Editing Spring and Autumn period (section)

==Aristocracy==
{{Main|Fengjian|Zhou dynasty nobility}}
[[File:Periodo delle primavere e degli autunni, stato qin, acroterio con cervo e capriolo, 770-475 ac ca., da doufu, baoji (ist. prov.le di archeologia dello shaanxi).jpg|thumb|Spring and Autumn period, Qin state, [[acroterion]] with deer and roe deer, {{circa}} 770-475 BCE, from Doufu, Baoji (Provincial institute of archeology of Shaanxi).]]
While the aristocracy of the [[Western Zhou]] frequently interacted via the medium of the royal court, the collapse of central power at the end of the first half of the dynasty left in its wake hundreds of autonomous polities varying drastically in size and resources, nominally connected by bonds of cultural and ritual affiliation increasingly attenuated by the passage of time. Whole lineage groups moved around under socioeconomic stress, border groups not associated with the Zhou culture gained in power and sophistication, and the geopolitical situation demanded increased contact and communication.{{sfn|Li|2008a|pp=120–123}}

Under this new regime, an emergent systematization of noble ranks took root. Where the Western Zhou had concerned itself with politics, the ancestral temples, and legitimacy, in the Eastern Zhou politics came to the fore.{{sfn|Li|2008a|p=114}} Titles which had previously reflected lineage seniority took on purely political meanings. At the top of the bunch were ''[[Gong (title)|Gong]]'' ({{zh|c=公|labels=no}}) and ''Hou'' ({{zh|c=侯|labels=no}}), favoured lineages of old with generally larger territories and greater resources and prestige at their disposal. The majority of rulers were of the middling but tiered grades ''Bo'' ({{zh|c=伯|labels=no}}) and ''Zi'' ({{zh|c=子|labels=no}}). The rulers of two polities maintained the title ''Nan'' ({{zh|c=男|labels=no}}). A 2012 survey found no difference in grade between ''Gong'' and ''Hou'', or between ''Zi'' and ''Nan''.{{sfn|Wei|2012|loc=abstract}} Meanwhile, a new class of lower-tier aristocrats formed: the ''Shi'' ({{zh|c=士|labels=no}}), gentlemen too distantly related to the great houses to be born into a life of wielding power, but still part of the elite culture, aiming at upward social mobility, typically through the vector of officialdom.

One individual well attested in the process of fixing the ranks of rulers into a coherent scheme was [[Zichan]] of [[Zheng (state)|Zheng]], who both submitted a memorial to the king of Chu informing him of the proposed new system in 538 BCE, and argued at a 529 BCE interstate conference that tributes should be graded based on rank, given the disparity in available resources.{{sfn|Li|2008a|pp=123–124}}

Alongside this development, there was precedent of Zhou kings "upgrading" noble ranks as a reward for service to the throne, giving the recipients a bit more diplomatic prestige without costing the royal house any land.{{sfn|Chen and Pines|2018|p=5}} During the decline of the royal house, although real power was wrested from their grasp, their divine legitimacy was not brought into question, and even with the king reduced to something of a figurehead, his prestige remained supreme as Heaven's eldest son.{{sfn|Pines|2004|p=23}}

Archaeologically excavated primary sources and received literature agree to a high degree of systematization and stability in noble titles during the Eastern Zhou, indicating an actual historical process. A 2007 survey of bronze inscriptions from 31 states found only eight polities whose rulers used varying titles of nobility to describe themselves.{{sfn|Li|2008a|pp=115–118}}