In the Spring and Autumn Five, Qi Huan, Jin Wengong and others are all "Gong", only the Chu State is the "King", and in the other version of the Five Hegemons, there are also Wu Wang Lu or Yue Wang Gou Jian.
In the Warring States period, the seven males were called "kings". So, when Zhou Tianzi was still a "king", how did the princely states change from "gong" to "king"?
01 King of the Spring and Autumn Period
The supreme leaders of the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty were both called "Emperors", and after King Wu of Zhou established the Zhou Dynasty, in order to show modesty, he believed that his virtue was inferior to that of the Five Emperors, so he demoted himself to "King".
The emperor is the king, and the princes below can only be called according to the title of nobleman. Therefore, in many versions of the Spring and Autumn Five, most versions of the overlord are "Gong", which is the meaning of duke. Of course, some people will also suggest that the king of Chuzhuang is the king, and the king of Wu and the king of Yue are also kings.
The State of Chu originated from the Qi clan in the lower reaches of the Huai River, and King Wen of Zhou was awarded the title of Viscount when he defected to the Zhou tribe, so according to the title, the King of Chu Zhuang should be "Chu Zhuangzi". By the time of King Wu of Chu's reign, the state of Chu was strong and powerful, and several small states were destroyed in succession.
King Wu of Chu, who thought he was very capable, felt that he should not just wear a viscount's hat. In particular, the next country he wants to kill next is far less powerful than himself, but the monarch is a marquis, and his political status is even higher than his own.
But the request for promotion was ruthlessly rejected by Zhou Tianzi. If the Chu state can be promoted without half a credit to the Zhou royal family, then what should other countries do? Moreover, the State of Chu wantonly annexed the surrounding small countries, and if it obtained the approval of Zhou Tianzi, it would certainly promote this trend.
But King Chu Zhuang didn't think so, he thought he had been treated unfairly. As a result, King Wu of Chu established himself as king, setting a precedent for the princes to become kings. However, zhou was weak, and there was no choice but to send emissaries to condemn the chu state as king.
As neighbors of the State of Chu, the Kingdoms of Wu and Yue also claimed the title of kings. However, there was no substantial political impact. Because in the core areas of China at that time, the princes headed by the Jin, Qi, and Zheng states did not claim the title of king, and they still respected Zhou Tianzi in name.
In fact, the princes represented by the Duke of Qi Huan and the Duke Wen of Jin were not enthusiastic about the matter of being king, and what they wanted was to become "overlords" and could blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shu and others rushed to claim the title of emperor, which is proof that the political name is far less affordable and cost-effective.
02 Enter the Warring States
Some friends will ask, then why were all kings in the Warring States period?
In fact, in the early warring states period, the princes still respected the Zhou Room. For example, the three families were divided into Jin, and the establishment of the three kingdoms of Zhao, Han, and Wei must wait for Zhou Tianzi to recognize before it can be regarded as legitimate. Similarly, there is the Tian Clan Daiqi.
The replacement of the Jiang clan by the Tian clan is like usurping the throne, and it is reasonable to say that Zhou Tianzi cannot be recognized, and the Tian clan does not need Zhou Tianzi to admit it. However, Tian He patiently waited until he was officially appointed Marquis of Qi by King An of Zhou before he felt that he had the legitimacy to rule the State of Qi.
The turning point in the title of king of the Warring States princes was the Xiang King of Xuzhou, and the King of Wei Hui and the King of Qi Wei met in Xuzhou and recognized each other as kings, thus opening up the situation in which the Warring States became kings. It seems that the State of Wei and the State of Qi are vying to wear the hat of "King", but in fact, it is also a helpless move.
In "Great Qin Fu", the Eastern Zhou King's evaluation of the Qin state is: You are a horse feeder.
This view also prevailed among the princes.
The ancestors of the Qin state were awarded the title of Grand Master of the Western Qin Dynasty for raising horses and defeating Xi Rong, which was an official position. And the princes are aristocratic titles, that is to say, the Qin state is inferior to the monarchs of the Jin and Qi states.
The turning point was in 770 BC, when the State of Qin was awarded the title of Duke xiang of Qin for his merits in escorting king Ping of Zhou to move east. Later, through the martingale transformation method, the country was reborn.
The increasing strength of the Qin state and the warring states boss Wei Guo at that time began to break the wrist, repeatedly defeating the latter. At the same time, the State of Qin also took the traditional political route, using the routines of the Spring and Autumn Period to vigorously win over Zhou Tianzi. In particular, in 324 BC, the ascension of tianzi at Fengze (present-day southeast of Kaifeng, Henan) was an obvious political move.
This is a great irony for the traditional princes, a new upstart from horse breeding who sits on an equal footing with himself, and he cannot beat him.
In order to break the policy of the State of Qin to use the Zhou royal family as a talisman, the State of Wei and the State of Qi proclaimed themselves kings in Xuzhou, so that they were nominally equal and no longer nominally imprisoned in qin policy. After the Zhou royal family lost its role, it was gradually encroached upon and annexed by the Qin state.
This also embodies the idea of balance of power among the princes of the Warring States, not only to prevent themselves from being destroyed, but also to prevent other countries from being destroyed, thus creating a country to become independent and powerful. It can be seen from several times that the origin of the war was to prevent the Qin state from being too powerful and having the ability to annex other countries.
The title of king of the nations reflects this mentality: first, I am independent of the existence of the Zhou royal family, and the foreign policy of the Qin state does not require the command of the Zhou royal family; second, it is implied that I also have ambitions to annex the world, because "wang" is the title of the son of heaven recognized since ancient times.
In order to be able to oppose the alliance of Qi Wei, the State of Qin also had to be crowned king, and the rest of the countries were successively crowned kings in the following two years. Only Zhao Guo was more maverick, and they still insisted on "Jun" as the title of supreme leader.
Some people think that this fully shows that the Zhao state is still orthodox in the Zhou royal family, but in fact it is not. Zhao Guo's title was not "Gong", but "Jun", indicating that the title of the Zhou royal family was no longer recognized, and all titles were determined according to their own mood. However, the State of Zhao finally bucked the trend of the times and finally became king in 315 BC.
The reign of the Seven Heroes has had an impact on the historical trend. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the borders of various countries were very blurred, the so-called state was the capital of the country, and the boundaries of the territories between the princely states were not absolute.
After the Warring States, the borders of various countries began to build passes, and even the Great Wall, heavily guarded by soldiers, borders and territories became the focus of everyone's contention. Therefore, there is also a situation of how many cities to cut and how many counties to divide.
Author: Our special guest author Kan Dashan
References: Spring and Autumn Warring States, History of great Qin read in one breath