War became the biggest difference between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In terms of the scale, frequency, purpose, tragedy, technology, and ideology of the war, the Warring States period entered a new stage completely different from that of the past few hundred years. While it would be a tirade to analyze these distinctions, war is a continuation of politics in all eras. The fundamental difference between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is that the social and political core has undergone a "qualitative change". This can be experienced from the dividing point of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period - the Three Families Separation Incident. In the twenty-third year of King Weilie of Zhou (403 BC), he "first appointed the Jin doctors Wei Si, Zhao Ji, and Han Qian as princes", a move that is recognized as the beginning of the Warring States Period. Why is it that King Weilie of Zhou appointed three Jin princes as princes, and why is this seemingly gentle and calm political move regarded as the starting point of an era of unprecedented intensity?Because it symbolizes a political upheaval across the ages: "feudal society" in the strict sense of the word is beginning to be artificially destroyed. Unlike "feudal society" in the standard sense, it actually existed only in the Zhou Dynasty. During that period, Zhou Tianzi, as the co-lord of the world, divided the land into different princes, and the princes divided their land to the doctors under their command, and these three layers were in the shape of pagodas, which together constituted the rulers and landlords of that era.
On the one hand, they had the right to rule in their own areas for generations, and those under their rule had to pay taxes, serve in the army, and even let them live and die. On the other hand, these feudal lords also called themselves subordinates;The princes had to pay tribute to Zhou Tianzi and assist in the conquest;The next level of feudal lords paid tribute to the princes or royal families. Below these three tiers of rulers were the samurai and civil servants they raised, the next level were the commoners (mostly peasants), and at the bottom were the slaves. This structure and rank are extremely strict, and there are strict distinctions between the treatment and specifications of the items used by different levels of feudal lords, and even the title is required. For example, Zhou Tianzi's family business is called the "royal family", the princes are the "public office", and the doctor's family business is the "clan family". This is the traditional feudal system, that is, "feudal society" in the narrow sense. In the Spring and Autumn Period, although it gradually became common for vassal states to swallow small and small countries, there were no "thorns" who dared to destroy this system;Even powerful vassal states like Qi and Jin would not break through the shackles of their status as a feudal state of the Zhou royal family, let alone seek to replace them.
In the ancient vassal states, although there were coups and killings from time to time, the new princes still came from the original "office", and after the doctor killed the king, he only chose a new leader from the "office", and no one dared to risk the disapproval of the world and usurp the throne. Han, Zhao, and Wei were originally the three "clans" of the Jin State, the overlord of the Central Plains, and were feudal lords under the command of the Duke of Jin, enjoying their respective fiefs. During the reign of Jin Xiangong, Zhao Shu and Bi Wan were his main and co-drivers. After the Duke of Jin annexed Geng, Huo, Wei and other small feudal states, he gave Geng Di to Zhao Shu and Wei Di to Bi Wan. From then on, the Zhao family and the Wei family became small feudal states in the Jin Kingdom. Later, the doctor who took Han Yuan as his fief also established a feudal state, called the Han clan. This is the origin of the later world-famous Han, Zhao, and Wei. Of course, there are more than the above three feudal monarchs in the Jin Kingdom, and their strength is getting stronger and stronger, even surpassing the public office. In the late Spring and Autumn Period, the situation of Zhao, Wei, Han, Bank of China, Fan, and Zhi families standing side by side gradually took shape. However, in the twenty-third year of King Jing of Zhou (497 BC), Fan and Bank of China were jointly annexed by the other four major familiesIn the sixteenth year of King Zhending of Zhou (453 BC), it was annexed by Wei, Han and Zhao, so the Jin State formed a three-legged situation.
The strength of Han, Zhao, and Wei led to the gradual decline of the Jin State Office. During the reign of Jin Yougong, he even had to pay homage to the three doctors under his command, Han, Zhao, and WeiHis territory was only left with the two cities of Jiang and Quwo, and the others were all eaten up by the three families. By the twenty-third year of King Weilie of Zhou (403 BC), the Jin State Office, which was once so powerful that it took the world's breath away, had essentially existed in name only. Perhaps out of coercion, or because of his active "knowledge of current affairs", King Weilie of Zhou actually promoted the three doctors of Han, Zhao, and Wei, who actually held the power of the Jin Kingdom, to princes, and became the first-level feudal monarchs under the jurisdiction of Zhou Tianzi. This is the first time that the Zhou Dynasty has been established for more than 600 years. This means that the lower feudal lords can replace their superiors and can be officially recognized by Zhou Tianzi. This marked that the feudal system that maintained the basic structure of the Zhou Dynasty had existed in name only, and the "feudal society" came to an end. Han, Zhao, and Wei were not only the end of an era, but also the beginning of a new era. A series of major changes took place during the Warring States period. After 17 years of development, the Qi State in the Spring and Autumn Period underwent great changes. The Tian clan gradually seized control of the Qi state, replacing the Jiang clan, and Tian He became the head of the Qi state and was recognized by King An of Zhou.
In the twenty-third year of King An of Zhou (379 BC), the Tian clan finally annexed the last piece of territory of the Jiang clan, realizing the "change of dynasty" of the Qi state;Three years later, Wei, Han, and Zhao joined forces to depose the last monarch of the Jin state, Jin Jinggong, and divided the remnants of the Jin state's territory, leading to the complete destruction of the Jin state;Subsequently, in the first year of King Xian of Zhou (368 BC), Han and Zhao jointly launched an attack on the Zhou royal family, resulting in the division of the Zhou royal family into two: the Western Zhou with Gong as the capital and the Eastern Zhou with Luoyang as the royal city. At this point, the Zhou royal family, the former co-ruler of the world, has been reduced to the point of relying on people to breathe and linger. These events not only represented the collapse of the "feudal" system, but also marked the establishment of a new order. In the process of Han, Zhao, Wei, and Tian replacing their respective offices, it was actually accompanied by the systematic weakening and elimination of feudal lords at all levels in the country. In order to avoid too much dispersion of power, the powerful no longer regard the establishment of a feudal state as the first way to manage the country, but vigorously promote professional officials at all levels. Although there were also some feudal states (such as the Four Princes of the Warring States Period) during the Warring States period, the number and fiefdoms were extremely small, and they could not pose a substantial threat to the office at all. Therefore, during the Warring States Period, the major powers gradually embarked on the road of centralization.
In order to adapt to the new competitive situation, they promoted reforms one after another to strengthen the monarchy's power, revitalize the economy, and strengthen the national power. Among them, the small Wei state that implemented Li Kui's reform and established Wei Wushu became the forerunner of reform, and became a powerful country for a time in the early 50 years of the Warring States periodOther powers followed suit, such as the appointment of Zou Ji by Qi, Shen Buxian by Korea, and Wu Qi by Chu, and although the reforms were of varying degrees and duration, each country benefited from them. The Qin State, which was already backward in the patriarchal system and the feudal system, unexpectedly gained the advantage of being a latecomer and carried out the most thorough and comprehensive Shang Dynasty reform, which completely changed the pattern of the Warring States Period. All in all, the fission of politics is the fundamental difference between the Warring States period and the Spring and Autumn period;And those cruel, tyrannical, and dizzying wars all revolved around politics. This is the Warring States Period, and it is also the inevitable law of historical development.