Editing Spring and Autumn period (section)

===Hegemony of Chu (613–591)===
{{Main|King Zhuang of Chu}}
[[King Zhuang of Chu]] expanded the borders of Chu well north of the [[Yangtze]] River, threatening the Central States in modern [[Henan]]. At one point the Chu forces advanced to just outside the royal capital of Chengzhou, upon which King Zhuang sent a messenger to inquire into the heft and bulk of the  [[Nine Tripod Cauldrons|Nine Cauldrons]] – the symbols of royal ritual authority – implying he might soon arrange to have them moved to his own capital. In the end the Zhou capital was spared, and Chu shifted focus to harassing the nearby state of Zheng. The once-hegemon state of Jin intervened to rescue Zheng from the Chu invaders but were resolutely defeated, which marks the ascension of Chu as the dominant state of the time.<ref>{{ citation | title=[[Zuozhuan]] | chapter=[[:zh:s:春秋左氏傳/宣公|Duke Xuan]]|mode=cs2}}</ref>

Despite his ''de facto'' hegemony, King Zhuang's self-proclaimed title of "king" was never recognized by the Zhou states. In the ''[[Spring and Autumn Annals]]'' he is defiantly referred to as ''Zi'' ({{zh|labels=no|c=子}}, ruler; unratified lord),{{sfn|Milburn|2016|p=64}} even at a time when he dominated most of south China. Later historians however always include him as one of the Five Hegemons.