The Great Transition in the Making: the Eastern Zhou

The Eastern Zhou refers to the period which began with the first year of the reign of King Ping (771 BC) and ended with the death of King Nang (256 BC). However, most scholars extend this period to 221 BC when China was reunited by Qin Shi Huang Di (the First Emperor of Qin, 259–210 BC). Within the Eastern Zhou two distinctive, though not chronologically connected, periods can be located. They are known as the Chun Qiu period (the Spring and Autumn period, 722–481 BC) and the Zhan Guo period (the Warring States period, 476–221 BC), 1 to confirm the time-span of two classical history books: the Chun Qiu (the Spring and Autumn Annals) and the Zhanguo Ce (the Strategy of the Warring States). 2 These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.