Chinese Empire

The Warring States Period: Industrialised Warfare and Philosophical Flourishing

The Warring States period (475–221 BCE) was the most violent, most dynamic, and most intellectually fertile era in pre-imperial Chinese history. For more than two centuries the surviving successor states of the Zhou empire — first a dozen, then seven — fought a generation-long war for supremacy, while in their courts and classrooms a remarkable variety of thinkers worked out the philosophical, administrative, and technological foundations of the Chinese empire. The Warring States period ended with the Qin conquest of 221 BCE, which unified China for the first time. The Warring States is treated here as a self-contained chapter, but it is also the immediate background to the Qin and Han dynasties, and the period in which most of the political vocabulary of imperial China was first articulated. The longer story of the Zhou Dynasty is told in our article on the longest Chinese dynasty, the broader pre-Qin background is in our piece on what came before the Qin, the early Chinese dynasties section places both in context, and the section overview at Chinese dynasties provides the broader narrative.

The End of the Spring and Autumn Period

The Warring States period began in 475 BCE, conventionally dated from the first year of the reign of King Yuan of Lu, although the actual transition was gradual. Throughout the preceding Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), the Zhou king had been a figurehead, and a handful of great states had fought for hegemony through a system of alliances. By the late fifth century BCE, however, this system was breaking down. The smaller states had been swallowed by their larger neighbours, and warfare was becoming more frequent and more brutal. The crucial event was the partition of Jin in 453 BCE, in which the great state of Jin was split among three of its ministerial clans into the new states of Zhao, Wei, and Han, producing a new political geography and leaving a power vacuum that Qin and Chu would both try to fill.

The Seven Warring States

By the early fourth century BCE, the political map of China had stabilised into seven major states, often called the Seven Warring States (七雄).

Qin, based in the upper Wei River valley (modern Shaanxi), was the westernmost state. Originally a small fief of the Zhou, Qin had been assigned the task of defending the western frontier, and in the process had grown strong, austere, and militarised. Under a series of reformist rulers beginning with Duke Xiao of Qin and his minister Shang Yang (d. 338 BCE), Qin adopted Legalist administrative reforms that turned it into a war machine. Chu, based in the middle Yangzi valley, was the largest state by area and population, with a distinctive shamanistic culture. Qi, based in Shandong, was the great commercial state of the east, with the famous Jixia Academy in its capital Linzi. Yan, based in the northern frontier around modern Beijing, was a small but vigorous state. Han, Wei, and Zhao were the three successor states of Jin, occupying the central plains and strategically exposed between Qin in the west and Chu in the south.

The Nature of Warring States Warfare

Warring States warfare was industrialised. Where the Spring and Autumn period had been fought by aristocratic charioteers in set-piece battles, the Warring States period was fought by mass infantry, often organised into units of 10,000, 50,000, or 100,000 men. The most famous infantry weapon was the crossbow, a Chinese invention with a killing range of 300 metres. Cavalry became increasingly important, and the famous heavily-armoured horsemen of Zhao were among the most feared soldiers in Asia. The Battle of Changping in 260 BCE, in which the Qin general Bai Qi besieged and then annihilated a Zhao army reportedly of 400,000 men, was one of the bloodiest single engagements in pre-modern world history. The military innovations of the period are treated in the section on Chinese military history.

Shang Yang and the Legalist Reforms

The most important political development of the Warring States period was the rise of Legalism (法家) and its application in Qin. The Legalists rejected Confucian ritual in favour of a clear legal code applied equally to all subjects, a system of rewards and punishments so finely calibrated that good behaviour was rational, and a centralised bureaucracy. The key figure was Shang Yang, whose reforms in Qin included the abolition of the hereditary aristocracy in favour of ranks awarded for military and agricultural achievement, the introduction of a household registration system for tax and conscription, the standardisation of weights, measures, and coinage, and a codified legal code. After Duke Xiao’s death Shang Yang was executed by his enemies, but his reforms had been institutionalised, and they produced a state uniquely capable of mobilising its population for war.

The Hundred Schools of Thought

The Warring States period is famous for the explosion of philosophical activity known as the Hundred Schools of Thought (諸子百家). Confucianism was represented by Mencius and Xunzi, who developed the doctrines of human nature and moral cultivation. Daoism was represented by the writings attributed to Laozi and Zhuangzi, advocating wu wei and natural spontaneity. Mohism, founded by Mozi, preached universal love and against offensive war. Legalism was systematised by Han Feizi. Other schools included the Yin-Yang cosmology, the School of Names (Logicians), the Agriculturalists, the Diplomats (Su Qin, Zhang Yi), and the Miscellaneous school. The output of these schools was canonised after the Qin and Han as the foundation texts of Chinese education, and their long-term influence see the [Chinese philosophy] section (../../../pillar-chinese-philosophy/).

The Qin Conquest

The final phase of the Warring States period was the Qin conquest of 230–221 BCE. By the late third century BCE, Qin under King Zheng (the future First Emperor) was overwhelmingly the strongest state. It defeated Han in 230 BCE, Zhao in 228, Wei in 225, Yan in 222, and finally Qi in 221. The conquest was rapid and comprehensive. The First Emperor abolished the feudal states, divided the empire into commanderies and counties directly administered by centrally appointed officials, standardised the written script, weights, coinage, and the width of cart axles, and built a network of imperial highways and the first version of the Great Wall. The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, but its institutional framework was preserved by the succeeding Han and would form the basis of the Chinese imperial state for two thousand years. The end of the Warring States period and the pre-Qin background are see our what came before the Qin.