For most of the feudal period in Europe, due to the long-term weakness of the monarchy, the vassals acted in their own way, showing great independence. The vassal's strong attachment to the Lord is mainly limited to the immediate Lord, that is to say, after establishing the subordinate relationship, a person often only obeys his immediate master (the immediate master is often the absolute Lord) and does not obey the indirect master, even if the indirect master is the king or the emperor himself. This is a unique principle in the European vassal system: "My vassal is not my vassal".
In the feudal society of China, the authority of the emperor was supreme, and the land and state power were considered as the private property of the emperor. The so-called "all over the world, is it the land of kings?" Therefore, governors at all levels are subordinate to the emperor, and governors at all levels can not obey their direct lords, but they cannot refuse to obey the absolute lords of the emperor. The so-called "a good bird chooses a wood to live in, and a good minister chooses a master to serve" is only suitable for the master below the emperor, and the absolute master of the emperor is not free to choose; For governors at all levels, it is a universal truth that "the Lord (emperor) is worried about humiliating his ministers, and the Lord humiliates his ministers to death", which is applicable to governors at all levels. This is a remarkably different feature of the dependency relationship between the East and the West.