristocracy at royal schools (daxue 大學) like the Biyong 辟雍 and Xuegong 學宮 Schools at the royal court of the Zhou kings. Other feudal states also maintained schools (xiang 庠, xu 序), like the Xihe Academy 西河學宮 in Wei 魏 and the Jixia Academy 稷下學宮 in Qi 齊. From the Spring and Autumn period on and the development of a regular state administration by officials (shi 士) literary knowledge and exertise became more important than military training. Classical writings like the Shijing 詩經 "Book of Songs" and Yijing 易經 "Book of Changes" became the focus of educational material. This situation again changed when the political events made it necessary to study practical administration and to consider flexible politics in order to survive. It was the time of the Hundred Schools (baijia 百家) whose representants tought political and philosophical ideas at the courts of the feudal lords throughout China. Mozi 墨子, Mengzi 孟子, Xunzi 荀子, the legists (fajia 法家; Shen Dao 慎到) and scholars various schools like the early Huang-Lao thought 黃老思想 (Song Jian 宋鈃, Jiezi 接子, Tian Pian 田駢, ) and Correlational thinking (yinyang wuxing 陰陽五行思想: Zou Yan 鄒衍) wandered from court to court and spread their ideas among the officialdom and the educated elite.

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