西周时期“里”的性质

The Nature of Li (里) in the Western Zhou Dynasty

西周时期的"里",并非居民的基层地域组织单位。"里"在西周时期主要具有两个涵义:一是指一定面积的土地;一是作距离与长度单位。"里"之本义指一块较大面积的土地。西周时期的"里君"为周王朝管理土地的官吏的统称,而非基层居民组织单位"里"的长官的专称。作为基层地域组织的"里",到春秋时期才正式出现。

In the Western Zhou dynasty, li (里) was not a grassroots unit of residential organization. At that time, it had two meanings: one was a certain area of land, the other a distance or unit of length. Its original meaning referred to a large area of land. Li jun (里君) was then a term for officials managing land for the king, rather than officials of a grassroots organizational unit. The latter did not formally appear until the Spring and Autumn period.