How many things have risen and fallen through the ages, leisurely, and the Yangtze River is not endless. When it comes to the rise and fall of dynasties in Chinese history, starting with the earliest recorded Xia Dynasty, to the Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, and so on. Sandwiched between the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Qin and Han dynasties, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period played a pivotal role in the development of history and cultural inheritance. Here we will only talk about the Spring and Autumn Five Tyrants.
Spring and Autumn Five Tyrants, first of all, Spring and Autumn, it is a time concept, spring, summer, autumn and winter all year round. The Spring and Autumn Period mentioned here is a historical concept, how did this concept come about? Mencius said, "Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Period, and the rebellious ministers and thieves were afraid." It is said that Confucius wrote a book called "Spring and Autumn", which has written a history of nearly 250 years from beginning to end, and this history is called Spring and Autumn.
King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou overthrew the rule of the Shang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty to divide the world. In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the strength of the Zhou royal family weakened and could not subdue the princes, and the princes began to attack and annex each other, and history entered such a chaotic era as the Spring and Autumn Period.
Then let's talk about the five tyrants, people say that heroes are born in troubled times, and the Spring and Autumn period is no exception, and the so-called Spring and Autumn Five hegemons appeared. Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Xiang of Song, Duke Mu of Qin, King Zhuang of Chu. After that, there is also the well-known Yue Wang Goujian and his opponent Wu Wangfucha. The year when King Goujian of Yue defeated Wu Wangfucha was almost the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, so there were "Seven Tyrants". However, people are still accustomed to saying the Spring and Autumn Five Tyrants.
So tracing back to the source, where did the chaos in the world begin? Personally, I think it started with the chaos within the Zhou royal family. What kind of chaos is there within the royal family? We'll talk about that in the next article.