Spring and Autumn Period — Era of Great Philosophers and Intense Contention over Hegemony

Unearthed House Shaped Bronze Incense Burner of the Spring and Autumn Period — Sen-oku Hakuko Kan Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Spring and Autumn Period

What Is Spring and Autumn Period?

Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC — 403 BC) was also the first half of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC — 256 BC) when kings of the Zhou Empire gradually lost power, land, and lords of vassal states kept competing for hegemony.

This was also an era of great minds when many great philosophers formed their theories, such as Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism and writer of Tao Te Ching; Confucius, the founder of Confucianism; Mozi, the founder of Mohism; Sun Zi, the writer of The Art of War.

Silk Manuscript of Dao De Jing (Tao Te Chin), Unearthed From Tomb of Prime Minister Li Cang (? — 185 BC) — Mawangdui Museum of Hunan Province

Name

Why Is It called Spring and Autumn?

This period is named after a historical book, the Spring and Autumn Annals that Confucius wrote.

Spring was the season of planting and holding sacrifice ceremonies, and Autumn was about harvest and wars.

Therefore, the most important events in ancient China happened in the spring and autumn.

Bronze Tableware Fu of the Spring and Autumn Period — Shanghai Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Facts

Facts about the Spring and Autumn Period

During this period, 109 states were documented in historical records.

Wars in this era were more about hegemony.

About 52 vassal states perished during this period, 36 monarchs were assassinated, and nearly 500 wars were initiated.

Unearthed Bronze Sword of the Spring and Autumn Period

Bronze Sword of the Spring and Autumn Period — Hebei Provincial Institute of Archaeology (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Though many small states were annexed and perished, wars in this period still followed specific rules and etiquettes:

Delivery of the War Book in advance was important;

Wars usually lasted less than a day;

Winners wouldn't chase or bully the losers;

Injured soldiers wouldn't be hurt for the second time;

People shouldn't wound the enemy too hard;

Wars should not be combated in the farmland;

Captives could be repurchased.

Unearthed Bronze Weapon Ge with Inlaying Gold Patterns and Inscriptions (Wang Zi Yu Ge) — Shanxi Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Lords of each vassal state kept fighting against each other to occupy more land and people.

They still cared about their reputation and respected the kings of the Zhou Kingdom, who reigned in the central Yellow River area as their monarch.

Private Schools appeared, which allowed commoners to get educated.

Since then, education was no longer a privilege of the nobles.

Private Schools of the Spring and Autumn Period

History

Brief History of the Spring and Autumn Period

After Ji Gongsheng lost the original Zhou capital and departed, the Western Zhou Empire stepped into another stage. Many vassal states fought against each other and nomadic tribes to occupy more land and people.

Lv Xiaobai, the Duke Huan of State Qi, flourished his realm and became the first mighty overlord in this period. After his tragic death, Lord Ji Chonger, the Duke Wen of State Jin, gained hegemony over the nation.

Decades later, some other ambitious overlords gained supremacy, while large numbers of small states were annexed, and bigger ones started to declare independence from the Zhou Court.

Unearthed Jade Dragons (Yu Jue) of the Spring and Autumn Periods— Nanyang Antique Archaeology Institute (Photo by Dongmaiying)

In 473 BC, the Kingdom Yue perished the Kingdom Wu, with the assistance of the first honey trap Xi Shi.

The Lord of Kingdom Yue then became the last overlord in this period.

In 403 BC, the powerful State Jin was carved up by three nobles into three kingdoms, which ended the Spring and Autumn Period.

Unearthed Spear of the King of Wu (Fu Chai)

Spear of the King of Wu (Fu Chai) — Hubei Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

System

Political Structure and Social Systems of the Spring and Autumn Period

Population:

Around 10 million.

Political System:

King of Zhou was still the honorable monarch in the name; no matter how strong and powerful, other lords wouldn’t announce themselves as kings.

But most of the lords had already stopped paying tributes to the kings of Zhou, who now were political puppets for powerful overlords.

Those lords reign their vassal states independently.

Official Selection System:

Hereditary Aristocrats.

Unearthed Crystal and Agate Accessory of the Spring and Autumn Period

Unearthed Crystal and Agate Accessory — Shandong Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Tax:

Civilians needed to pay a certain amount of products based on the area of their farmland and do military or labor services.

Military Service:

Everyone in the kingdom was obliged to fight in their army and protect their family.

The nobles and civilians could serve as warriors, while slaves could only do miscellaneous affairs.

Land System:

Changing from public to private ownership.

Unearthed Bronze Tiger with Inlaying Gold and Silver of the Spring and Autumn Period — British Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Achievements

Scientific Achievements and Artifacts of the Spring and Autumn Period

Invention and application of the four ways of diagnosis (look, listen, question, and feel the pulse), which set the fundamental inquiry and diagnosis method of Chinese Medicine, by Qin Yueren (Bian Que).