Tag: Feudal

Feudalism in the Slave System of China

FEUDALISM IN the slave system of China

The establishment of feudal relations in China was com pleted by the 3rd century AD . ( earlier , according to some sources ) . Politically speaking , this coincided with the disin tegration of the ancient Chinese Han Empire and the follow ing new unification of the country under the Ch’in Empire . One of the distinctive features of feudal relations in China was the establishment of the ruling class’s monopoly ownership of land and water , not as individual property , but as a form of state property . Like the establishment of state property under a slave system , this was similarly related to a definite centralisation of community work and the extensive con struction of fortifications . It was at this time that the construction of the China Wall was begun . During the reign of Shih Huang Ti , the first emperor of the Ch’in dynasty , a law on state lands was issued . Under this law , a peasant received a plot of land which was subse quently divided into two parts . Everything he harvested from the first half belonged to him , while the harvest from the second half belonged in toto to the state . Besides , the peasants were responsible for the upkeep of the irrigation ditches , for draining land and building fortifications . This was a peculiar form of labour rent . However , the European system , under which a peasant tilled his lord’s land , was practically unknown in China . There were relatively few estates belong ing to feudal lords , and the attempt to establish state fields tilled by peasants was unsuccessful . and , at the same time , to encourage his interest in his holding . The feudal state strove to attach the peasant to the land That is why rent in kind became predominant .

The struggle of the Towns Against the Feudal Lords

The struggle of the Towns Against the Feudal Lords

The medieval towns were located on lands owned by feud al lords and were thus under their rule ; initially the feudal tract the greatest possible profit from it . That is why the bud ding town bodies of self – government had to enter into a conflict with the feudal lords . In the struggle to establish the rights of the town commun ity the entire population would rise up against the feudal lord . The outcome of thiş struggle determined the political structure of the town and its further dependence upon the feudal lord , from the right of the citizens to collect taxes to complete self – government . The self – governing towns , which became independent political units ( in France they were called communes ) , had their own courts , garrisons , finances , etc. The inhabitants of a city – commune were exempt from paying the usual taxes to the feudal lord . In Western Europe the self – governing city – republics first appeared in Italy , France , the Netherlands and , later , in Ger many in the 11th – 12th centuries ) . In the 11th century Nov gorod Veliky was a distinctive republic in Rus . Many towns , especially those which had arisen on royal lands , did not receive the right to self – government as com munes but enjoyed a number of privileges and freedoms . The elected town bodies acted jointly with representatives of the feudal lord or the royal officials . The town council was the supreme elected body in the towns ; it mustered the local guard , controlled the crafts and issued various ordinances . An elected citizen headed the town council . In France and England he was called a mayor , in Germany a burgomaster , etc. Small towns which had neither the necessary military force nor the means to oppose the feud al lord remained under the jurisdiction of the latter . One feature all the towns had in common was the fact that the inhabitants had achieved personal freedom . Any peasant who had lived in a town for a year and a day became a free man .In Asia the towns also fought against the feudal lords but , as a rule , these bitter struggles usually ended in the defeat of the former ; the inhabitants were thus unable to achieve self – government .