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The period of the Warring States (Zhanguo or Chan-Kuo) refers to the era of about 475 BCE to 221 BCE. It commenced at a time of when the numerous petty city-state kingdoms of the Spring and Autumn period had been consolidated into seven major contenders and a few minor enclaves.

There was a larger state of Jin which broke up into the states of Han, Wu and Zhao. There also was to the south the state of Chu and to the east the states of Qi and Yan. These states, Han, Wu, Zhao, Chu, Qi and Yan, were thought to be the six major contenders for domination. As it turned out it was the state of Qin in the west that emerged victorious. Qin was not only not initially considered one of the contenders, it was not even considered fully Chinese. It had barbarian roots.

Advances in military technology gave superiority to larger states with the resources to take advantage of the newer technology. Part of this technology was the casting of individual weapons which allowed the arming of foot soldiers. In previous eras the fighting was done by aristocrats in chariots. Chariots were not produced on a mass production basis so participation in the battles was limited to a small proportion of the population, the ruling elite of the city-states. But with the development of the casting of individual weapons there was a marked advantage to states with the economic resources to produce the weapons and the population to provide large armies to use these weapons.

This military technology made the consolidation of smaller states into larger states an inevitability.

The Warring States period is usually interpreted as a time of endless brutal wars that came as a result of friction among the seven states and that this unfortunate state of affairs could end only with one state bringing all into one empire. This interpretation is probably propaganda for the "One China" policy. First of all the Warring States period was not so bleak. It was a time of great intellectual ferment. The Confucian philosophers Mencius and Hsun-tzu taught and wrote during the period. Administrative systems were developed for territorial states to replace the methods that worked only for relatively small city states. The wars that occured were not generally ones due to diplomatic or territorial frictions among the seven states but instead were wars stemming from one state attempting to conquer and control all of the states. In other words, the formation of the empire came not as a result of anarchy but as a result of greed and drive for power. The wasteful and bloody conquest of the separate states was justified as an unfortunate necessity to end the era of anarchy, but the wars were primarily those of empire-building.

The kingdom of Qin of the northwest finally conquered the southeastern kingdom of Chu in 223 BCE. The last opponents were conquered two years later in 221 BCE, thus creating the Empire of Qin (China).


http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/warringstates.htm

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Qin Shi Huangdi, First Chinese Emperor


A ruler from the western state of Qin united and subjugated the Warring States and formed China in 221 B.C. He declared himself the first emperor of China and named himself Shi Huangdi (meaning First Emperor).

The Emperor standardized Chinese writing, bureaucracy, scholarship, law, currency, weights and measures. He expanded the Chinese empire, built a capital in Xian, a system of roads, and massive fortifications and palaces.





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In 403 BC, the three major families of Jin, with the approval of the Zhou king, partition Jin into three states: the State of Han , the State of Zhao , and the State of Wei . The three family heads were given the title of Marquess. The State of Jin continued to exist with a tiny piece of territory until 376 BC when the rest of the territory was partitioned by the Three Jins.

In 371 BC, Marquess Wu of Wei passed away without specifying a successor, causing Wei to fall into an internal war of succession. After three years of civil war, Zhao and Han, sensing an opportunity, invaded Wei. On the verge of conquering Wei, the leaders of Zhao and Han fell into disagreement on what to do with Wei and both armies mysteriously retreated. As a result, King Hui of Wei was able to ascend onto the throne of Wei.

In 354 BC, King Hui of Wei initiated a large scale attack at Zhao. By 353 BC , Zhao was losing badly, and one of their major cities--Handan, a city that will eventually become Zhao's capital--was being besieged. As a result, the neighbouring State of Qi decided to help Zhao. The strategy Qi used, suggested by the famous tactician Sun Bin, who at the time was the Qi army advisor, was to attack Wei's territory while the main Wei army is busy sieging Zhao, forcing Wei to retreat. The strategy was a success; the Wei army hastily retreated, and encountered the Qi midway, culminating into the Battle of Guiling where Wei was decisively defeated. The event spawned the famous phrase " 围魏救赵 ", meaning attacking Wei to save Zhao.

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Towards the end of the Warring States Period, the State of Qin became disproportionately powerful compared to the other six states. As a result, the policies of the six states became overwhelmingly oriented towards dealing with the Qin threat, with two opposing schools of thought: Hezong ; and Lianheng. There were some initial successes in Hezong, though it eventually broke down. Qin repeatedly exploited the Lianheng strategy to defeat the states one by one. During this period, many philosophers and tacticians travelled around the states recommending the rulers to put their respective ideas into use. These "lobbyists" were famous for their tact and intellect, and were collectively known as Zonghengjia, taking its name from the two main schools of thought.

In 316 BC, Qin conquers the Shu area. In 230 BC, Qin conquers Han. In 225 BC, Qin conquers Wei. In 223 BC, Qin conquers Chu . In 222 BC, Qin conquers Yan and Zhao. In 221 BC, Qin conquers Qi, completing the unification of China , and ushering in the Qin Dynasty.

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The Reforms



In 356 BC, with the support of Duke Xiao of Qin, Shang Yang enacted a series of reforms in the state. The content of the reforms include: creating the household register system to enhance management; implementing criminal responsibility sharing system; making the harboring of a criminal a crime as severe as surrendering to the enemy; awarding military exploits; imposing an outright ban on private wars; depriving nobles of hereditary privileges; awarding farming and weaving; promoting county system; abolishing the nine-square land system; opening crisscross footpaths between fields; allowing land trade; encouraging breaking up large family clans; taxing according to the numbers of household and people; unifying the system of weights and measures.

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