The Three Huan ({{zh, c=三桓, p=Sān Huán) refers to three Chinese aristocratic clans, all descendants of

Duke Huan of Lu Duke Huan of Lu (, died 14 April 694 BC), personal name Ji Yun or Ji Gui, was a ruler of the Lu state, reigning from 711 to 694 BC. Early life Duke Huan was the son of Duke Hui of Lu and his main wife Zhong Zi (仲子), daughter of Duke Wu of ...

, in the

State of Lu Lu (; 249 BC) was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China located around modern Shandong. Founded in the 11th century BC, its rulers were from a cadet branch of the House of Ji () that ruled the Zhou dynasty. The f ...

, which dominated the government affairs, displacing the power of the dukes, for nearly three centuries during 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 ...

. They are the Jisun (季孫) or Ji, Mengsun (孟孫) or Meng, and Shusun (叔孫) clans.

Etymology

The characters Bo (伯), Meng (孟), Zhong (仲), Shu (叔), and Ji (季) are originally ordinals used in

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

s to indicate a person's rank among his or her siblings of the same gender who survived to adulthood. The eldest brother's courtesy name would be prefixed with the word "Bo" (or "Meng" if he was born to a secondary wife), the second with "Zhong", the youngest with "Ji", and the rest with "Shu". For instance,

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

's courtesy name was Zhongni (仲尼). As the power of the Three Huan became hereditary, the descendants of Duke Zhuang's brothers used the ordinal numbers as family names to distinguish their branches of the House of Ji.

History

The three houses are cadet houses of the Lu ducal house, which is itself a branch of the ruling house 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 ...

(r. 711–694 BC) had four sons. While the oldest son by his main wife Wen Jiang became the heir, and subsequently

Duke Zhuang of Lu Duke Zhuang of Lu (; 7 October 706 BC – 11 August 662 BC), personal name Ji Tong (姬同), was a duke of the Lu state during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Early life Duke Zhuang was a son of Duke Huan of Lu and his main wif ...

, his other three sons - respectively Qingfu (慶父), Shuya (叔牙) and Jiyou (季友) all became important officials during the reign of Duke Zhuang, and gained substantial power in the state. Their influence would come to undermine the power of the ducal house owing to the succession issue of Duke Zhuang. The duke, who was seriously ill, wanted his son Ziban (子般) to succeed; Shuya advocated the succession of Qingfu, but was then poisoned by Jiyou, who supported Ziban. Under Jiyou's protection, Ziban became the Duke, but he was shortly murdered by Qingfu in collaboration with Duke Zhuang's wife. Jiyou was exiled from Lu, and Duke Min of Lu, Ziban's brother, was installed to the throne. In 660 BC, Qingfu murdered Duke Min as well and sought to rule himself as the Duke of Lu; in the face of public outcry, however, he was forced to flee to the state of Ju. Jiyou then returned from his exile in the

state of Qi Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a ancient Chinese state, regional state of the Zhou dynasty in History of China#Ancient China, ancient China, whose rulers held Zhou dynasty nobility, titles of ''Hou'' (), then ''Gong (title), Go ...

with the younger brother of Duke Min, who then ruled as

Duke Xi of Lu Duke Xi of Lu (; died 17 November 627 BC), personal name Ji Shen, was a ruler of Lu state, reigning from 659 BC to 627 BC. His father was Duke Zhuang. After Duke Xi died in 627 BC, his son, Duke Wen, succeeded him to the throne. Among the ruler ...

; while Qingfu was forced to commit suicide, Jiyou became the chief minister of Lu, a post that he held for 16 years and which was secured with the backing of the powerful state of Qi. Competition between the three families became the reason of a major skirmish during the time of

Ran Yong Ran Yong (; born 522 BC), also known by his courtesy name Zhonggong (), was one of the prominent disciples of Confucius. Confucius thought highly of his excellent moral conduct, and considered him fit to be the ruler of a state. After completin ...

Ran Qiu Ran Qiu (born 522BC), also known by his courtesy name Ziyou and as Ran You, was a leading disciple of Confucius. Among Confucius's disciples, he was the foremost in terms of ability and accomplishment in statesmanship. As a military commander o ...

, and Zilu, three of his disciples, were ministers of Jisun, and Confucius himself was a subordinate of Ji Huanzi, the chancellor of Duke Ding of Lu. Lu was almost annihilated by rebels, and Confucius allegedly took part in weakening of the three families and strengthening of the ruler's position, but was ousted from Lu in 497 BCE, went on an exile until 484 BCE. At the end of the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Ai of Lu, who had no control of Lu's own army, secretly negotiated with Yue for the powerful neighbour to invade Lu, depose the Three Huan, and restore power to the duke. However, the plot was discovered, and Duke Ai was forced to flee abroad. He was succeeded by his son Duke Dao, who continued to be a puppet of the Three Huan. Zhou dynasty nobility Lu (state)