The Five Hegemons (), also referred to as the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period (), refers to several especially powerful rulers of Chinese states of the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

of Chinese history (770–476 BCE), sometimes alternatively referred to as the "Age of Hegemons". There are various lists of five rulers of those certain states which rose to power over the other states of this time period, states which were also formed during the period of dissolution of a once real and strong central state, namely the empire of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

. The Hegemons mobilized the remnants of the Zhou empire, according to shared mutual political and martial interests. An especially prominent Hegemon was

Duke Huan of Qi Duke Huan of Qi (), personal name Lü Xiaobai, was a duke of the Qi state, ruling from 685 BC to 643 BC. Duke Huan and his long-time advisor Guan Zhong managed to transform Qi into China's most powerful polity. Duke Huan is commonly listed amo ...

Pronunciation and meaning

In ancient Chinese, (

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...

: ;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ) '' has a similar meaning and pronunciation to (Old Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), which means 'the eldest son born to the principal wife in a family', or 'senator'. Both and can be translated as the 'Five Hegemons'. () literally means 'five', but in the context of ancient Chinese also has a more generally qualitative and less precisely quantitative use, implying completeness.

Use of the term

During the Spring and Autumn era itself, the hegemony tended to apply to states; it was therefore possible to speak of the State of Jin and the

State of Chu Chu (, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was an Ancient Chinese states, ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted ...

struggling for hegemony over the Zhou states. In historical accounts it instead became associated with individual rulers, namely the ones who first brought their respective states to a dominant position. During the Spring and Autumn period the reigns of each hegemon tended to correspond with the zenith of their state's power.

Timeline of the most prominent hegemons
years in BCE ImageSize = width:200 height:750 PlotArea = left:40 right:0 bottom:80 top:20 Legend = columns:1 left:0 top:60 columnwidth:80 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:450 till:730 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical format:yyyy ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:450 ScaleMinor = increment:5 start:450 Colors= id:universal-hege value:rgb(0.6,0.4,0.4) legend:considered_hegemons_in_all_sources id:classical-hege value:rgb(0.8,0.5,0.5) legend:considered_hegemons_in_most_sources id:consi-hege value:rgb(1,0.7,0.7) legend:considered_hegemon_by_some_authors PlotData= from: 727 till: 701 mark:(line,white) color:consi-hege text:

Duke Zhuang of Zheng Duke Zhuang of Zheng (; 757–701 BC) was the third ruler of the State of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China. His ancestral name was Ji (姬), given name Wusheng (寤生), which means "difficult birth" with breech pre ...

from: 667 till: 643 mark:(line,white) color:universal-hege text:

from: 643 till: 638 mark:(line,white) color:classical-hege text:

Duke Xiang of Song Duke Xiang of Song (宋襄公) (died 637 BC) was the leader in the state of Song in the Spring and Autumn period. His personal name was Zifu (子茲甫) and he took his throne in 650 BC. After the death of the Hegemon of China, Duke Huan of Qi, ...

from: 636 till: 628 mark:(line,white) color:universal-hege text:

Duke Wen of Jin Duke Wen of Jin (697–628BC), personal name Ji Chong'er, was duke of the Jin state from 636 BC to 628 BC. He was exiled from Jin for approximately 20 years before finally assuming the throne and rapidly leading Jin to hegemony over the othe ...

from: 628 till: 621 mark:(line,white) color:classical-hege text:

Duke Mu of Qin Duke Mu of Qin (died 621BC), born Ying Renhao, was a duke of the state of Qin. Sometimes considered one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Mu greatly expanded the territory of Qin during the reign of King Xiang of Zhou. ...

from: 613 till: 591 mark:(line,white) color:classical-hege text:

King Zhuang of Chu King Zhuang of Chu (), personal name Xiong Lü, was a monarch of the Chu state. He was one of the "Five Hegemons" who attempted to wrest control of China during the Spring and Autumn period. Life The son of King Mu, King Zhuang ascended the th ...

from: 572 till: 558 mark:(line,white) color:consi-hege text:

Duke Dao of Jin Duke Dao of Jin (), personal name Ji Zhou, was from 573 BC to 558 BC the duke of the Jin state. Accession to the throne Duke Dao came from a cadet branch of the House of Ji that ruled Jin. His grandfather Jie was one of the younger sons of Duke ...

from: 514 till: 496 mark:(line,white) color:consi-hege text: Helü, King of Wu from: 496 till: 476 mark:(line,white) color:consi-hege text: Fuchai, King of Wu from: 476 till: 465 mark:(line,white) color:consi-hege text: Goujian, King of Yue

The Hegemon System

The concept of hegemony arose out of the weakness of the

Eastern Zhou dynasty The Eastern Zhou (256 BCE) is a period in Chinese history comprising the latter two-thirds of the Zhou dynasty. The period follows the Western Zhou era and is named due to the Zhou royal court relocating the capital eastward from Fenghao ...

. Whilst its predecessor, the

Western Zhou dynasty The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to 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 in 7 ...

, was also

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

in nature, the centre was strong enough to command the obedience of most of its vassals, as well as to maintain a central army. The death of

King You of Zhou King You of Zhou (795–771 BC), personal name Ji Gongsheng, was a king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty and the last from the Western Zhou dynasty. He reigned from 781 to 771 BC. History In 780 BC, a major earthquake struck Guanzhong. A soothsayer n ...

and the sack of the Zhou capital in 771 BC rendered the position of the central court untenable and eventually dependent on the protection of neighbouring states. The concept of the Hegemon was important to the

interstate relations during the Spring and Autumn period The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...

, since the Hegemon was nominally charged with underwriting the stability of the whole system, often heading a league of smaller states whose security was to some extent guaranteed by the state, in exchange for tribute.

The Five Hegemons

These are the two most commonly used lists of hegemons. The

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

lists: *

() *

() Alternatively, the Xunzi lists: * Duke Huan of Qi * Duke Wen of Jin * King Zhuang of Chu * Helü, King of Wu () * Goujian, King of Yue () The first two hegemons are widely referred to in primary sources (e.g. ''

Zuo Zhuan The ''Zuo Zhuan'' ( zh, t=左傳, w=Tso Chuan; ), often translated as ''The Zuo Tradition'' or as ''The Commentary of Zuo'', is an ancient Chinese narrative history traditionally regarded as a commentary on the ancient Chinese chronicle the '' ...

'') and therefore rarely disputed because

and

themselves were officially rewarded the hegemony by the Zho kings Xi and Xiang in 679 BCE and in 632 BCE respectively. ''

'' also recognizes

as a hegemon.

() and Fuchai King of Wu ()

Yan Shigu Yan Shigu () (581–645), formal name Yan Zhou (), but went by the courtesy name of Shigu, was a famous Chinese historian, linguist, politician, and writer of the Tang dynasty. Biography Yan was born in Wannian (, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi). Hi ...

'
commentary
on ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

'', "vol. 14". quote: (師古曰：「伯讀曰霸。此五霸謂齊桓、宋襄、晉文、秦穆、吳夫差也。」) were also amongst the contenders aside of the seven rulers mentioned above. These lists are: The Ci Tong () lists: *

() * Duke Huan of Qi * Duke Wen of Jin * Duke Mu of Qin * King Zhuang of Chu The lists: * Duke Huan of Qi * Duke Wen of Jin * Duke Mu of Qin * King Zhuang of Chu * Goujian, King of Yue The

Bai Hu Tong ''Bai Hu Tong'' (, also , ) is a Confucianism, Confucian text based on the held in 79 CE. History The traditional view of this text is that it was compiled by Ban Gu (32–92 CE) on the orders of the Emperor Zhang of Han (57-88 CE). The nam ...

lists: * Duke Huan of Qi * Duke Wen of Jin * Duke Mu of Qin * King Zhuang of Chu * Helü, King of Wu

, who commentates on the

, lists: * Duke Huan of Qi * Duke Xiang of Song * Duke Wen of Jin * Duke Mu of Qin * Fuchai, King of Wu ()

Pronunciation and meaning

Use of the term

The Hegemon System

The Five Hegemons

Notes

See also