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3.4 Cautions on use of term Feudalism

"Feudalism" and related terms should be approached and used with considerable caution owing to the range of meanings associated with the term. It is important to remember that no medieval society ever described itself or its institutions and relationships as "feudal". Though used in popular parlance to represent all voluntary or customary bonds in medieval society, or a social order in which civil and military power is exercised under private contractual arrangements, the term is best considered appropriate only to the voluntary, personal undertakings binding lords and free men to protection in return for support which characterised the administrative and military order.

3.5 Extrapolations of the meaning of feudalism

One example of this exists in the People's Republic of China. The official view of history there being based on Marxism, attempts to fit Chinese in Marxist historical periods and hence defines Chinese history from the Zhou Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty as part of the feudal period. In order to do this, new concepts had to be invented such as bureaucratic feudalism which most Western historians would consider a contradiction in terms.

As a result of this Marxist definition, feudal, as used in a Chinese context is very commonly used as a pejorative term meaning old and unscientific, and this usage is also common among both academic and popular writers from Mainland China, even those who are anti-Marxist. The use of the term feudal to describe a period in Chinese history was common among Western historians of China of the 1950s and 1960s, but became increasingly uncommon after the 1970s, and the prevailing consensus among Western historians is that using the term feudal to describe Chinese history confuses more than it clarifies as it assumes strong commonalities between Chinese and European history that may not exist.

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Feudalism Vassal Lord Term Feudal Land

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FeudalismThis page relates to medieval Europe. Compare feudal Japan at the entry Tokugawa shogunate''. Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum itself borrowed from a Germanic root fehu a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land heldFeudal societyFeudal society is a sometimes debated term used to describe the medieval social order of western and central Europe and sometimes Japan (particularly in the 14th to 16th centuries) characterised by the legal subjection of a large part of the peasantry toFeudal clanFeudal clan s were loosely organized groups of people, ranging in size from large gangs to small armys, that would provide a basic form of government to the territories they ruled. Historically, the feudal clans have played a large role. After the Tokugaw
Feudal (game)Feudal was a chess-like war game marketed by Avalon Hill in the 1980s. The object of the game is to occupy your opponents' castles. Pieces are in shades of blue and brown. The play area consists of 4 plastic peg boards that can be arranged differently witFeudal lawFeudal law describes a political system which placed men and estates under the hierarchical distinctions of "lords" and "vassals". Feudalism refers to the relations and interdependence between lord and vassal, based on the fief, or ownership of land.Feudalism (examples)Examples of Feudalism are helpful to fully understand Feudalism and Feudal society. Feudalism was practiced in many different ways, depending on location and time period, thus a high-level encompassing conceptual definition does not always provide a reade


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