Eras
The Warring States Period
Also Known As Warring States Era
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The Warring States period is the final centuries of the Zhou dynasty in Chinese history, conventionally dated from about 475 to 221 BCE and characterized by near-constant warfare among rival regional states, sweeping bureaucratic and military reform, and the political consolidation that culminated in the state of Qin's unification of China in 221 BCE. It is China's own periodization for roughly the same centuries that Western world-history surveys divide differently into the Iron Age and Classical Antiquity, an example of how the same span of time is organized on entirely different terms in different regional traditions.
Facts
Disputed
Start YearThe starting point of the Warring States period is a periodization convention rather than a single agreed event. Historians have used at least three anchors: 481 BCE, where the Spring and Autumn Annals traditionally end; 475 BCE, Sima Qian's choice and the most often cited, which the atlas follows; and 403 BCE, when the Zhou royal court formally recognized the partition of the state of Jin among the Han, Zhao and Wei lineages, the convention Sima Guang used centuries later in the Zizhi Tongjian. Some sources instead mark 453 BCE, the year of Jin's effective (if not yet formally recognized) partition. Geographic ScopeChina, during the closing centuries of the Zhou dynasty. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Related To
The Iron Age, Eras China's own periodization for roughly the same centuries a global Iron Age framework also covers.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
WikipediaWarring States period, introductionQuote, Warring States period, introduction
The Warring States period in Chinese history.
1. Wikipedia
WikipediaRelated To: The Iron Age, Warring States period, relation to the Iron AgeQuote, Related To: The Iron Age, Warring States period, relation to the Iron Age
The Warring States period in Chinese history (c. 475 - 221 BC).
2. Wikipedia: Warring States Period
WikipediaBackground / periodization sectionQuote, Background / periodization section
The Warring States period in Chinese history (c. 475 - 221 BC) comprises the final centuries of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046 - 256 BC), which were characterized by warfare, bureaucratic and military reform, and political consolidation. While scholars have identified several different dates as marking the beginning of the Warring States period, Sima Qian's choice of 475 BC is the most often cited.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Start Year
Sima Guang's eleventh century Zizhi Tongjian opens its narrative of the Warring States period in 403 BCE, the year the Zhou royal court formally recognized the partition of the state of Jin among the Han, Zhao and Wei lineages, treating that formal recognition, rather than Sima Qian's earlier 475 BCE marker, as the period's true beginning. A related minority convention instead marks 453 BCE, the year Jin was effectively partitioned in practice, years before the Zhou court's formal blessing. The atlas follows 475 BCE, the most commonly cited convention in general reference works, while recording that Chinese historiography has never fully settled on a single start date for the period.
A dissenting reading, from Historians following Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian convention for the Partition of JinWikipedia: Warring States Period, Wikipedia
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