Warring States Period

The causes

Under the Zhou dynasty, lords had been given the government of territories in exchange for loyalty. The power of the Zhou kings slowly weakened, and the great states, grown powerful, no longer obeyed them. In the 5th century BC, most of them proclaimed themselves independent kingdoms and sought to expand at their neighbours' expense.

During the so-called Spring and Autumn period, from 770 to 476 BC, the lords who govern the fiefs hardly recognize the authority of the Zhou kings anymore. Around 403 BC, the three great families who dominate the state of Jin obtain royal recognition of their states, Han, Zhao and Wei. In 386 BC, the Tian family, which already controls power in Qi, obtains this recognition in turn. These states, which develop irrigation, markets and currency, raise armies of peasants and multiply alliances and betrayals. The Zhou king, with no army of his own, can only acknowledge these divisions.

The course of the war

The kingdoms fought with ever larger armies of infantry armed with crossbows and of cavalry. In the mid-4th century BC, the adviser Shang Yang reformed the state of Qin: strict laws, rewards for soldiers, efficient administration. Qin became the most formidable power. In 260, at Changping, it won a very bloody victory over the kingdom of Zhao.

From 230 BC, King Ying Zheng launched the final conquest: Han fell in 230, then Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and finally Qi, in 221. Ying Zheng then took the title Qin Shi Huang, "first emperor".

In 341 BC, at Maling, the army of Qi, commanded by Tian Ji and advised by the strategist Sun Bin, defeats that of Wei. Sun Bin has the number of campfires reduced each evening to make it seem that soldiers are deserting, and the Wei army, which pursues the troops of Qi, falls into an ambush. Meanwhile, diplomacy remains essential: Su Qin proposes an alliance of states against Qin, while Zhang Yi, conversely, organizes alliances favorable to Qin. These agreements often unravel as quickly as they form.

Armies change in the 4th century BC: war chariots, which are costly, decline in the face of infantry armed with spears and crossbows, and in the face of cavalry. In 307 BC, King Wuling of Zhao adopts the dress of the cavalry of the northern peoples and introduces mounted archery into his army. Campaigns last longer, and logistics becomes a major issue, with armies supplied by grain convoys. Qin relies on registers of population and land, which facilitate recruitment and taxation.

In 316 BC, Qin conquers the kingdom of Shu, in present-day Sichuan, whose fertile plains provide additional grain and resources. Around 256 BC, the governor Li Bing develops the Dujiangyan irrigation system, which further improves yields on the plain. Qin can thus sustain long campaigns, but war weighs heavily on the peasants, subject to military service, forced labor and requisitions. Legalism, the doctrine of Qin, makes agriculture and war the two main duties of the subjects.

The consequences

Qin Shi Huang unified writing, weights and measures and currency, and divided the country into provinces run by officials. But his regime was very harsh, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death, in 210 BC. The Han dynasty succeeded it and kept this model of a unified empire, which lasted, with interruptions, until 1912. The period also saw major thinkers flourish, such as Mencius and Zhuangzi, as well as Legalism.

The memory of the period remains mixed. The Confucian tradition criticizes Qin's harshness, its Legalism and the book burning of 213 BC, while modern China presents it as the founder of the unified state. The discovery, in 1974, of the terracotta army near the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, in Xi'an, drew attention to the power of the emerging empire. Historians still debate the record of the regime: some see in it the model of an efficient centralized state, others the source of imperial brutality.

Timeline

1. 475 BCTraditional start of the Warring States period
2. 356 BCShang Yang reforms the state of Qin
3. 260 BCQin crushes Zhao at the battle of Changping
4. 230 BCQin launches the final conquest by defeating Han
5. 221 BCQin Shi Huang unifies China

Key figures

• Shang Yang, adviser who reformed the state of Qin
• Sun Tzu, strategist to whom tradition attributes The Art of War
• Ying Zheng (Qin Shi Huang), king of Qin and then first emperor of China
• Han Fei, Legalist thinker, whose ideas inspired Qin