The Seven Warring States or Seven Kingdoms () were the seven leading
hegemon
Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over other city-states. ...
ic
states during the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
(c. 475 to 221 BCE) of
Ancient China:
*
Qin (秦)
*
Qi (齊/齐)
*
Chu (楚)
*
Yan
Yan may refer to:
Chinese states
* Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty
* Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC
* Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indepe ...
(燕)
*
Han (韓/韩)
*
Zhao (趙/赵)
*
Wei (魏)
During the
Eastern Zhou dynasty
The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States.
History
In 770 ...
, the weakened
Zhou central sovereignty quickly lost control of its
confederate vassal state
A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...
s, and the numerous
autonomous states began overreaching and expanding their political ambitions via diplomacy and warfare, sparking a period of chaotic conflicts known as the
Spring and Autumn period. After most of the smaller, weaker states are conquered and annexed by larger states, the geopolitical landscape eventually became dominated by seven most powerful states, and wars became increasingly
pitched, violent and frequent. Over the Warring States period, many of the seven states underwent bureaucratic and military reforms in order to mobilise resources on a greater scale. This led to an intensification of warfare over the period, but also led to significant economic and cultural developments.
Of the Seven Warring States, the state of Qin grew to be the strongest and eventually conquered and successfully annexed the other six states; Han was the first to fall in 230 BCE, while Qi was the last to surrender in 221 BCE.
Ying Zheng
Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first Emperor of China, emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "Chinese king, king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang dynasty, Shang an ...
, the King of Qin, created the new title of ''
Huangdi'' and became China's first
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
,
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of " king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Empero ...
. The Qin state then became the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
, and China entered its
Imperial era, which lasted over the next two millennia.
Formation
The formation of the Seven Warring States was the culmination of trends during the preceding
Spring and Autumn period, when the patchwork of states created by the
Western Zhou dynasty
The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong nom ...
were conquered and absorbed through warfare, coalescing into seven larger polities. Qin, Qi, Chu and Yan already existed as states during that period; Qin and Yan, owing to their remote locations, were traditionally considered second-tier powers, while Chu and Qi were among the dominant states of the period, in direct competition with the
State of Jin. In 403 BCE,
King Weilie of Zhou
King Weilie of Zhou (), personal name Jī Wǔ, was the thirty-second king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty and the twentieth of the Eastern Zhou.
His reign started in 425 BC, after his father King Kao of Zhou had died and lasted until his death in 402 ...
recognized Jin's partition, leading to the creation of three new states:
Wei,
Zhao and
Han. Other major states included
Wu and
Yue, with the latter conquering the former in 473 BCE.
Minor Chinese and sinicized states and polities continued to exist well into the Warring States Era, such as
Shu (annexed by Qin in 316 BCE),
Zhongshan
Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 ...
(annexed by
Zhao in 296 BCE),
Song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...
(annexed by Qi in 286 BCE),
Lu (annexed by Chu in 256 or 249 BCE).
These political changes led to changes amongst the ruling families as well: in 481 BCE, the Tian clan
usurped the state of Qi in a coup and replaced the ruling Jiang clan. Meanwhile, the state of Jin, which had been controlled by different noble clans for decades, was
partitioned between the Han, Zhao and Wei clans in 403 BCE.
See also
*
Five Hegemons
The Five Hegemons () refers to several especially powerful rulers of Chinese states of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history (770 to 476 BCE), sometimes alternatively referred to as the "Age of Hegemons". There are various lists of five ...
(Spring and Autumn period)
Former countries in Chinese history
Ancient Chinese states
Zhou dynasty
7 (number)
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