Editing Spring and Autumn period (section)

===The Six Ministers (588)===
{{further|Six Ministers}}
In addition to interstate conflict, internal conflicts between state leaders and local aristocrats also occurred. <section begin="ministers" />Eventually the dukes of Lu, Jin, Zheng, Wey and Qi would all become figureheads to powerful aristocratic families.{{Sfn |Pines|2002|p= 4}}

In the case of Jin, the shift happened in 588 when the army was split into six independent divisions, each dominated by a separate noble family: Zhi (智), Zhao (趙), Han (韓), Wei (魏), Fan (范), and Zhonghang (中行). The heads of the six families were conferred the titles of viscounts and made ministers,<ref>{{ cite book
| author1= Sima Qian | author1-link= Sima Qian
| author2= Sima Tan| author2-link= Sima Tan
 | script-title=zh:史記
| title= [[Records of the Grand Historian]]
| orig-year= 90s BCE
| year = 1959 | publisher= Zhonghua Shuju
| chapter=[[:zh:s:史記/卷039|39: 晉世家]]
| ref={{sfnref|Shiji}}
}}</ref> each heading one of the six departments of Zhou dynasty government.<ref>''[[Rites of Zhou]]''</ref> From this point on, historians refer to "The Six Ministers" as the true power brokers of Jin.

The same happened to Lu in 562, when the [[Three Huan]] divided the army into three parts and established their own separate spheres of influence. The heads of the three families were always among the department heads of Lu.<section end="ministers" />