04 Spring and Autumn period

The Spring and Autumn period (simplified Chinese: 春秋时代; traditional Chinese: 春秋時代; pinyin: Chūnqiū Shídài) was a period in Chinese history from approximately 771 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC^[a])^[2] which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. The period's name derives from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 479 BC, which tradition associates with Confucius.


 n 771 BC, the Quanrong invasion destroyed the Western Zhou and its capital Haojing, forcing the Zhou king to flee to the eastern capital Luoyi (Chinese: 洛邑). The event ushered in the Eastern Zhou dynasty, which is divided into the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods. During the Spring and Autumn period, China's feudal system of fengjian became largely irrelevant. The Zhou court, having lost its homeland in the Guanzhong region, held nominal power, but had real control over only a small royal demesne centered on 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.^[3] As the power of the Zhou kings waned, these fiefdoms became increasingly independent states.

Major Events of the Spring and Autumn Period

The Spring and Autumn Period was the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Period. The ruling clan of the Zhou Dynasty was named Ji. In 771, the ruler of a region called Shen together with a nomadic tribe called the Quanrong attacked the capital at Haojing and this attack marked the end of their direct rule.


Some of the regional rulers set up a son of the emperor to be the new emperor named Emperor Ping. He moved to his new capital at Luoyang, and he is said to have reigned from 771 to 720.

The Zhou emperors were ceremonial figure heads though they did have a small territory of their own at Luoyang. Their territory was too small to raise an army of their own that was big enough for their defense. They depended on the surrounding regions, and they performed religious ceremonies. They were perhaps somewhat like the modern British royalty except that the populace believed they had real powers as representatives of heaven as gods.
 

During the approximately 300 years of the Spring and Autumn Period, many small fiefdoms and states slowly coalesced through conquest.
There was a lot of rivalry and wars. About the year 550 BC, there were four major powers called Qin in the west, Jin in the center, Chu in the south, and Qi in the east.
In 497, the nobles in Jin began a civil war. In 453, there were only four major regions in Jin, and in that year the three weaker clans destroyed the stronger, leaving only Han, Wei and Zhao. In 403, they divided the Jin state between themselves.
This action left eight states in the former Zhou empire region: Han, Wei, Zhao, Qin, Chu, Qi and Yan near modern Beijing. The partition of Jin marks the beginning of the Warring States Period (476-221).