Summary

The Spring and Autumn period or Chunqiu period (pinyin Chūnqiū sin. 春秋) refers, in Chinese history, to the first part of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (Dong Zhou 東周, 771-256 BC), i.e. a period from about 771 to 481 BC.

During the Western Zhou period (c. 1045-771 B.C.), the numerous small states stretching in and around the Yellow River valley as far as the Blue River under the aegis of the Zhou kings experienced a regime that could be described as "feudal", based on ties of kinship and allegiance between aristocratic lineages, whose ritual practices were dominated by ancestor worship. But after the capture of their capital in 771 BC and its relocation further east, the new "Eastern" Zhou kings exercised only symbolic authority, and became powerful princes who temporarily acted as "hegemons", ensuring them the leadership of military coalitions grouping together several principalities. But none of the great powers (Qi, Jin, Chu, Qin, Wu, Yue) was ever able to exercise a lasting hegemony and bring all the Zhou countries under its control, gradually dragging China into a phase of increasingly acute conflict.

This political evolution was accompanied by social and cultural changes, particularly evident from the second half of the 7th century B.C.: initially faithful to the traditions inherited from the Western Zhou period, with a relatively homogeneous culture, principalities freed from the authority and dominant influence of the former political and cultural center asserted their autonomy. This period therefore saw the emergence of regional cultures, visible notably in art and funerary practices, while a new political order slowly took shape, replacing the old order based on personal relationships and lineages with a new, more abstract and systematic political and social organization, later enshrined under the Warring Kingdoms. Modes of thought also evolved at the end of the period, notably with the figure of Confucius who, while aiming to restore the ancient Zhou tradition, laid the foundations for a new way of thinking about man and political action.

The main sources on the Spring-Autumn period are the traditional historiographical writings of ancient China. The Annals of the Springs and Autumns of the Land of Lu, which gave their name to the period, are a historical chronicle describing events that took place between 722 and 481. This text enjoyed great prestige in later Chinese history, as Confucian tradition considered that it had been reworked by Confucius, and that moralizing interpretations should be sought behind the facts described. It has therefore been the subject of numerous commentaries (and it is through them that it has been preserved). The Zuo Commentary (Zuo Zhuan) is the best source for reconstructing the political events and practices of the period from 722 to 468. It is a narrative text, reporting the speeches of the protagonists. Compiled around the middle of the 4th century, it has long been presented as a commentary on the Annals of Spring and Autumn, but the commentary covers a slightly longer period and the relationship between the two texts is not as clear as tradition would have us believe. It is a text with a moralizing purpose, and its late writing poses a problem in terms of how well it captures the intellectual climate of the period. The same is true of the other texts in the Chinese historiographical tradition covering the period, the Historical Memoirs

Archaeological excavations have considerably advanced our knowledge of the Spring-Autumn period. Since the discovery of the princely tomb of Lijialou in Henan in 1923 and its magnificent bronze vases, thousands of 8th - 5th century burials have been unearthed in the various parts of China covered by the states of this period. Among the material unearthed, the many bronze ritual vases are the most important sources: they are obviously of interest to the history of techniques and the history of art, but also to religious history through their ritual use, and to social history as markers of the rank of their owners, while the inscriptions on several of them provide very useful additional information on these aspects. In addition to tombs, a number of urban sites have been excavated. In all cases, it is essentially the material remains left by the elites that are known, which does not counterbalance the bias of written sources that are already the product of this environment.

China at the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period was made up of a hard-to-quantify number of principalities (perhaps as many as 200) spread roughly around the Yellow and Blue River basins. The former is, strictly speaking, the home of Chinese civilization as it developed under the domination of the Shang and Zhou dynasties since the middle of the 2nd millennium. This "central" part, which exerts a form of cultural primacy, suffers from political weakness due to its extreme territorial fragmentation, and is increasingly subject to the law of the powers emerging on its periphery, whose culture blends the traits of that of the Central Plain with specific traditions and the influence of "barbarian" peoples. The latter were less integrated into the political game of the period, though not absent from it. The main political players claim to belong to a similar community, stemming from the old Zhou-dominated system, with many of the reigning dynasties with founding ancestors (real or imaginary) having been established by the Zhou kings, and retain a form of symbolic allegiance to them despite their political decline. This constitutes the major element in the cohesion of the "Zhou countries", which form a political and cultural community linked by permanent relations.

The States of the Central Plain

The Central Plain corresponds to the alluvial plain of the Yellow River to the east of its "loop" and its confluence with the Wei River. These countries are seen as the guardians of the most ancient traditions, where the Zhou royal house settled after being driven from its home in the Wei basin. There are many principalities here, which are gradually losing their political power. Among the most important were Zheng, which played a major role at the beginning of the period, Song, whose ruling family came from the ancient Shang dynasty, Wei, and the land of Lu, where Confucius originated.

The "peripheral" powers

The great political and military powers of the Spring and Autumn and the Warring Kingdoms asserted themselves in countries on the periphery of the Central Plain. Some of them (Qin and Chu in particular) are sometimes considered by the people of the latter as semi-Barbarians due to certain cultural specificities that clash with the traditions inherited from the Western Zhou period, even if they share the main aspects of Zhou culture, which means that their originalities are best interpreted as regionalisms.

The main powers in these regions are :

The latter had the particularity of exercising hegemony over several principalities, constituting a sort of southern counterpart to the hegemons of the Yellow River plain, and of never recognizing the authority of the Zhou king, to whom he was never subject. It was later challenged by the emerging powers of the Lower Yangtze, Wu and then Yue. Another important outlying state was Yan in the northeast, which played little part in the political life of the Zhou countries.

These kingdoms located on the periphery of the Zhou world had several advantages that enabled them to become militarily dominant: they often benefited from the protection of natural barriers (rivers, mountains), and were able to expand towards areas outside the Zhou community, where "barbarian" political entities were often easier prey than the kingdoms of the Central Plain, these conquests offering them additional economic and human means to assert their power.

Barbarians" and the expansion of Zhou culture

The peripheral Zhou countries are bordered by several peoples deemed to be "Barbarians", who live on the margins of their territories. Texts attribute to them traits similar to those of the Barbarians of ancient Greek and Latin authors: vice, cowardice, lack of social organization (but which can be moralized). This reflects an evolution in the conception of "Chinese" identity, a community referred to as Hua Xia in the texts of the time, characterized by the common origin and culture of the kingdoms of the Western Zhou period, which reinforced their cohesion by defining themselves through the exclusion of this "other" from their community.

However, these peoples played an important role in the life of the Zhou countries, not only through conflicts (knowing that they could also ally themselves with Chinese princes), but also through regular diplomatic relations, cultural influences, or simply because people from these peoples (peasants in particular) lived on the territory of certain Zhou states. Indeed, texts indicate that such groups could be found in the Central Plain. Four major groups, themselves subdivided into several tribes, are distinguished: the Di to the north, the Rong to the west (sometimes grouped with the former in the eyes of the Zhou, who speak of "Rong-Di"), the Yi to the east and the Man to the south; but Wu and Yue can also be considered barbarians at times. Archaeological study of the regions occupied by these barbarians, particularly in the north, makes it possible to study these peoples in their own right, outside the bias of the sources.

These peoples faced the expansion of powers such as Jin, Qin and Chu in the same way as the countries of the Central Plain, and it was undoubtedly through contact with them that these conquering principalities acquired considerable military resources, notably by expanding into their domains. These states, particularly the Chu, passed on Zhou culture through their policy of conquest.

The House of Zhou's eastward migration and decline

In 771, King You of Zhou was defeated and killed by a coalition led by the Count of Shen and other lords allied with the Quanrong barbarians from the west, who plundered his capital Hao, located in the Wei valley. One of King You's sons, Ping (770-720), finally asserted himself at the head of the dynasty and moved his court further east, to Chengzhou (now Luoyang): this marked the beginning of the "Eastern Zhou" period.

Henceforth, the sovereign was no longer able to effectively exercise his nominal authority over the great lords of the Central Plain. This incapacity is revealed in the tensions between him and his most powerful vassals, the Dukes of Zheng, who were close relatives of the royal dynasty and held the office of Prime Minister during the reigns of Ping and his successor Huan (719-696). Duke Zhuang of Zheng (743-701) was a formidable warlord, fighting recalcitrant vassals and Barbarians on behalf of King Zhou. But his power worried Ping and Huan, who repeatedly raised troops to fight him, without ever succeeding in weakening him. This failure confirmed the decline of the Zhou dynasty, which was no longer in a position to confront its most powerful "vassals", although they did not challenge its symbolic domination.

The age of hegemons

The decline of the royal family offered the most powerful principalities the opportunity to exercise the role of "hegemon" (ba), which was gradually institutionalized. However, no power was stable enough to exercise a lasting hegemony, and the constant reversal of alliances and the emergence of new military powers created an unstable political situation. After Zheng's failure, the principalities of the Central Plain were gradually supplanted by peripheral powers whose domination spread from the first half of the 7th century onwards, and who exercised the role of hegemon (Qi, Jin, Qin and Chu), laying the foundations for the great military powers of the Warring Kingdoms period.

The death of Duke Zhuang in 701 plunged Zheng into a succession crisis, which his neighbors (notably the Wey and Song) took advantage of to undermine his supremacy. The credit for laying the foundations of the hegemon system then goes to Duke Huan of Qi (685-643) and his Prime Minister Guan Zhong. The latter has gone down in history as the forerunner of the great reformers who set up an innovative organization that enabled their kingdom to gain in power. Thanks to his military resources, Qi intervened in various conflicts at the request of other princes, who then found themselves bound and obliged to recognize his supremacy. In 667, Huan brought together the counts of Lu, Song, Zheng and Chen, the most powerful in the Central Plain, who proclaimed him ruler of the Zhou countries. King Hui (676-652) conferred on him the title of hegemon, in exchange for Huan's support in the succession dispute with his brother, supported by the Duke of Wey. The "rebels" were punished, and Qi's supremacy was confirmed.

During the years of his hegemony, Qi derived his legitimacy from his ability to combat external threats to his allies, the Zhou city-states. The first of these were the barbarian tribes expanding into the northern principalities: he helped Yan against the Rong tribes, then Xing and Wey against the Di. The other major threat to the Zhou world was Chu in the south. His ruler had adopted the title of "king" (a mark of his hegemonic ambition, and a threat to the principalities in the south (Sui, Zheng, Cai). Here, Huan's success was less obvious: Chu was led to negotiate peace in 657 after having succeeded in pitting Cai against Qi and his allies, but thereafter he continued to extend his influence over his neighbors. This did not prevent Huan's prestige from reaching its peak, so much so that he is said to have considered breaking with the Zhou king to assume the same status as him.

The death of Guan Zhong, followed by that of Huan in 643, sounded the death knell for Qi's hegemony: the kingdom plunged into a succession crisis, providing an opportunity for other princes to assert their pre-eminence. Duke Xiang of Song (651-637) sought to form an alliance for his own benefit, and was briefly recognized as hegemon, without success due to Zheng's opposition and Chu's influence. The new Duke of Qi, Xiao, was hardly more successful. The vacuum was filled by Jin, a state on the western bangs of the Central Plain, which had expanded and reorganized since the 8th century under the aegis of a new dynasty. Duke Xian (676-651) had strengthened his power, and stayed away from the league led by Qi. Subsequently, Duke Wen of Jin (636-628) presented himself as a potential support to the Duke of Song, to thwart the ambitions of his opponents, Zheng and Chu. It was also at this time that King Xiang of the Zhou approached Wen for help after being forced into exile by his brother: the Duke of Jin reinstated him and, in exchange, obtained lands close to the Zhou domain, establishing himself directly on the Central Plain. He then asserted his power against Chu: in 633, he came to the aid of Song, besieged by the Southern Kingdom and its allies, and the following year led a coalition with his father-in-law Duke Mu of Qin (sometimes recognized as a hegemon) and the dukes of Qi and Song, inflicting his first major defeat.

After establishing Jin's pre-eminence, Duke Wen died in 628. Chu retained his military power and ambitions to extend his dominion over the weak principalities south of the Central Plain, and his king Zhuang (613-591), assisted by his minister Sunshu Ao, even succeeded for a time in gaining recognition as hegemon after defeating Jin at the battle of Bi (597). At the same time, Qi and Qin were still very powerful and could threaten the other two great states. Despite this difficult situation, Jin managed to maintain his central position in the diplomatic and military game. To weaken Chu, who remained his main adversary, Duke Jing of Jin sent a former Chu minister, Wuzhen, to the Wu countries at the mouth of the Yangtze River, where he organized barbarian tribes to invade several territories under Chu's control. Chu was encouraged to maintain peaceful relations with his rival for the next few years.

But conflicts became more acute in the first decades of the 6th century, to the extent that the Duke of Song, constantly caught between the rivalries of the great powers, convened a conference in 579, attended by the four great powers, who agreed to a principle of limiting their military power. This did not prevent the resumption of conflicts soon afterwards, and Jin had to raise a new coalition to defeat Chu at Yanling in 575. Shortly afterwards, a coup d'état took place in Jin, bringing Duke Dao (572-558) to power. He succeeded in gaining recognition as hegemon despite the rivalry of the other great powers, after subduing the Rong tribes, who were once again a threat to the north. But it was also at this time that the chiefs of the Jin noble lineages strengthened their position in the kingdom, weakening the reigning dynasty. Dao's son and successor, Duke Ping, still managed to lead a victorious expedition against Qi, whose capital Linzi was taken in 555. But he had to face a revolt by one of his ministers that was about to topple him, and owed his salvation only to the support of other great families in his kingdom. Jin's external power can only suffer as a result of these internal troubles, and Chu succeeds in forming around himself a rival league to that of which Jin was hegemon, before expanding against several of the latter's members. Jin's inability to react marked the definitive shift to a period of "equilibrium".

Balance of power and aristocratic wars

The 6th century saw the consecration of a system without lasting hegemonic power, in which Jin, Chu, Qi, Qin, then the southern principalities Wu and Yue gained even greater strength, continuing their expansion in the face of weaker principalities and barbarian peoples. King Ling of Chu (540-529) established his power in the last decade of the 6th century, uniting around himself several principalities threatened by Wu's expansion (Lu, Qi, Wey, etc.) and taking over Cai and Chen, two important old principalities of the Central Plain. But internal political unrest in his kingdom (where the authority of the central power was generally weak) prevented him from succeeding. Once again, Jin was able to preside over inter-state meetings, all the more so as his ally King Helü of Wu (who benefited in particular from the advice of the famous strategist Sun Tzu) scored several military successes against Chu, whose capital Ying he took. However, with Chu on the verge of collapse, Jin was unable to lead the expedition that would deal him the final blow, due to his own internal tensions. He even plunged into civil war in the early years of the 5th century.

In 482, King Fuchai of Wu (495-473), continuing his predecessor's successes against Chu, Yue (his southern neighbor, whose support Chu had sought against him) and Qi, succeeded in taking over the leadership of the interstate assemblies, becoming hegemon at the expense of his old ally Jin, from whom he broke away to exercise a more autonomous policy. But just as the King of Wu was seeking recognition in the Central Plain, King Goujian of Yue (496-465) made his first successful incursion against him, resulting in the capture of his capital. Too weakened by the wars he had already waged, Wu was unable to resist a second offensive in 473, which resulted in his outright annexation by Yue. Although recognized as a hegemon, Yue could do no better than his predecessor, and failed to establish himself in the long term.

While the Spring-Autumn period was constantly marked by internal rivalries between states, pitting aristocratic lineages against each other and against heads of state, these became more acute in the 6th-5th centuries. They culminated in violent internal conflicts that disrupted several major states. The troubles in Jin, for example, lasted until the elimination of several of its great families and its division into the three most powerful, the princes of Wei, Zhao and Han, consecrated by King Zhou in 453. A little earlier, in 481, the Tian lineage had succeeded in securing its supremacy in Qi by eliminating all its rivals and considerably reducing the authority of the ducal family, which now had only a puppet position. This is the last event mentioned in the Annals of Spring and Autumn, and thus the end of the Spring and Autumn period according to classical historiography. By the standards of modern historians, however, it is more a reflection of the rise of the aristocracy and the establishment of a new state order, which did not come to fruition until the following century.

There is therefore no agreed date to mark the end of the Spring and Autumn period, as political and social developments do not point to a major break in the course of the 5th century. Be that as it may, the period of the Warring Kingdoms opened with a political landscape dominated by seven or eight major powers that increasingly failed to recognize the symbolic authority of the Zhou king, and a few dozen vassal principalities that were for the most part no longer able to play a significant political role and were doomed to be subjugated or even annexed by their powerful neighbors, against a backdrop of growing military strength and state centralization marked by the emergence of a new political class and often new dynasties.

The persistence of the Zhou dynasty and its moral authority at a time when it no longer had any political authority, combined with the absence of a power capable of replacing the former masters on a lasting basis, meant that the Spring and Autumn period led to the creation of a lively and relatively homogeneous diplomatic and military space. Principles and practices were put in place to ensure a semblance of stability: meetings between princes were organized on a regular basis, envoys and marriages between dynasties strengthened ties, leagues were formed around the most powerful, and military practices were guided by principles designed to avoid unnecessary violence. But this did not prevent the growing instability of relations and the escalation of violence and dishonesty that were major features of the Warring Kingdoms period.

King Zhou, the hegemons and the other princes

The community of states of the Spring and Autumn period recognized the symbolic supremacy of King Zhou, established in Chengzhou (Luoyang) since 771, despite the fact that he was no longer able to play a significant political role after his last attempts to regain control from Zheng. Primacy in the political game belongs de facto to the great powers, the "hegemons". This term is the common translation of the word ba, a distinction first attributed to Duke Huan of Qi, who was unable or unwilling to take his military domination to its logical conclusion by assuming the rank of king. Chinese tradition has recognized at least five hegemonic sovereigns: Huan, then Duke Wen of Jin, Xiang of Song, Mu of Qin, Zhuang of Chu, to whom can be added Fuchai of Wu and Goujian of Yue.

But these hegemons only ever ruled "leagues" of states covering a more or less vast part of the Zhou countries, and never their entirety. In general, the major states (Qi, Jin, Chu, Qin, then Wu and Yue) never recognized the domination of another for long. During Jin's long hegemony, Chu built up his own zone of influence, to the point where there was now one hegemon in the North and another in the South. Finally, the Zhou king, although he played no military role, remained the symbolic leader, drawing on the prestige of his founding ancestors (Lord Millet, the Wen and Wen kings of the Zhou). He is regularly visited by the princes, who pay him homage and give him gifts with symbolic tribute value; in return, he offers them a guarantee reinforcing their legitimacy, primarily that of the hegemon who receives his assent to occupy this position, often in exchange for help in the many troubles affecting the royal domain (barbarian invasions, food shortages, dynastic conflicts). He played an important role in the symbolic unity of the Zhou countries, and significantly, no other ruler in this cultural space dared to adopt the title of "king" (wang), which was only used by rulers of peripheral countries such as Chu, Yue, Wu, or the "barbarians" Rong, the former clearly challenging the supremacy of the Zhou king and seeking to establish his own sphere of authority in the image of that of the Zhou, and not just as a hegemon.

The symbolic stability of the royal institution contrasts with the political instability of the hegemonies, which is due to a combination of several factors: highly volatile alliances, which tend to turn against the strongest, preventing them from establishing their power on a lasting basis; the inability of the great powers to distinguish themselves militarily, preventing the emergence of an uncontested hegemon; and the internal weaknesses of the great principalities, where central power is often weakened and threatened by noble lineages. The result is a highly unstable political game, marked by eternal reversals of alliances, advantages never permanently acquired, and eternal quarrels of precedence based on factors of military power, but also on symbolic considerations that are never evacuated, such as the seniority of lineages.

Numerous conflicts

The frequency of wars during the Spring and Autumn period is impressive: the Annals of Spring and Autumn mention 540 conflicts between states and 130 civil wars over 259 years, and this list is undoubtedly incomplete. These incessant wars can be explained by the numerous reversals of alliances and territorial fragmentation, which generated numerous disputes that were rapidly generalized by diplomatic agreements and political interests. In fact, historiographical accounts mention conflicts that could erupt for a wide variety of reasons, often seemingly insignificant: breaches of etiquette in relations between courts, disputes over precedence at a meeting, or in an extreme case, a quarrel between two women from two border villages dependent on each other, over the possession of mulberry trees, escalated to the level of the princes of Wu and Chu.

These conflicts were not very violent. During his hegemony, Duke Huan of Qi had some 30,000 infantrymen at his disposal, organized into armies of 10,000 soldiers each, made up of five regiments of 2,000, themselves divided into units of 200, then 50 and 10 soldiers. It is unlikely that all these troops were mobilized at the same time during the same campaign. The most common weapon used by infantrymen was the dagger-axe (ge), consisting of a blade mounted on a metre-long shaft, used for hand-to-hand combat; the sword spread slowly, particularly from the principalities of the South, which were known to have forged quality swords (Yue, Wu then Chu). The shock troops of the armies of this period were the battle tanks, which the greatest powers could mobilize by the hundreds, and which were the aristocrats' weapon par excellence. Chariot-mounted fighters were armed not only with bows, but also with long, multi-bladed halberds (ji) used to hook their opponents. The noble lineages form the backbone of the troops, as they themselves mobilize the basic army units in their fiefdoms. In this way, they build up their own personal troops, which are often mobilized for their own needs, and not necessarily for those of their suzerain. During the campaign, the prince discusses the operations to be undertaken with the aristocrats who have joined him, and sometimes an influential minister of war chosen from among the great lineages of the state may take charge of the troops in person.

If we rely on ancient texts (in particular the Zuo Commentary), the main reason for the low violence of wars is that princes have little appetite for fierce fighting, and often seek to avoid confrontation, contenting themselves with displaying their power and their ability to mobilize allies, with the aim of forcing their rival to make peace, if possible without fighting or following a simple skirmish. When the confrontation actually takes place, it's usually an opportunity for the nobles mounted on the fighting chariots to demonstrate their bravery and chivalrous attitude, refusing immoral behavior to boost their prestige. Duke Xiang of Song, for example, refused on principle to attack Chu's troops until they had all crossed the river separating them and formed up in order of battle, which cost him victory. These attitudes are emphasized in the texts, which present the battle as an ordeal during which the gods decide who wins, and the best way to win their favor is to respect morality, and not to push victory too far by slaughtering one's opponents, all the more so as clemency avoids future vengeance. As with all political activities, rituals had to be performed at various times during the campaign, and the auspices had to be consulted before a decision was taken.

In reality, wars of this era were perhaps less courteous. Several examples (denounced by ancient texts) show that ethical rules were not always respected, and several conflicts resulted in the annexation of defeated countries by the victors, explaining the decrease in the number of political entities during the period. Military organization gradually changed in the 6th century B.C. As new administrative districts were created, reforms were introduced to recruit soldiers, gradually leading to a large-scale conscription system (Lu in 590, Chu in 548, Zheng in 538). In this context, the army relied less and less on nobles and the charrerie, and more and more on the peasantry and foot soldiers. Thus, in 540, the Prince of Jin asked his warriors riding chariots to fight on foot. After 500, there was an evolution towards more bitter conflicts, heralding the violence and amorality of the battles of the Warring Kingdoms (in the 4th century), when troops of tens of thousands of infantrymen were used as cannon fodder, in battles in which strategists sought to assert their superiority by any means necessary.

Encounters, alliances and solidarity

Meetings between princes and ministers are commonplace during the Spring and Autumn period, playing a decisive role in the diplomatic game. Princes and

Less regularly, but with more far-reaching consequences, real "conferences" often bring together a dozen or so allied princes (forming a "league") to discuss major issues. These meetings were formalized from the Huan of Qi hegemony onwards: they had to decide on a hegemon who would lead the discussions, generally relating to the organization of military expeditions and the payment of tribute to the hegemon. The most important meetings bring together the princes, their entourage and their guards, who gather in large encampments. The all-important order of precedence is discussed.

Large gatherings are marked by the taking of an oath of covenant (盟, meng), also practiced between lineages of the same principality and in the private sphere. It's generally a bloody ritual that begins with the digging of a hole, into which an animal is sacrificed, often an ox; its blood is used to symbolize the agreement, but it's not known whether it's drunk by the contracting parties or smeared over their mouths. The oath is then pronounced and written on a text that is buried with the victim or his blood in the hole. Numerous treaty tablets have been unearthed in Wenxian and Houma, the ancient Xintian capital of Jin (mostly concerning the aristocratic houses of this state). Gods and ancestors were invoked as guarantors of the agreement, and terrible threats were made against those who violated it. The treaty text is therefore divided into two parts: stipulations of the agreement, and invocation of divine or ancestral guarantors.

Apart from military alliances, solidarity between principalities is affirmed on several occasions, even between non-allied countries. For example, it was agreed that a country suffering a natural calamity (flood, drought) or a barbaric threat should not be overwhelmed, but rather helped. It is also good manners to extradite fugitives from another state.

Movement of people between states: marriages, hostages and escapes

The cohesion of the states of the Spring and Autumn period was also ensured by the movement of various types of people between principalities, for a wide variety of reasons.

Courts are often linked by inter-dynastic marriages, which give rise to negotiations, exchanges of gifts and then the travel of the brides in long processions to the court of their betrothed, where a sumptuous union is celebrated, supposedly to ensure good relations between the two courts. A princess married to a foreign prince is often expected to plead in favor of her country of origin, even if the situation sometimes deteriorates and the unfortunate bride finds herself having to choose between the two states. This practice sometimes overlaps with that of sending princes as hostages to a foreign court (often following a defeat) to ensure the good faith of their home country, the hostage princes often being married to a princess from their host country.

Movements from one state to another also involved princes' servants, who might move at their master's will (musicians to entertain another court, maids accompanying princesses promised to a foreign prince, ministers coming to help an ally), or because they had fled. Many ministers found themselves serving countries from which they did not originate, for a variety of reasons: disgrace, lineage rivalry, crime. They often had to take refuge in a faraway court, out of the reach of their country of origin and its allies, who had to extradite fugitives. The result was a highly mobile and ultimately homogeneous ruling class, with ministers often having connections (good or bad) in various courts, contributing to the integration of the political arena.

China during the Spring and Autumn period was divided into several political entities of varying sizes, which could be characterized as states or city-states, with an administration structured around the ruling lineage. This was generally established during the Western Zhou period around the model offered by the institutions of the royal domain. During the Eastern Zhou period, this organization became more complex, particularly in states undergoing significant territorial expansion, often under the impetus of reformers. At the same time, the social structure became more diverse and hierarchical, as well as more fluid.

Settlement and administration: strengthening state authority

The states of the Spring and Autumn period were organized around a central city (guo, or cheng), which generally gave its name to the political entity (also designated by the term guo). They have also been characterized as "city-states". The rest of the territory is designated as "field" (ye). Settlement was generally discontinuous, leaving isolated hamlets and undeveloped areas, particularly on the margins of principalities. The few cities from this period that have been uncovered in archaeological excavations are surrounded by rammed earth fortifications, and include an official part housing the ruler's palace, which often seems to be surrounded by its own wall and raised on a terrace, following a formula that is enshrined in the Warring Kingdoms period. The last Jin capital, Xintian (today Houma), is thus organized around four adjoining rectangular enclosures, one with a large terrace that must have supported the ruler's residence and the others undoubtedly being outbuildings of other members of the ruling family, while other walled spaces were built further out, whose function is unclear (residential, administrative, ritual or military). Artisanal spaces (notably foundries) were uncovered on the periphery of the site, as were ritual, funerary and sacrificial spaces further east (notably the site where the oath texts were found). Popular settlements were also to be found outside the enclosures. Cities thus included residential areas and artisanal spaces revolving around local power. Some cities covered vast areas: Yongcheng, the Qin capital, had a roughly quadrangular enclosure measuring 3,330 meters east-west and 3,200 meters north-south.

State rulers are often referred to by the title gong, commonly translated as "duke" or "prince", or sometimes hou, "marquis". The title wang, "king", was reserved in principle for the Zhou ruler, but other monarchs bore it in the southern regions (Chu, Wu and Yue) and among the "Barbarians". According to the royal ideology forged under the Western Zhou, the king was the holder of the "Celestial Mandate" (tianming) granted to him by the supreme deity, the Lord Above (shangdi), which assured him dominion over the "four parts" of the world (si fang). Following the decline of the Zhou kings, the most powerful princes adopted this ideology, as attested by inscriptions found in Qin and Chu. The power of the rulers of the main states is particularly evident in the monuments dedicated to them, notably the Majiazhuang complex in Qin, made up of several units, including site no. 1, which is probably the ancestral temple of the ducal house, while no. 5 appears to be a palace, and the royal burial complexes, which are increasingly monumental, like that of Nanzhihui in Qin. This reflects the fact that the gap between princes and the great lineages of the aristocratic elite is tending to widen, whereas the differences between the tombs of the two groups were not so marked under the Western Zhou.

The sovereigns were surrounded by high dignitaries occupying the major functions of the administrative apparatus, inspired by those of the Zhou court. A prime minister (lingyin) was often in charge of the day-to-day running of the administration, and may be assisted by other ministers, notably those in charge of war and security, rituals, the treasury, works, the supervision of craftsmen, etc. At the beginning of the period, however, the power of the central administration was limited by the autonomy of the fiefdoms ruled by the great noble lineages, who reproduced on their own scale a local administrative organization, also organized around a town. But the balance of power tended to shift. At the beginning of the 7th century, the Chu kings were the first to create districts (xian, the title still used to designate the basic constituency of the People's Republic of China) from conquered lands, entrusted to governors (yin) chosen by the central power and answerable to it alone, and no longer to one of his relatives who could then pass it on to his heirs. This model, which broke with the tradition of Zhou institutions, was subsequently adopted by other major states (Jin, Qin), contributing to the establishment of a territorially-based administrative system that eventually supplanted the old order of aristocratic "fiefs", which went hand in hand with the predominance of personal relationships.

At the same time, the first written penal laws date from the middle of the 6th century, the most famous being those drafted on a cauldron at the instigation of Zi Chan, Prime Minister of Zheng. This, too, foreshadowed the emergence of a state with centralizing tendencies: with the decline of the political power of lineages hereditarily dominating apanages, central power came to exercise justice directly in its provinces, necessitating a more abstract and systematic approach to the exercise of justice. It is also this tendency to erase customary justice exercised by lineage chiefs that is indicated by the written oaths of alliance found at Houma (ancient Xintian) around 440-420, a period of conflict between aristocratic lineages in this state. The head of the powerful Zhao lineage receives oaths of allegiance (meng) from several other lineages, thus seeking support based on formalized ties and no longer on customary lineage solidarity (all the more so as these alliances seem to be concluded against another member of the Zhao).

Social structures and dynamics

Graves and the furnishings they contain are the best indicator of the social hierarchies of the Spring-Autumn period, since the size of graves and the placement of certain prestigious objects inside them were in principle in accordance with sumptuary laws that reflected the status of the deceased. For example, the number of ding and mistletoe vases stored in the grave of an aristocrat is often a revealing indicator of the rank of the deceased in countries where the Zhou tradition is most alive. The study of cemeteries thus enables us to distinguish several social groups that can be linked to those attested in the texts. For example, the necropolis of Zhaojiahu (Hubei) in ancient Chu presents the lower social strata to the high aristocracy. If we follow L. von Falkenhausen's analysis, first come the members of the shi group, belonging to subaltern noble lineages: first a wealthier group, the shangshi, corresponding to the lower stratum of the landed aristocracy with secondary administrative functions, then two other groups of these "gentlemen", the zhongshi and ziashi, with no estates or official functions, a kind of middle stratum. Next come the common people (shumin), then the poor (pinmin). Commoner" social groups can also be defined according to their activity: craftsmen and merchants in urban settlements, peasants in the hinterland, themselves divided into several groups (gardeners, shepherds, foresters, millers, etc.).

The highest offices in central and local government are traditionally held by the most powerful aristocratic lineages in the various states, who often hold hereditary positions at both administrative levels. They bear honorific titles inherited from the Zhou tradition, roughly translated by terms taken from European feudalism: "marquis" (hou), "count" (bo), "viscount" (zi), or "baron" (nan). They received titles from the sovereigns, as well as prestigious objects (ritual vases, musical instruments, musicians, armor) and servants to reflect their social rank. Their functions were essentially focused on warfare and rituals, which guaranteed them the greatest prestige. The ideal of noble activities can be seen on a number of bronze vases with copper inlays dating from the last decades of the period and depicting several scenes typical of aristocratic life: scenes of bow hunting, a city under siege, war dances performed with spears in hand, rituals marked by libations and music played with bells and sounding stones. The local base of the aristocrats, built around a veritable local court, enabled them to dispose of their own wealth, thus mobilizing troops, and to organize the ancestral cult of their family at local level, around vast necropolises which, while not rivalling those of the most powerful dynasts, could be impressive. The Xiasi necropolis (Henan, mid-6th century), for example, belonged to the Yuan lineage, a collateral branch of the royal Chu dynasty that then ruled the Danjiang river valley. The site is dominated by the tomb of Viscount Peng (or Yuan Zi Feng, tomb no. 2), who was Prime Minister of the kingdom, surrounded by his wives and several servants.

Over time, the traditional aristocracy dominated by characters belonging to lineages descended from that of the sovereign (often his brothers or sons) was supplanted by new lineages that originally had no family ties to the sovereign. The coexistence of these powerful lineages with those of the dynasties reigning over the states is often chaotic, and civil wars are commonplace. Conflicts between great families were recurrent in Jin, and contributed to the weakening and loss of its position as hegemon, before finally causing the break-up of the kingdom in the first half of the 5th century. The various agreements found at Houma, already mentioned, bear witness to the alliances forged between the various aristocratic lineages of this kingdom to acquire greater power. New political entities were thus created, based on the growing power of armies in the hands of the most powerful lineages, which were often able to overthrow the reigning dynasties, as did the Tian lineage, which ruled Qi from 481 onwards. In Chu, the weakening of the royal lineage following the defeats inflicted by Wu enabled the collateral branches to exercise their tutelage over the sovereigns. In Qin, on the other hand, the aristocracy seems to have been less powerful and turbulent.

The institutional evolution towards greater state authority and the decline of traditional ties also benefited the group of "gentlemen" (shi). Their origins seem diverse: members of downgraded aristocratic lineages, or conversely, people from the middle or lower strata of society who have made a successful social ascent and integrated this lower stratum of the elite. Often with an intellectual and military education, they were able to distinguish themselves in the exercise of official functions and achieve social ascendancy on the basis of their merits, prefiguring the class of literate functionaries that asserted itself at the end of the pre-imperial period. Indeed, members of the wealthy urban classes played an increasingly important role in the internal conflicts of the Spring and Autumn states, and the great lineages were obliged to take them into account in their march to power. Some brilliant ministers came from this middle class, such as Guan Zhong, Prime Minister of Duke Huan of Qi, who came from the merchant community, or Zi Chan, a minor nobleman from Zheng who succeeded in governing this state. The political role of the shi was finally established during the Warring Kingdoms.

Little is known about the majority of society, the peasantry. Marcel Granet's anthropological analysis of the "Songs of the Country" (Guo feng) in the Book of Odes, most of which modern critics date from the early Eastern Zhou period, is an attempt to reconstruct their lives more precisely. These texts refer to peasant festivals or, more broadly, to their daily lives. What emerges is the image of a rural society organized into extended families of a classificatory type (fathers and uncles and mothers and aunts are indistinguishable), endogamous matrimonial unions (with a preference for marriage between cousins) and patrilocal unions (the wife joins the husband's household). The farming season is marked by numerous festivals, which are particularly sexual in spring, when fertility returns. The various features of the rural landscape (rivers, mountains, forests) are invested with a sacred character, sometimes being worshipped.

Agriculture

Agriculture in Spring and Autumn China is dominated by millet, with wheat in the north and rice in the south. Peasants also grow a variety of fruits and vegetables. Mulberry cultivation for silkworm rearing is on the rise, and is undoubtedly speculative in nature. For several millennia, farming implements had been made primarily of wood and stone, but bronze blades (and perhaps iron at the end of the period) were becoming more widespread for hoes, scythes and ploughshares. Oxen were increasingly used as draught animals for spiders during the Eastern Zhou period, contributing to a slow improvement in agricultural productivity. However, growth in agricultural production was mainly based on the extension of cultivation areas through land clearing, and in a few cases irrigation.

Agrarian structures were characterized by the elites' rights to the land worked by the peasants. At the beginning of the period, the peasants had to perform drudgery on the land owned directly by the elites, but it seems that this work was gradually replaced by the payment of royalties in kind consisting of a portion of the harvest, generally 1

Metal craftsmanship

Craftsmen of the Spring and Autumn period worked with a wide variety of materials: excavations at Houma (Shanxi) have uncovered foundries and workshops for stone, jade, bone and ceramics. Metallurgical craftsmanship is best known from archaeological research. Ironworking flourished during this period, but bronze remained the most commonly forged metal. The Jin and Chu states had large copper mines, giving them a clear advantage. Such a mine with facilities for initial ore smelting has been excavated at Tonglüshan (Hubei), in a southern region whose tutelary principality (Chu?) is unknown. The two large workshops of the Houma smelter, one specialized in the manufacture of ritual vases and other prestige objects, the other in tools, show that the most powerful states were able to develop a complex organization, undoubtedly involving an advanced division of labor under the supervision of administrators. This site is remarkable in that large-scale production is not achieved at the expense of object quality. Many mysteries remain: the organization of production, the status of craftsmen and clients can only be guessed at, even if it seems clear that in both cases there is quantitative and qualitative progress. Be that as it may, the technical developments of this period favour

Exchanges

Goods circulated primarily through non-market exchanges, notably in the wealth accumulation and redistribution circuits run by official institutions: gifts to deserving servants or friendly lords, tributes, workers' rations. Nonetheless, as political and social structures changed, commercial exchanges became increasingly important, although they were not in the majority. The development of urban centers led to the emergence of more important places of exchange, but it was the periodic political conferences which, by attracting people from distant horizons with their products, including merchants, constituted the privileged moments of long-distance trade. The political authorities ensured the maintenance and security of communication routes (land and river), with regular garrisons. In the principality of Lu, there is even debate over whether customs posts should be retained.

A class of wealthy merchants gradually emerged. Fan Li (later known as Tao Zhu Gong), who lived at the end of this period and whose biography has been covered by Sima Qian, is one of the most illustrious representatives of the ancient Chinese businessman class. He was a minister of Wu before becoming insolently wealthy through his business dealings. Posterity has made him one of the archetypes of the person capable of considerable wealth, and long after his death he was credited with writing a book of precepts on the conduct of business.

The development of trade in this period is reflected in the development of coinage in the second half of the period. They reflect the regional diversity of the Chinese countries of this period: Jin primarily used bronze coins in the shape of a spade (bu), while the northern countries (Qi, Yan) used knife-shaped coins (dao), although imitation cowrie shells (in bronze, jade, stone or bone) remained common as means of payment, as they had been in earlier periods. A foundry excavated in Guanzhuang (present-day Henan, probably in the ancient state of Zheng) yielded molds used to make spade-shaped coins, dated between 640 and 550, which constitutes the earliest attestation of standardized coinage in China, and the oldest known monetary workshop in the world.

Ancestral and territorial cults

The ancient Chinese worshipped a host of gods linked to the forces of nature or various aspects of daily life, as well as family ancestors, spirits to be reckoned with after their death. The official cult of the Zhou took into account divinities linked to royalty: the god of Heaven (Tian), assimilated to another sovereign divinity, the Lord of Above (Shangdi), and secondarily the Sovereign of the Earth, god of the Soil, and the dynastic ancestors who played an eminent role, notably Sovereign Millet (Houji), legendary founder of the dynasty, and kings Wen and Wu. This official pantheon inspired the princes, who adopted its principles as their own. The oaths they pronounce at the time of their political agreements therefore invoke various deities of nature (for example, deified hills and rivers) and above all the ancestors of the various dynasts involved. However, the principalities' chancelleries gave their pantheons their own elements, enabling them to gain symbolic autonomy and thus greater political legitimacy. The seniority of a lineage's dynastic ancestors is also a decisive factor in debates over precedence at meetings between princes, and thus constitutes a not inconsiderable means of prestige. New powers not descended from the Zhou clan therefore sought to forge a remarkable genealogy.

This goes hand in hand with a general trend towards the relativization of ancestor worship by the new dominant dynasties, who did not find it as politically legitimate as the older lineages of the Central Plain, who could trace their lineage back to the early days of the Zhou dynasty. This led to the development of the practice of considering lineage ancestors as a group, rather than as individuals as in the past. The rise of principalities freed from Zhou tutelage and its religious supremacy also led to the development of territorial cults, in which ancestors gradually lost their importance to nature deities incarnating mounts, rivers or stars. This "territorialization" of official cults was intended to underpin the emergence of territorial political powers. This can be seen in the greater importance of rituals to the Soil and Grain deities, whose function is also to mobilize the local population. There's a tendency to think that if the sovereign can't win over the people, he can't get help from the spirits.

Ritual practices and spaces

Ancestor worship is a major element of the religion of the Spring-Autumn period, marked by the traditions established at the Zhou royal court, notably following a ritual "reform" in the 9th century. It takes place in temples, where sacrifices and other political ceremonies are held on various occasions. It is here that the cult furnishings are preserved, having been unearthed in the tombs where they accompany the great figures. These are above all vases intended for various sacrificial acts, the shapes indicating a function. Following the typology inherited from the Song dynasty "archaeologists" who studied these ancient objects, a distinction is made between vases intended for cooking the meat of sacrificial animals (tripods ding and li), cereals (cups dui and du, vase gui), presenting food (closed vases fu), fermented cereal-based drinks (basins jian used to heat them, jars fanghu), and water ablutions (sauceboat yi, basins pan). Among the instruments used, bells are well known from several archaeological finds.

L. von Falkenhausen proposed to distinguish in tombs from the middle Spring-Autumn period onwards an "ordinary" assemblage of vases, common to all social elites and following the principles of the Western Zhou period, and a "special" assemblage reserved for the highest characters (sheng, gui, fanghu and li vases, and the more common presence of bells), with more richly ornamented objects and more original workmanship, attested above all in Chu (notably Xiasi), which seems to refer to different ritual practices between the upper stratum of the elite and the rest of this group, and therefore to the growing gap between these two social categories.

Sacrificial rituals often take the form of a communal meal, symbolizing the unity of the lineages organizing them, and are accompanied by dance and music. A trend in the Spring-Autumn period seems to be the desire to make the rituals more entertaining for the ancestors and spirits involved, by taking a greater interest in this aspect of the ceremonies. Of the ancestral temples excavated for this period, the best known is that of the Qin dynasty, excavated at Majiazhuang, in their former capital Yongsheng. The main space of this complex is a vast courtyard comprising three buildings and a small aedicula. 188 sacrificial pits have been unearthed, mostly consisting of animals offered in ceremonies held here (oxen, sheep), but also in some cases humans and chariots.

Alongside the temple of the ancestors, the altar (sheji) erected for sacrifices to the deified Soil (or Earth) and Grain is the other key element in the landscape of the official religion of the Spring and Autumn period. This place of worship, with its strong territorial anchorage (the rituals held there served to demonstrate sovereignty over the territory and its population), became increasingly important during the Eastern Zhou period, and was looked after by maintenance workers (fengren), who also looked after worship on the frontiers of principalities. The other known rituals of the period, which do not necessarily have a political aspect and also appeal to the spirits of ancestors and nature (without necessarily sacrificing to them), present a great diversity: in addition to the bloody oaths (meng) already mentioned, various agrarian and seasonal rituals are attested, as well as more individualized rituals such as healing rites and exorcisms, rituals to ensure safe travels, divination rituals and funeral rites.

Divination

The practice of divination covers a whole range of practices that enable the human world to communicate with the spirit world on a whole range of subjects: the timeliness of a ritual, a political decision, a battle, a journey, the revelation of a curse (which must then be combated by an exorcism), and so on. The Zuo Commentary mentions 132 cases of divination, mainly in political and military contexts. The most common cases involve men taking the initiative: they submit a question to the spirits, who answer through a medium. In most cases, the medium is a turtle shell which is placed under fire, causing cracks whose shape is then interpreted to read the answer. The same process is used for divination with yarrow sticks, which are repeatedly thrown on the ground to form hexagrams that must then be explained. In other cases, it is the spirits who initiate the message. They may induce dreams revealing an omen, or intervene through astral movements (eclipses in particular), or even through various out-of-the-ordinary events (natural disasters, prodigies of various kinds) to which a supernatural origin is attributed. Interpreting the signs delivered by the spirit world was the responsibility of specialists who could play an important role in princely courts, due to the political importance of divination, of which many of them had a role to play.

Funeral practices

Funerary practices are an essential source of information on the Spring and Autumn period, thanks to the thousands of tombs unearthed in different parts of China. They reveal material and symbolic aspects, as well as social hierarchies and the cultural diversity that existed between the states of this period, but also the presence of common referents. Tombs are generally grouped in necropolises, belonging to a lineage and its dependents. In the 8th century, tombs remained in line with those of the preceding period, and were modest in size, even for the elite: a grave contained an outer wooden coffin (guo), itself containing the coffin of the deceased and his funerary furnishings. The appearance and composition of the tomb furnishings were in principle governed by sumptuary laws established by the Zhou: the number and type of bronze vases present (in particular tripod ding), the number of nested coffins and the presence or absence of an access ramp were determined according to the rank of the deceased. But it wasn't long before the elites went beyond these symbolic limits, developing increasingly extravagant funeral complexes with luxurious furnishings, and this trend only became more pronounced with time. This accompanies social complexity, the rise in political power of certain aristocratic lineages and ritual evolutions. At the beginning of the 6th century, for example, the

Following the characteristic trends of the period, we can distinguish several regional traditions that asserted themselves over time, particularly in peripheral countries. For example, human sacrifice is best documented in Qin and the eastern countries (Qi, Lu, Cao). The best-known region is that of Chu and its dependencies. One of the most remarkable necropolises of the period was excavated at Xiasi in Henan, dominated by the tomb of Viscount Feng of the Yuan lineage, surrounded by the graves of his four wives and several servants, as well as sacrificial pits containing the remains of horses and chariots. The furnishings in his tomb are grouped functionally: chariots and weapons on one side, followed by ritual vessels for ablutions, vases for meat and fermented beverages, and musical objects (bells and sound stones). Ritual objects remain the best means of affirming the prestige of the deceased, even if over time we find more and more everyday objects in tombs (weapons, beds, writings). The tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (in Leigudun, Hubei), dated to the very beginning of the Warring Kingdoms (circa 433), reflects the culmination of this evolution with the organization of tombs into compartments forming real rooms, with tombs seen as veritable post-mortem dwellings. A similar evolution took place a little earlier at Qin. In the latter case, the funerary furnishings are of lesser quality.

These developments and differences indicate diverse local traditions, and probably varied beliefs, but these are poorly known for the Spring-Autumn period in the absence of explicit texts. Burial is accompanied by rituals, no doubt lavish in the case of the elite. In particular, they invoked infernal divinities. Protective objects (mainly jade) are placed on the body of the deceased, and the coffin is sometimes covered with a layer of cinnabar to protect it from supernatural threats. In Chu tombs, tomb guardian statues (notably deer antlers) are deposited for protective purposes. In most cases, the deposit of objects seems to have no other purpose than to affirm the prestige of the deceased. But developments towards a tomb conceived as a residence (especially at Chu) probably indicate the emergence of a new mentality making the latter a post-mortem residence for the deceased, destined to go to an afterlife in which he will need his everyday objects placed at his side. This is related to the belief attested for the following period that one part of the deceased's soul (po) remains in the grave with the corpse, while the other (hun) joins the celestial world.

Literature

The intellectual tradition inherited from the Western Zhou period is preserved in texts that were later considered "classics", and which have enjoyed great prestige since the Spring and Autumn period. These include the Book of Documents (Shangshu or Shujing), which contains ancient historical documents from the royal archives, the Book of Odes (Shijing), which compiles poems, and the Zhou Mutations (Zhou yi), a manual of yarrow divination more commonly known as the Book of Mutations (Yijing). They were gradually compiled and canonized under the Han, but the exact date of writing of their various passages often remains uncertain: some seem to date from the end of the Western Zhou period, others may be earlier, many are clearly later writings or reworkings, sometimes attributable to the Spring and Autumn period (e.g. the Songs of the Countries from the Book of Odes).

The scribes of the Spring and Autumn principalities also produced historiographical works reporting the events that had taken place, integrating them into the continuity of a semi-legendary past dating back to the first kings and dynasties (the Three Augustans and the Five Emperors, the Xia, the Shang), in which miraculous accounts play a major role. The only known complete example is the Annals of the Land of Lu, or Annals of Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu), which gave the period its name and was also later consecrated as a classic. The Annals of Bamboo are another example of this type of historiographical work, which must be based on sources from the period, corresponding to a historical chronicle of the land of Wei, and Jin, whose heir it is. The other princely courts and that of the Zhou probably produced similar works concerning their past, which have now disappeared.

As for the writings attributed by later eras to scholars who lived during the Spring and Autumn period, such as Sun Tzu, Guan Zhong and, of course, Confucius (who is said to have reworked the classics), it seems difficult to assert that they actually originated with these figures, but they were associated with them because of their prestige. Their study often reveals a strong imprint of the Warring Kingdoms period. Only the Confucian Talks are commonly linked to the thought of the personality to whom they are attached (see below).

Challenging tradition

Ritual, poetic and historical texts, as well as folk-mythological tales known by allusion, form the basis of the culture of the scholars and thinkers of the Spring-Autumn period, from the category of shi, gentlemen from the lower stratum of the aristocracy who tend to constitute a group of literate-intellectuals in their own right, occupying a more important place in the political apparatuses of the late period. They animated the debates of the princely courts, as reported in the speeches of the Zuo Commentary, whose late dating (mid-4th century) raises questions about its reliability for describing the intellectual state of the period it describes. But it remains the principal document for approaching the state of thought prior to Confucius. In fact, it contains several themes dear to this thinker, which were clearly at the heart of the preoccupations of the time: the emphasis placed on social stability and hierarchies, the exercise of rites that shape the behavior of the political elite, and knowledge of and respect for classical texts. If we follow Y. Pines' proposals, the gradual disintegration of the ritual order established by the Western Zhou, and the growing violence and cynicism of relations between states and of the diplomatic and strategic arts, would tend gradually to bring to the fore a more realistic way of thinking, skeptical of beliefs and mora

Confucius

The final period of the Spring and Autumn is thus marked by intellectual evolutions that accompany the definitive disintegration of the old political order, and the establishment of a system in which rivalries between powers are increasingly violent and unstable. It was against this backdrop that Chinese history's most influential thinker emerged, Confucius (Latinized version of Kong zi, "master Kong", his personal name being Kong Qiu), whose traditional dates are 551-479. A member of the shi category, his biography was not written down until late (mainly by Sima Qian) and is therefore not certain. He is said to have had a modest childhood and to have taken part in the administration of his country, the State of Lu, having a modest career which he eventually gave up, disillusioned as he was by the disintegration of the ancient order and the incapacity of his masters who didn't know how to govern according to the principles of the celestial mandate. He then set out to offer his services in other courts, an undertaking in which he met with little success, but did manage to attract disciples who carried on his thought. His success was ensured after his death, not least by his disciples writing down anecdotes about him and sayings attributed to him, compiled and canonized in a major work, the Lunyu (Confucius' "Talks" or "Analects"), between the period of the Warring Kingdoms and the Han dynasty.

Confucius' thought is traditionalistic, advocating the re-establishment of an ancient order against the moral degeneration of his time, but by its resolutely innovative character it contributes even more to the collapse of traditional thought. It places man at the center of its thinking, and advocates his improvement through study, the re-establishment of ancient rites and the rectification of names. In this way, worthy administrators will be trained, who will be able to restore harmony to the kingdom, win the obedience of the people through their virtue, and govern through benevolence, the aim being political. By emphasizing the moral and intellectual qualities of individuals, he seems to be overturning the birth-based social statuses of his time, which ensured the traditional domination of the aristocracy, and pointing to the emergence of the group of literate civil servants, whose status depends more on their abilities and who place themselves at the service of the State. According to Confucius, tradition is based above all on written texts - in this case, the future "classics" mentioned above, which he would have reworked himself, and in which we find a set of examples contributing to the formation of better humans. Confucius and his disciples thus helped to bring about decisive changes: a human-oriented way of thinking, based on the teaching of a master and written texts, paving the way for the "Hundred Schools" that animated the rich intellectual debates of the Warring Kingdoms period.

Known artistic achievements of the Spring-Autumn period are mostly bronze vases and other objects unearthed from tombs, a few jade and lacquer objects, some ceramics and gold ornaments, which spread from Qin onwards, no doubt under the influence of nomads from western lands. The eighth and seventh centuries saw no major changes from the final Western Zhou period. It is only gradually that new trends emerge, following the major trends of the period, with local traditions developing to satisfy the growing demand of princely and aristocratic elites. These elites wished to demonstrate their power through the possession of prestigious objects, which were initially primarily ritual objects, even if everyday objects were subsequently given increasing attention. This weight of local custom does not mean the extinction of the artistic community inherited from the Zhou period of domination, due to the circulation of objects and specialists within the framework of diplomatic relations (gifts, weddings, meetings), the payment of tribute, or even an effect of emulation and influence between the various major creative centers. Technical innovations were also important, notably in bronze metallurgy, with the Houma foundry playing a key role in experimentation.

Bronze objects: vases, weapons and bells

Since the beginning of the Bronze Age, Chinese metallurgists, who had plenty of ore at their disposal, opted for casting in molds rather than forging. During the first half of the 1st millennium, they developed the technique of successive castings, enabling them to produce the most complex objects in several stages, with the body of the object and its protruding parts produced separately. The lost-wax technique was known but little used, attested only by a few Chu objects. From the early 6th century onwards, Houma craftsmen perfected an ingenious technique based on the use of dies, on which clay strips are stamped and placed in molds or mold sections (which have no decoration), thus making it possible to produce (admittedly repetitive) decorations more quickly, and thus further increasing productivity. Shortly afterwards, Chu introduced the technique of inlaying copper and gold motifs (later stone and other materials), which were placed in the mold before the bronze was cast.

Bronze vases were among the most prestigious objects in ancient China. From a strictly artistic point of view, Spring and Autumn artists worked mainly on the most common forms inherited from the Western Zhou: ding tripods, gui vases, hu jars and related forms (including the square-section fanghu), pan dishes and yi pourers, although preferences varied from region to region. Chronologically speaking, the vases of the 8th and early 7th centuries follow in the footsteps of the preceding period, which was characterized by stylistic homogeneity between regions. After the mid-7th century, regional traditions assert themselves, with the dominant influence of artists from Jin and Chu, alongside other centers such as Qin, Qi and its eastern neighbors, or the countries of the Lower Yangtze (Wu and Yue).

The vases are generally covered with bas-relief decorations, sometimes covering the entire surface, often in the form of sinuous, even intertwined lines, combined with representations of animals (mostly dragons, but also birds), notably in the round, forming the handles or feet of the vase. One of the most remarkable bronzes of the period, unearthed in the princely tomb of Lajialou, is a fanghu with a highly charged decoration of animals in low and high relief covering its entire surface. It is characteristic of the fact that bronziers of the period tended to use a variety of processes to achieve complex visual effects. They accentuated vase shapes and overloaded their decorations, developing ornamental bands in the 7th century, for example. At Houma in the land of Jin, the use of sectional dies for standardized decoration led to the creation of complex, repetitive decorations (notably dragons), as well as miniaturized ones. The artists of this major period were highly creative, using a variety of motifs, particularly animal ones. Bronze vases from this period sometimes take the form of zoomorphic animals, following a tradition inherited from earlier times.

The Chu regional tradition apparently shows a certain diversity according to its different sub-regions, and in general a lower quality than the common Jin bronzes, but some achievements are among the most remarkable of the period. The technical innovation first attested in Chu (although we cannot say with certainty whether it originated there) and which has the greatest posterity is the inlay method, which seems to have begun around 550 with bronze vases with inlaid red copper motifs. It was accompanied by the development of narrative scenes on the vases. The lost-wax technique, attested at Chu for a small number of objects from the second half of the 6th century, enabled the production of exceptional pieces with highly charged decorations: an altar table found at Xiasi, surmounted by numerous dragons in high relief; these supernatural animals are also found on the set of zun and pan vases unearthed in the tomb of the Marquis Yi de Zeng at Leigudun, probably dated to the end of the Spring and Autumn period, although stored in a burial site from the beginning of the Warring Kingdoms. The objects unearthed in this tomb can be considered to represent the apogee of the Chu style during the period of the affirmation of regional artistic traditions.

Other regions may favor a more sober style than those of Chu and Jin: late-period bronzes unearthed in the cemetery of Qufu, capital of Lu, seem to derive their elegance more from their form than from their decoration, which is very light. The Lower Yangtze regions were even more distinctive, producing bronze vases with original shapes that are often difficult to classify within the classical typology, even if they are inspired by it. Here, the influence of local sandstone ceramics can be seen on bronze objects. Wu and Yue metallurgists are especially renowned for their swords and spears of exceptional quality, sometimes inlaid with gold, such as the remarkable sword of King Goujian of Yue. Among the other types of bronze objects known from tombs of the period, weapons are indeed well represented alongside vases, be they daggers, swords, spearheads, and above all the blades of axes-daggers (ge) and halberds (ji), which are often decorated with linear and sometimes animal motifs.

The third type of object characteristic of ancient Chinese tombs is the ritual bell. From the end of the Western Zhou, hanging bells became the norm for rituals. The tomb of Duke Wu of Qin, at the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period, yielded a set of eight bells, including five yongzhong, the most common model, with a concave mouth and a handle and ring for inclined suspension, but also other models called bo, more rounded in shape and with a flat mouth, often with exuberant ornamentation (the other common type is the niuzhong, close to the yongzhong but with straight suspension. Whatever their type, bells have no clapper and are therefore struck from the outside. Their mouths are generally almond-shaped, producing two tones depending on whether they are struck in the center or on the sides. Later tombs have yielded more imposing chimes: 26 bells in the aforementioned tomb no. 2 at Xiasi, and 64 in the tomb at Leigudun at the beginning of the Warring Kingdoms, the most impressive ensemble in ancient China featuring the three most common types of bells.

Finally, other types of bronze objects are only marginally known, such as rectangular boxes with complex decoration and topped with animals in high relief, unearthed in tombs at Shangguo (Shanxi, former Jin).

The art of jade

Jade was a very prestigious material in ancient China, with a higher status than precious metals, as it was said to have apotropaic properties. The tombs of the elite yielded numerous jade objects in a variety of colors: pale green, dark green, ivory-white and yellow. Working with this material seems to have been perfected and developed from the 6th century onwards. The tomb of Duke Jing of Qin at Nanzhihui contained over 600 of these objects, including ritual objects such as bi pierced discs and zhang scepters, as well as pendants and ornaments of various angular shapes, such as hooks, or others in the shape of fish. They are decorated with engraved linear motifs, sometimes with interlacing, clearly inspired by metallurgy. Chu jades, on the other hand, are finely chiselled and decorated with twists and turns.

Sources

1. Spring and Autumn period
2. Période des Printemps et Automnes
3. a et b (en) Anne Cheng, « Ch'un ch'iu, Kung yang, Ku liang and Tso chuan », dans Loewe (dir.) 1993, dans M. Loewe (dir.), Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, Berkeley, 1993 p. 67-76
4. Sur ce texte d'analyse complexe : (en) A. Schaberg, A Patterned Past: Form and Thought in Early Chinese Historiography, Cambridge, 2001 ; (en) Y. Pines, Foundations of Confucian Thought: Intellectual Life in the Chunqiu Period, 722-453 B.C.E., Honolulu, 2002.
5. Guoyu, Propos sur les principautés, I-Zhouyu, traduit par André d'Hormon et R. Mathieu, Paris, 1985
6. a et b Traduction en français par É. Biot dans Journal Asiatique XII, 1841, p. 537-578 « En ligne sur Gallica » et Journal Asiatique XIII, 1842, p. 381-431 « En ligne sur Gallica. »
7. Von Falkenhausen 1999, p. 453
8. ^ There is no academic consensus on the end of the Spring and Autumn period. Criteria differ, but there is general agreement that the Partition of Jin marks the watershed affair of state politically marking the subsequent Warring States period. Common choices include: 481 BCE. Final entry in the Spring and Autumn Annals. Usurpation of Qi by Tian: Tian Heng assassinated his duke along with the duke's advisors and most of his family, confiscating most of their lands.[2] 479 BCE. Death of Confucius.[3] 475 or 476 BCE. Accession of King Yuan of Zhou. This is the year chosen by Sima Qian in his deeply influential Records of the Grand Historian, motivated by the dearth of sources available for the following period given Qin Shi Huang's biblioclasm. The initial year of a new king was a methodological convenience. Modern Chinese sources generally prefer this choice.[4] 453 BCE. Partition of Jin: the clan of Zhi (智), previously the most powerful aristocratic family in Jin, is eliminated at the Battle of Jinyang, leaving only the three clans who would become the successor states of Han, Wei, and Zhao.[5] 403 BCE. Partition of Jin: the successor states are formally recognized by the Zhou king. This year was the choice of Sima Guang, compiler of the Zizhi Tongjian.[3] Some historians decline to assign a single year as the boundary.[6] Others will choose arbitrarily.[7]
9. 481 BCE. Final entry in the Spring and Autumn Annals. Usurpation of Qi by Tian: Tian Heng assassinated his duke along with the duke's advisors and most of his family, confiscating most of their lands.[2]
10. ^ Loewe, Michael (1999). ”The Spring and Autumn Period” (på engelska). The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge University Press. sid. 545. ISBN 0521470307. https://books.google.se/books?id=cHA7Ey0-pbEC&lpg=PP1&hl=sv&pg=PA545#v=onepage&q&f=false
11. ^ Hägerdal, Hans, Kinas historia, Historiska Media, Lund, 2009, s. 47.
12. ^ [a b] Tan, Koon San. ”Zhou Dynasty 周朝 (1122-256 BC)” (på engelska). Dynastic China: An Elementary History. sid. 28. ISBN 9789839541885. https://books.google.se/books?id=bnCMBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA37&dq=the%20warring%20state%20256%20elementary%20history&hl=sv&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false
13. ^ Hägerdal, Hans (2012). ”Den dynamiska epoken Östra Zhou”. Kinas historia. Historiska media. sid. 47. ISBN 978-91-87031-24-3
14. ^ Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (2010). ”Philosophical Foundation, The Eastern Zhou Period 770-256 BC” (på engelska). The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge University Press. sid. 38. ISBN 0521124336. https://books.google.se/books?id=vr81YoYK0c4C&pg=PA38&dq=the+warring+state+256&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBhrzW-tvJAhUJWCwKHbyLBTkQ6AEITzAH#v=onepage&q=the%20warring%20state%20256&f=false