Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 4, 2025

The Discourse Construction and Ways of Expression of the Spatial View in Western Zhou

(Abstract)

Lin Diandian

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, spatial power, spatial knowledge and spatial discourse were mutually reinforcing and co-constructed. The spatial view of Yin and Shang was based on the ritual of lizhong (establishing the center) and the system of Situ (Four Lands). The Zhou people accepted their origin as a people of the Xitu (Western Land) and inherited the identity of Zhongtu (Middle Land), thereby establishing a spatial discourse system centered on shangtian-tuzhong-sifang (Heaven-earth-four directions). They transformed Situ, which was originally a political entity, into an abstract spatial referent, establishing the discourse of virtue of huangtian-tianzi-wanmin (Heaven-son of Heaven-peoples), with min (people) as the political entity. The expansion of spatial dimension contributed to new discursive practices, emphasizing the vertical power relationship of shubang (subject state) and wanbang (ten thousand states), gradually replacing the concept of duofang (multiple directions) emphasizing a flat orientation relationship. The evolution of spatial references laid the foundation for the conceptual formation of the discourse of tianxia (all under Heaven).