Eastern Zhou Period (770-256 BC)

Basic Chronology

W. Zhou ca. 1045/1046-771 BCE

*Eastern Zhou (770-256 BCE)

*Spring and Autumn Period, 770-481 BCE

*Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu, 722-481

Zuozhuan, 722-468 B.C.E

*Commentary of Mr. Zuo (Hansen) or Zuo Commentary (Li Feng)

*Warring States Period, 481-221 B.C.E

Establishment of Eastern Zhou

King Ping r. 770-729 BCE

New capital at Chengzhou (Luoyang)

Early Spring and Autumn

148 states
15 major states

Spring & Autumn Social Changes

Early Spring & Autumn Society, 8th century

Elites

Zhou Kings and Feudal lords
Hereditary Ministers
Shi, "nobles"

hereditary small landlords

Commoners

Bound Peasants (serfs)
Merchants and artisans
Servants and slaves

Early Spring & Autumn Elite Social Practices, 8th c. BCE

Ancestor worship

Privilege of killing as a hunter or warrior

Victim sacrificed to ancestors

Training in 6 fields

Ritual, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and math

Political bonding

Blood and marital kinship

Kings, feudal lords, and high ministers related

Developments in Politics

Development of Lord Protector (ba) System

Duke Huan of Qi (r. 685-643 BCE)

Conquered 35 states

Reforms of administration

4 levels

Merit-based advancement

Alliances

King Hui of Zhou legitimized situation, 667 BCE

Domination of Jin

Held ba for 80 years

*Duke Wen (Double Ears) (r. 636-28 BCE)

Increasing violence

Spring and Autumn Period

540 interstates wars
130 major civil wars

Example of Jin (751-636 BCE)

Unstable succession

Duke Xian (r. 676-651 BCE)

Murdered descendants of former rulers

Duke Wen "Double Ears," (r. 636-28 BCE)

What does his life teach us about the personal qualities required to take and hold power?

Multistate system of power, Mid-6th c.

North

*Jin
*Qi
*Qin

South

*Chu
Wu
Yue

“On page 164, Li Feng states, ‘...the politics of the Spring and Autumn period were determined by the ambitions of the larger outlying states.’ What evidence does he provide to support this idea?” (Former student, Kendra Cason)

Spring & Autumn Social Changes

Late S&A Society, 5th century BCE

Elites

Rulers of states more powerful than Zhou king
Non-hereditary Ministers
Shi gain higher positions

"Person of excellence"

Commoners

Peasants often are tenants
Merchants and artisans
Servants and slaves

Late S&A Elite social practices, 5th century BCE

Ancestor worship

Privilege of killing as a hunter or warrior

Victim sacrificed to ancestors

Training in 6 fields

Ritual, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and math

Image on Bronze Vessel, ca. 500 BCE (see Hansen, p. 78)

Bronze Bells at Shanghai Museum

Political bonding

Blood oaths among unrelated individuals (see Li Feng, pp. 178-79)

Warfare

Early Spring and Autumn, 8th c. BCE

Fight for honor

Chariots manned by aristocrats

28 spokes

3 riders

Nova: Chinese Chariots Revealed

Foot soldiers drawn from capital populace
Comparatively small armies

Under 10,000 to 7th c. BCE

Bronze weapons

Late Spring and Autumn and Warring States Warfare

Raw struggle for power
No more chariots
Massed infantry

Larger armies

Approaching 50,000, 6th c. BCE

Use of crossbow and harder iron weapons

Transmission from West of Iron Metallurgy

Bactria (Silk road oasis) ca. 1000 BCE

Turkestan (Silk road oases) 10th-7th c. BCE

Tuva (S. Siberia/N. Mongolia steppe) 8th c. BCE

N. Ordos (China’s steppe borderlands) ca. 700 BCE

E. Zhou 7th c. BCE