ABSTRACT
This chapter elaborates on the demise of feudalism in China. The existence of classes and the deference within them were the prerequisites to feudalism and so constitute a fundamental part of studies on feudal society. In the last days of feudalism, the king could hope for nothing but to be eviscerated by princes. In fact, the hierarchy was devastated even more than this. Ministers and bureaucrats, too, were extending themselves, hoping to rise above princes or even to challenge the king. Warfare accelerated the collapse of feudalism in China. Fiefs were taken over; states were occupied; heads of conquered states were reinstated or reassigned to a lower position; and places taken over were given to bureaucrats. Furthermore, political power was used to directly put an end to feudalism. Slowly but surely, however, the barter economy grew precarious and eventually perished, due to booming commerce and the use of currency.
