The Warring States Period

The Warring States period is the second half of the Eastern Zhou. Its start is usually dated to 475 BC, although some historians prefer 481 or 403 BC. It ended in 221 BC, when Qin completed the conquest of its rivals.

In the earlier Spring and Autumn period, the Zhou kings had already lost real power. Leading states kept order through a system of hegemons, or ba, who acted in the king's name. By the fifth century BC even that pretence was fading. Dozens of small states had been swallowed by their neighbours, and a handful of large ones remained.

A turning point came when the great northern state of Jin was divided among three of its ministerial families, forming Han, Zhao and Wei. The Zhou king recognised them as states in 403 BC. In 386 BC the Tian family likewise replaced the old ruling house of Qi. From the fourth century BC the rulers of the major states called themselves kings, equal in rank to the Zhou king.

Qin lay in the west, in the Wei River valley. Long regarded as a rough frontier state, it was transformed by the reforms of the minister Shang Yang in the mid-fourth century BC.

Chu was the largest, stretching across the Yangzi valley in the south. Its rulers had called themselves kings since the eighth century BC, and it had a distinctive culture of its own. Qin took its capital, Ying, in 278 BC and conquered it in 223 BC.

Qi, in present-day Shandong, was rich from salt, iron and trade. Its capital, Linzi, was one of the great cities of the age. It was the last state to fall, in 221 BC.

Yan, in the northeast, had its capital at Ji, near modern Beijing, with a second capital at Xiadu. Qin conquered it in 222 BC.

Han, in present-day Henan and southern Shanxi, was the smallest of the seven and lay directly in Qin's path to the eastern plain. It was the first to be conquered, in 230 BC.

Zhao, in the north with its capital at Handan, bordered the steppe. King Wuling adopted nomad dress and mounted archery for his army in 307 BC. Zhao fell to Qin in 228 BC.

Wei, in the centre, was the leading power of the early period under Marquis Wen, who employed the reformer Li Kui. It later moved its capital from Anyi to Daliang, modern Kaifeng. In 225 BC the Qin general Wang Ben flooded Daliang with water from the Yellow River, and Wei surrendered.

Warfare changed completely. Aristocratic chariot battles gave way to mass infantry armies raised from the peasantry, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The crossbow came into wide use, cavalry appeared, and iron tools and weapons spread alongside bronze.

The costliest battle of the period was fought at Changping in 260 BC, when Qin crushed the army of Zhao. The quarrel began over Shangdang, a Han commandery that defected to Zhao rather than surrender to Qin.

States built long defensive walls of rammed earth and stone along their borders. Stretches of the wall of Qi in Shandong still survive, and later walls on the northern frontier became the ancestors of the Great Wall.

To pay for all this, rulers built centralised states. They registered households, taxed land directly, and replaced hereditary nobles with salaried officials. Qin went furthest, and Shang Yang's reforms rewarded farming and military success above birth.

As Qin grew stronger, the other states argued over how to deal with it. The "vertical" alliance, associated with the strategist Su Qin, joined the eastern states against Qin. The "horizontal" alliance, associated with Zhang Yi, had individual states make terms with Qin. Qin exploited the rivalries between its enemies and dealt with them one at a time.

Strategists of this kind moved from court to court selling their advice, and so did philosophers. The period is known as the age of the Hundred Schools. Mencius and Xunzi developed the teachings of Confucius. The Mohists argued for impartial care and against aggressive war. The Zhuangzi gave Daoism its most memorable voice.

For Qin, the most important school was Legalism, which held that order depended on clear laws, strict rewards and punishments, and a strong ruler. Its greatest writer, Han Fei, was a prince of the state of Han.

Warring States craftsmanship is among the finest in Chinese history. Bronze vessels became lighter and more elegant than the heavy ritual bronzes of earlier Zhou, and the most luxurious were inlaid with gold, silver, copper or turquoise in flowing geometric and cloud patterns.

Bronze mirrors, belt hooks and weapons are among the objects collectors see most often. Mirrors from the southern state of Chu often have a fine patterned ground with interlaced dragons or stylised characters. The tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Hubei, closed around 433 BC, gives an idea of the scale of production: it held a set of 65 bronze bells.

Chu tombs, often waterlogged, have also preserved painted lacquer, wood and silk that rarely survive elsewhere.

Jade carving reached a high point. Typical forms are bi discs carved with raised "grain" or comma patterns, S-shaped dragon pendants, and jade fittings for swords and belts. The best work is thin, crisp and highly polished.

Very few objects of this age come with secure provenance, and the period has been copied for a long time. Chinese collectors of the Song and Qing admired archaic jades and bronzes, and made archaistic pieces in their style. Modern copies are common.

Specialists compare a piece's shape, decoration and technique with excavated examples. On bronze they look at casting seams, the nature of the patina and corrosion, and whether any inlay is set into cast channels. On jade they study the material, the tool marks and the way the design is carved, since the drills and abrasives of the period leave different traces from modern tools.

Our guide to antique Chinese jade describes the tool marks and surface alteration to look for in more detail.

King Zheng of Qin came to the throne in 247 BC. Over ten years his armies conquered Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and finally Qi.

In 221 BC he took a new title, Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor, and began the Qin dynasty. He standardised writing, weights and measures, currency and axle widths, and replaced the old kingdoms with commanderies run by appointed officials.

The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, but the centralised state that the Warring States had forged survived it. The name China is often traced to Qin. The First Emperor's tomb, guarded by the Terracotta Army, is the best known monument of the period's end.