Zhou kings kept the title while vassals took the power
For roughly three centuries, from c. 770 BCE until 481 BCE, the opening half of the Eastern Zhou saw local lords forge their own alliances and wars while still nodding to the king in Luoyi. The period takes its title from a chronicle, the Spring and Autumn Annals.
The Spring and Autumn period ran from about 770 to 481 BCE, the first half of the Eastern Zhou. Its name comes from the Spring and Autumn Annals, the chronicle of the state of Lu from 722 to 481 BCE traditionally tied to Confucius; similar chronicles kept by other states are all lost. It opened with disaster in 771 BCE, when Quanrong raiders allied with Zeng and Shen sacked the western capital Haojing and killed King You. Supporters crowned the disinherited prince Yijiu as King Ping in the east, and the court never recovered its old strength.
Stripped of its homeland, the royal house could no longer field its six armies and leaned on vassals such as Jin and Zheng for protection. The chronicles name 148 states in this era, most of them single cities, and 128 were swallowed by the four giants—Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu. Zheng became the first vassal to defy the throne openly, defeating royal troops at Xuge in 707 and wounding the king.
To manage the chaos, the king granted the most powerful ruler the title of hegemon, charged with defending the Zhou order against outsiders. Duke Huan of Qi, the first, centralized his state with the minister Guan Zhong and ruled under the slogan Revere the King, Expel the Barbarians, but five of his sons fought over the throne when he died in 643. Duke Wen of Jin won the title after beating Chu at Chengpu in 632, whereas Duke Xiang of Song and Duke Mu of Qin are counted only by some sources.
Internal feuds matched the wars between states: six clans fought inside Jin, rivals targeted the Chen family in Qi, and princes contested thrones in Qin and Chu. The period is usually said to end with the partition of Jin, as its last three families—Zhao, Wei, and Han—split the state in 403 BCE, opening the Warring States era.
Source: Spring and Autumn period
