Spring and Autumn Period & the
Warring States Period
CHB3002
The Spring and Autumn period
春秋时代
chūnqiū shídài
• a period in Chinese history from
approximately 771 to 476 BC, which
corresponds roughly to the first half of the
Eastern Zhou dynasty.
• The Zhou dynasty kings held nominal power, but
had real control over only a small royal demesne
centered on their capital Luoyi.
• During the early part of the Zhou dynasty period,
royal relatives and generals had been given
control over fiefdoms in an effort to maintain
Zhou authority over vast territory. As the power
of the Zhou kings waned, these fiefdoms became
increasingly independent states.
• With the decline of Zhou power, the Yellow
River drainage basin was divided into
hundreds of small, autonomous states, most
of them consisting of a single city, though a
handful of multi-city states, particularly those
on the periphery, had power and opportunity
to expand outward.
• The most important feudal princes (known
later as the twelve vassals) met during regular
conferences where important matters, such as
military expeditions against foreign groups or
offending nobles, were decided. During these
conferences, one vassal leader was sometimes
declared hegemon (霸主bàzhǔ ) and given
leadership over the armies of all Zhou states.
• That was a hierarchical alliance system that the Zhou
king would give the title of hegemon to the leader of
the state with the most powerful military; the
hegemon was obligated to protect both the weaker
Zhou states and the Zhou royalty from the intruding
non-Zhou peoples.
• The king's prestige legitimized the military leaders of
the states, and helped mobilize collective defense of
Zhou territory against ‘barbarians——the slogan
‘supporting the king, and expelling the barbarians’尊王
攘夷(zūn wánɡ rǎnɡ yí )
• the Eastern Yi
– 东夷dōnɡ yí
• the Western Rong
– 西戎xī rónɡ
• the Southern Man
– 南蛮nán mán
• the Northern Di
– 北狄běi dí
春秋五霸
chūnqiū wǔ bà
• Five hegemons/Five Counts
– Duke Huan of Qi（齐桓公qí huán ɡōnɡ ）
– Duke Wen of Jin（晋文公jìn wén ɡōnɡ ）
– King Zhuang of Chu（楚庄王chǔ zhuānɡ wánɡ ）
– Duke Mu of Qin（秦穆公qín mù ɡōnɡ ）
– Duke Xiang of Song（宋襄公sònɡ xiānɡ ɡōnɡ ）
– King Helǘ of Wu（吴王阖闾wú wánɡ hé lǘ ）
– King Goujian of Yue（越王勾践yuè wánɡ ɡōu jiàn ）
齐桓公qí huán ɡōnɡ
• The first hegemon was Duke Huan of Qi (r. 685643 BC). With the help of his minister, Guan
Zhong, Duke Huan reformed Qi to centralize its
power structure. The state consisted of 15
"townships" with the duke and two senior
ministers each in charge of five; military functions
were also united with civil ones. These related
reforms provided the state, already powerful
from control of trade crossroads, with a greater
ability to mobilize resources than the more
loosely organized states.
晋文公jìn wén ɡōnɡ
• At his death in 643 BC, five of Duke Huan's sons
contended for the throne, badly weakening the state.
• For nearly ten years, no ruler held the title.
• However, when Duke Wen of Jin came to power, he
capitalized on the reforms of his father, who had
centralized the state, killed off relatives who might
threaten his authority, conquered sixteen smaller
states, and even absorbed some Rong and Di peoples
to make Jin much more powerful than it had been
previously. When he assisted King Xiang in a succession
struggle in 635 BC, Xiang awarded Jin with strategically
valuable territory near Chengzhou.
晋文公jìn wén ɡōnɡ
• Duke Wen of Jin then used his growing power
to coordinate a military response with Qi, Qin,
and Song against Chu, which had begun
encroaching northward after the death of
Duke Huan of Qi. With a decisive Chu loss at
the Battle of Chengpu (632 BC), Duke Wen's
loyalty to the Zhou king was rewarded at an
interstate conference when King Xīang
awarded him the title of bà.
秦穆公qín mù ɡōnɡ
• Qin used to be small country in the west of modern
Shaanxi. During the reign of Duke Mu, the state
became rich and strong by rectifying civil affairs and
encouraging production.
• Military confrontation between Qin and Jin went on
constantly, and each side had victories and losses.
Since Jin blocked the gate for Qin to the Central Plain
and Qin could but expand its territory to the west.
After annexing some Rong Di tribes, Qin began to
dominate the area of Western Rong.
• At the end of Spring and Autumn Period, Qin annexed
Sichuan Basin.
楚庄王chǔ zhuānɡ wánɡ
• Chu was a barbarian state in the basins of
Jiang and Han. During the reign of King
Zhuang of Chu, the internal affairs were
regulated, irrigation system was constructed,
and the state became powerful and
prosperous.
• King Zhuang of Chu defeated Jin, Zheng and
Song and obtained the hegemony over the
Central Plain.
The Division of Jin by Three Families
• In the middle of the Spring and Autumn, the well
fields system collapsed and private ownership of
lands emerged.
• Nobles took the possession of vast lands,
mastering mighty political and military power.
• By contrast, many lords were trapped in warfare,
financial difficulties and a declining authority.
• The contradictions sharpened between the
sovereign and the nobles.
The Division of Jin by Three Families
• A typical example was the division of Jin by
three families.
• It marks the beginning of the warring States
Period.
The Warring States Period
战国时代
zhànɡuó shídài
战国七雄
zhànɡuó qī xiónɡ
• Seven Overlords
– Qi（齐qí ）
– Chu（楚chǔ）
– Yan（燕yàn）
– Qin（秦qín）
– Han （韩hán）
– Zhao（赵zhào）
– Wei（魏wèi）
• In order to enrich the country and build up
military powers, all of these states carried out
political reforms, which laid substantial
foundations for large-scale and prolonged
wars.
• Among those reforms, Shang Yang’s reform was the
most famous and radical one.
• He led the reform in Qin, and his measures included:
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encouraging the population growth
Elevating agriculture and downgrading commerce
Abolishing the traditional privileges of the nobles
Rewarding a person for his military exploit
Registering the residents
Establishing a political system of centralization, grouping
all villages and towns into 31 counties governed by
magistrates who were designated by the monarch.
• The vertical coalition合纵(hézònɡ )
– To confront Qin
• The horizontal coalition连横(liánhénɡ)
– By exerting military pressure or sowing political
discord, Qin managed to form an alliance with the
other six powers respectively
• Finally, Qin conquered the other six rivals and
established Qin Dynasty.
• China, a former feudal separatist ruled
country, became unified and centralized.
Hundred Schools of Thought
• In Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period is
the transitional time from feudal fief lords to
landlords, when contentions between the new class
and the old became complicated and intense.
• Scholars or thinkers on behalf of different classes and
political powers attempted to explain the universe and
society or make proposals according to the interests
and demands of their own class or group.
• Among them, Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism and
Legalist school became most influential.
Confucianism
儒家rújiā
• Three representatives:
– Confucius（孔子kǒnɡzǐ ）
– Mencius（孟子mènɡzǐ ）
– Xunzi（荀子xúnzǐ ）
Confucianism
儒家rújiā
• Confucius is a great thinker as well as educator. In
politics, he praised the system of the Western
Zhou, supposing it the ideal society.
• 仁（ rén ）Humaneness/Benevolence was the
core of his political and world views.
• The system and rules instituted to realize it is
called 礼（ lǐ ）.
• Confucius proposed the performance of a
benevolent policy.
The Doctrine of Mean
• To urge people remain unchangeable in a
rapidly changing era. The constant way does
not change, but some adaption to changing
circumstances is necessary.
• Confucius acknowledges the existence of
contradiction. By adopting the middle way,
people may avoid excess and deficiency.
Five classics
• Book of Odes《诗经》
– The earliest collection of hymns, critics and popular songs
• Book of Documents《尚书》
– The collection of corpus, accounting the important events like
major wars, class relationship, political system and policies
from Shang to Zhou
• Book of Changes《周易》
– A manual for milfoil divination
• The book of Rites《礼》
– The compilation of partial rites system over the period of the
Spring and Autumn and the Warring States
• The Spring and Autumn Annals《春秋》
– The earliest annalistic work, mainly about the history of the
state of Lu. Confucius is the supposed writer.
论语
• The analects of Confucius
Daoism
道家dàojiā
• The second great philosophical school of China,
after Confucianism.
• Lao Zi(老子lǎo zǐ ) is the founder of it, a native of
Chu.
• Daodejing（《道德经》 dàodé jīnɡ ） of Lao Zi
was completed in the Warring States period. It
was in favor of letting nature take its own course
and of non-interference in people’s life. An ideal
society was one small in population and territory.
Mohism
墨家mòjiā
• Mo Zi(墨子mòzǐ ) was the founder of Mohists.
He was a native of Lu. The book Mozi contains
most of his thoughts. His greatest merits were
the proposals of a universal love(兼爱jiān’ài )
and non-violence（非攻fēiɡōnɡ ）. He
objected to wars, the decayed life style of the
ruling class and extravagant funerals.
• The main opponent to Confucianism
Legalism
法家fǎjiā
• Most of the reformers and Han Fei (韩非hán fēi
were the representative of Legalism. Han Fei
wrote the book of Han Feizi, illustrating his
thought and proposals. He advocated laws and
objected to the doctrine of Confucianism as well
as errantry. He maintained that a sage ruler
should neither long for the past nor copy
obsolete rules. Instead, they should look at social
conditions and adopt appropriate measures.
• The King of Qin Paid attention to his thought.
The Art of War
孙子兵法
sūnzi bīnɡfǎ
• an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed
to Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general,
strategist and tactician. The text is composed
of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to
one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known
to be the definitive work on military strategy
and tactics of its time.
• Sun Zi(孙子) considered war as a necessary
evil that must be avoided whenever possible.
The war should be fought swiftly to avoid
economic losses: "No long war ever profited
any country: 100 victories in 100 battles is
simply ridiculous. Anyone who excels in
defeating his enemies triumphs before his
enemy's threats become real".
• Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital
importance to the State. It is a matter of life
and death, a road either to safety or to ruin.
Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on
no account be neglected.
• Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is
not supreme excellence; supreme excellence
consists in breaking the enemy's resistance
without fighting.
• Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk
the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the
junction of the enemy's forces; the next in order
is to attack the enemy's army in the field; and the
worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.
• Sun Zi emphasized the importance of positioning in
military strategy. The decision to position an army must
be based on both objective conditions in the physical
environment and the subjective beliefs of other
competitive actors in that environment. He thought
that strategy was not planning in the sense of working
through an established list, but rather that it requires
quick and appropriate responses to changing
conditions. Planning works in a controlled environment;
but in a changing environment, competing plans collide,
creating unexpected situations.
The establishment of Qin Dynasty
• In 221B.C., King Zheng conquered its six rival
states of the Warring States Period, put the
long-time separatist lord regime to an end and
found the first unified, autocratic and powercentralized feudal empire in Chinese history,
making Xianyang as the capital.
• Qin Shihuang(秦始皇), the first emperor
• The Qin Empire relied on the philosophy of
legalism, standardizing legal codes and
bureaucratic procedure.
• Pyramid-like power system:
– The emperor perched on the top
– Central government composed of three chancellors
and nine ministers:
• 丞相(chénɡxiānɡ )
• 太尉(tàiwèi )
• 御史大夫(yùshǐ dàifu )
• The whole empire were divided into 36
prefectures, and each prefecture divided into
counties.
• All the regional governments were subordinate to
the central government, which was ruled by the
emperor himself. The imperial court extended its
control right down to the grass-roots units of the
household groups which supplied labour, taxation
and draftees.
• On the basis of the established Qin standards,
Qin Shihuang pushed forward economic and
cultural reforms, eliminating regional
diversities by every means, and consolidating
the stability and unification of the imperial
regime. The private ownership of lands, along
with standardized currency and weights and
measures promoted the development of
economy.
• Standardization of cartwheel ruts width
• Standardization of the writing system
• To prevent future uprisings, Qin Shihuang
ordered to confiscate weapons, to destroy the
city walls and military fortifications and to
move the old nobles and magnates of the six
states to the capital so as to weaken their
political and economic influence.
• Burning books and burying scholars: brutal
suppression in ideological field
• Defeated the nomadic Xiongnu and recovered the
south area of Hetao plain.
• Repaired and augmented the old walls of
previous states and eventually linked these
defense works together to form the Great Wall.
• Tens of thousands of families were forced to
migrate to Hetao subsequently, which played a
positive role in land reclamation and frontier
defence.
• All of these activities required enormous
levies of manpower and resources, not to
mention repressive measures. Endless labor,
heavy taxation and harsh laws in the later
years of the Qin Shihuang’s reign started to
provoke widespread social discontent.