Editing Spring and Autumn period (section)

{{Short description|Period in Chinese history (c. 770 – c. 481 BCE)}}
[[File:Chinese plain 5c. BC-en.svg|thumb|upright=1. |Chinese polities in the late 5th century BCE, before the breakup of Jin and the Qin move into Sichuan. The Wei on this map is [[Wey (state)|Wey]] ({{lang|zh|衛}}), not the [[state of Wei]] ({{lang|zh|魏}}) that arose from the Partition of Jin.]]
{{Infobox Chinese
| s = 春秋时代
| t = 春秋時代
| p = Chūnqiū shídài
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|ch|un|1|-|q|iu|1|-|sh|i|2|.|d|ai|4}}
| w = {{tonesup|Chʻun1-chʻiu1 Shih2-tai3}}
| bpmf = {{bpmfsp|ㄔㄨㄣ|ㄑㄧㄡ|ㄕˊ|ㄉㄞˋ}}
| tp = Chunciou shíhdài
| myr = Chwūn chyōu shŕdài
| mps = Chuēn chiōu shŕdài
| showflag = p
| mc = /t͡ɕʰiuɪn t͡sʰɨu d͡ʑɨ dʌi<sup>H</sup>/
| oc-bs = *{{IPA|tʰun tsʰiw<br />[d]ə (~ [d]əʔ) lˤək-s}}
| oc-zz = /*tʰjun sʰɯw djɯ l'ɯːɡs/
| j = Ceon1 cau1 si4 doi6
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|c|eon|1|-|c|au|1|-|s|i|4|.|d|oi|6}}
}}
{{History of China|BCE= 1}}

The '''Spring and Autumn period''' ({{circa|770|481&nbsp;BCE}}{{sfn|Hsu|1999|p=547}}{{efn|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.{{sfn|Lewis|1999|p=598}}
* 479 BCE. Death of [[Confucius]].{{sfn|Falkenhausen| 1999|p=450}}
* 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.{{sfn|General Office of the State Council|2021}}
* 453 BCE. Partition of Jin: the clan of Zhi ({{ZH|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 (Warring States)|Han]], [[Wei (state)|Wei]], and [[Zhao (state)|Zhao]].{{sfn|Pines|2002}}
* 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]]''.{{Sfn | Falkenhausen| 1999|p=450}}
* Some historians decline to assign a single year as the boundary.{{sfn|Cook|1995|p=148}} Others will choose arbitrarily.{{sfn|Kiser|Cai|2003|p=512}} }}) was a period in [[History of China|Chinese history]] corresponding roughly to the first half of the [[Eastern Zhou]] ({{circa|771}}{{snd}}256&nbsp;BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject to the Zhou exercised increasing political autonomy. The period's name{{efn|The Chinese language does not mark plurals. There is an increasing trend in languages with plural markers to translate the name of this period as "Springs and Autumns",{{sfn|Falkenhausen|1999|p=450}} which better conveys the vicissitudes of time. The translation "Spring–Autumn period" also occurs in the literature.{{sfnp|Zhao|2004}}}} derives from the ''[[Spring and Autumn Annals]]'', a chronicle of the [[state of Lu]] between 722 and 481&nbsp;BCE, which tradition associates with [[Confucius]] (551–479 BCE). 

During this period, local polities negotiated their own alliances, waged wars against one another, up to defying the king's court in [[Luoyang|Luoyi]]. The gradual [[Partition of Jin]], one of the most powerful states, is generally considered to mark the end of the Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the [[Warring States period]]. The periodization dates to the late [[Western Han]] ({{circa|48&nbsp;BCE|9&nbsp;CE}}).{{sfnp|Wong|2024|pp=564–566}}