The term feudal has often been applied to the Zhou period because the Zhou's early decentralized rule invites comparison with medieval rule in Europe.

At most, however, the early Zhou system is proto-feudal, being a more sophisticated version of earlier tribal organization, in which effective control depends more on familial ties than on feudal legal bonds.

Whatever feudal elements there may have been decreased as time has passed.

The Zhou amalgam of city-states becomes progressively centralized and establish increasingly impersonal political and economic institutions.

These developments, which probably occur in the latter Zhou period, are manifested in greater central control over local governments and a more routinized agricultural taxation.