With the assistance of Empress Jiang and his ministers, King Xuan of Zhou took the Zhongxing Zhou Chamber as his own responsibility and inherited the etiquette and music education of King Wen and King Wu. In the end, during the 45 years of his reign, he not only effectively delayed the rapid decline of the Western Zhou Dynasty, but also restored the peaceful situation before King Li of Zhou.

Today's poem is to describe the scene of the early dynasty of the palace to show that King Xuan was diligent in political affairs. In the middle of the night, before dawn, the princes and ministers no longer slept peacefully, and Luan Ling jingled, coming to the morning court. King Xuanwang Zhongxing, political stability, hundreds of officials, internal servants did not dare to slack off state affairs, princes and ministers also strictly abide by the courtesy of the monarch and ministers, serious and respectful, early to enter the court to wait for the court meeting. And King Xuan is also diligent in political affairs, considerate of his subordinates, attaches great importance to court etiquette, and also got up early to preside over the court meeting.

The night is not over, and the court is already bright at this time, the sound of luan bells continues, and the ministers have arrived one after another. Slowly, the morning light has been seen, the sky is gradually brightening, and the torch in the courtyard is no longer so bright. At this time, what we see is: the solemnity and magnificence of the court, the solemnity and grandeur of the court, the dignity and sacredness of the king, and the glory and elegance of the ministers. It can be seen that King Xuan's mood towards the early dynasty and his concern for the court etiquette and the princes and ministers.

From late night to dawn, it is told in such detail, this should be a poem written by King Xuan himself:

What time is it at night? It's still before dawn in the middle of the night. Torches flashed brightly in the courtroom. The early courtiers began to come, and the bell jingled on the flag.

What time of night is it? The night is not over before dawn. The torch in the court was bright. The ministers of the early dynasty came one after another, and the bells on the flag rang in unison.

What time is it at night? The night faded and it was almost early in the morning. The light of the torch in the courtyard faded. The early ministers have arrived, looking up at the dragon pattern on the flag.

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Here I write something about the official system of the Zhou Dynasty so that we can better understand the Zhou Dynasty.

After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, the Son of Heaven sealed the world, divided the royal family and meritorious heroes to various parts of the country, and established many vassal states, the number of which exceeded hundred. Through the patriarchal system and feudal system, the Zhou Dynasty established a feudal dynasty centered on Zhou Tianzi and surrounded by various vassal states. At the same time, the Zhou Dynasty also established a set of pervasive ritual and music systems, so that the entire Zhou Dynasty formed an orderly slave state.

It should be noted here that slavery is not the same as a slave society. Slavery refers to the system in which slave owners can own slaves. From the establishment of the Xia Dynasty in the 21st century BC to the end of the Spring and Autumn period in 476 BC, it can be said that it was a slave society in China. In the Xia, Shang, Zhou, and Qin eras, slaves were mostly born in war, and civilians captured by the enemy became slaves, and some were reduced to slaves because of crimes. In a human society, if most of the laborers in the field of material production are slaves, such a society is called a slave society.

Slavery in China began in the Xia Dynasty, and after the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Warring States Period, slavery had gradually disappeared, and by the time of the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, the slavery system had been completely replaced by the feudal system. Because in ancient China, agriculture and industrial production were dominated by yeoman farmers and free handicraftsmen, and slaves were not used in large quantities in China's economic life, some scholars believe that there is no so-called slave society in China. Therefore, slavery and slave society are different, and the Zhou Dynasty was in a period of transformation from slavery to feudalism.

The meaning of "feudal" is a system that originated from the ancient Chinese system of the Son of Heaven dividing the territory to the clan or meritorious heroes as fiefs according to the level of the title. Under such a system, princes, lords, or large landowners could forcibly extort land revenues from the peasants and exercise the powers of government in their own territories. China's feudal system probably began with the Western Zhou feudalism in the 11th century BC, and was gradually replaced by a centralized system after the establishment of the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century BC.

The patriarchal system evolved from the patriarchal patriarchal system of clan society, and was a system in which the royal nobility distributed state rights according to blood relations in order to establish hereditary rule. It is characterized by the merging of the clan organization and the state organization, and the patriarchal and political hierarchies are completely identical.

This system was established in the Xia Dynasty, developed in the Shang Dynasty, completed in the Zhou Dynasty, and influenced various feudal dynasties in the future. According to the patriarchal system of the Zhou Dynasty, the clan was divided into large and small sects, and Zhou Tianzi called himself the Son of Heaven and became the great sect of the world. The sons of the Son of Heaven other than the eldest son were made princes. The princes were small sects to the Son of Heaven, but they were large sects in his fiefdoms. The other sons of the princes were made princes. Doctor Qing is a small sect for the princes, but he is a large sect in his estate. The same is true from doctors to scholars. Therefore, the eldest sons of the nobles are always the eldest sons of different ranks. Not only did the Great Sect have the right to rule over the members of the clan, but they also enjoyed political privileges. Later, the rulers of various dynasties reformed the patriarchal system and gradually established a feudal legal system composed of political power, clan power, divine power, and husband power.

The purpose of the patriarchal system was to preserve the political privileges, titles, and property rights of the slave-owning aristocracy from being dispersed or weakened, and at the same time to maintain order within the ruling class and to strengthen the rule over slaves and commoners. The patriarchal system had a great influence on later generations, and its core was the primogeniture, that is, the eldest son born to the wife was the legal heir to the throne. China had already established a hereditary system of throne during the Xia Dynasty, but there was also a difference between "father dies and son succeeds" and "brother dies and brother succeeds". In the last years of the Shang Dynasty, the succession system was fully established. At the beginning of the Western Monday, the inheritance system of "establishing the chief but not the virtuous, and the noble not the long" was established, thus further perfecting the patriarchal system.

Establish a successor to be long, not virtuous. If there are several sons-in-law, then among the sons-in-law, who should be the most qualified to inherit? The feudal etiquette is "respect for the elder" and "the eldest brother is the father". Whoever is the greatest has the right to inherit the property and titles in the family. Even if the eldest is stupid or even demented, he has priority inheritance rights as long as he lives.

Lizi is expensive but not long. Among the many sons, the son of the main wife is called the son-in-law, and the status is precious. In addition to the main wife, other wives and concubines or the sons of aunts and wives are called concubines, and their status is secondary. Only concubines are eligible to inherit property and hereditary titles, and even if concubines are born before their sons-in-law, they do not have the right to encroach or snoop. Unless the son-in-law dies, it is the turn of the concubine to inherit. That's why it's called "expensive but not long".