The division of the Three Houses of Jin refers to the event that in the late Spring and Autumn Period, the Jin State was divided between the Han, Zhao, and Wei families.
At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the former hegemony of the Jin Dynasty declined, and the real power was controlled by the Zhi family, the Zhao family, the Han family, and the Wei family, with the Zhi family being the most powerful. In 453 BC, the three families of Zhao, Han, and Wei jointly destroyed the Zhi family, and Jin was divided by the three families of Zhao, Han, and Wei, forming a situation in which the three families were divided into Jin, and Jin Jun became a vassal. In 403 BC, Zhou Tianzi officially recognized the Three Families as princes.
The "Three Houses and The Jin Dynasty" became the dividing point between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in China. The three branches of the Jin Dynasty marked the emergence of the new landlord class on the stage of history, promoted the establishment of the feudal system, and opened the prelude to the annexation of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States.
After a long war for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period, many small princely states were annexed by large countries. In some countries, there have been changes within the country, and the power has gradually fallen into the hands of a few doctors. These masters were also slave owners and aristocrats, but later they adopted a feudal method of exploitation and transformed into a landlord class. In order to expand their own power, some also use the method of reducing taxes to win the hearts and minds of the people, so that their power will become more and more powerful. The Jin state, which had always been known as the overlord of the Central Plains, also declined by the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the actual power was controlled by six masters (Han, Zhao, Wei, Zhi, Fan, and Zhonghang), as well as large families such as Hao and Luan. Each of them had his own territory and arms, and attacked each other. Later, two families (Fan and BOC) were scattered, leaving the Zhi family, the Zhao family, the Han family, and the Wei family. Of these four, the Zhi family has the greatest power. Zhi Boyao, the doctor of the Zhi family, wanted to encroach on the land of the other three families, and said to the three masters Zhao Xiangzi, Wei Huanzi, and Han Kangzi: "The Jin state was originally the hegemon of the Central Plains, but later it was taken away by Wu and Yue. In order to make the Jin dynasty stronger, I advocated that each family should give a hundred miles of land and hukou to the public. "The three doctors all know that Zhi Boyao has bad intentions and wants to pressure them to hand over their land in the name of the public family." However, the three families were not at peace, and Han Kangzi first ceded the land and 10,000 household registrations to the Zhi family; Wei Huanzi did not want to offend Zhi Boyao, and also gave up the land and household registration. Zhi Boyao asked Zhao Xiangzi for land again, but Zhao Xiangzi did not agree, saying: "Land is the property left by the previous generation, and nothing will be given away." Zhi Boyao was furious and immediately ordered the Han and Wei families to send troops to attack the Zhao family.
In 455 BC, Zhi Boyao himself led the Chinese army, the Han family's army served as the right road, the Wei family's army served as the left road, and three teams of men and horses went straight to the Zhao family. Knowing that he was outnumbered, Zhao Xiangzi took the Zhao family's soldiers and horses and retreated to Jinyang (present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi). Not many days later, the three families led by Zhi Boyao had already surrounded Jinyang City. Zhao Xiangzi ordered his generals to resolutely defend the city and not to engage in combat. When the three soldiers attacked the city, the arrows at the head of the city fell like locusts, making it impossible for the three families and horses to take a step forward. Jinyang City had been defending with a bow and arrow for more than two years. The three soldiers and horses were never able to capture it. One day, Zhi Boyao went outside the city to inspect the terrain, saw the Jinshui in the northeast of Jinyang City, and suddenly came up with an idea: Jinshui bypassed Jinyang City and flowed downstream, if jinshui was diverted to the southwest, wouldn't Jinyang City flood? He ordered his soldiers to dig another river next to Jinshui, which led all the way to Jinyang, and then built a dam upstream to block the water upstream. It was the rainy season and the dam was full of water. Zhi Boyao ordered the soldiers to dig a hole in the dam. In this way, the water rushed straight into Jinyang and poured into the city. The houses in the city were flooded, the people had to run to the roofs to take refuge, the stoves were submerged in the water, and people had to hang pots to cook. However, the people of Jinyang City hated Zhi Boyao so much that they preferred to drown rather than surrender. Zhi Boyao asked Han Kangzi and Wei Huanzi to check the water potential together. He pointed to Jinyang City and said triumphantly to the two of them, "You see, isn't Jinyang almost finished?" Earlier, I thought that Jinshui could stop the enemy like a city wall, but now I know that the big water can also destroy a country. Han Kangzi and Wei Huanzi obediently agreed on the surface, and they were secretly surprised in their hearts. Originally, there was a river next to the Wei family's Fengyi Anyi (present-day northwest of Xia County, Shanxi) and the Han family's Fengyi Pingyang (southwest of present-day Linfen, Shanxi). Zhi Boyao's words just reminded them that Jinshui could flood Jinyang, and maybe one day An Yi and Pingyang would suffer the same fate as Jinyang. After Jinyang was flooded, the situation in the city became more and more difficult. Zhao Xiangzi was very anxious, and said to his protégé Zhang Meng: "Although the people's will has not changed, if the water rises again, the whole city will not be able to save it." Zhang Mengtan said: "I see that the Han family and the Wei family will not be willing to cede the land to Zhi Boyao, and I will find a way to talk to them." That night, Zhao Xiangzi sent Zhang Mengtan to sneak out of the city, first finding Han Kangzi and then Wei Huanzi, and asking them to attack Zhi Boyao together. The Han and Wei families were hesitating, and after Zhang Meng talked about it, they naturally agreed. The next night, after three more, Zhi Boyao was asleep in his camp when he suddenly heard a shout of death. He hurriedly got up from the bed, found that his clothes and quilt were all wet, and fixed his eyes on the barracks, and the barracks was full of water. At first, he thought that it was probably the mouth of the embankment, and the water poured into his camp, so he hurriedly called the soldiers to repair it. But after a while, the water became more and more intense, and the barracks was completely flooded. Zhi Boyao was panicking, and in a flash, war drums sounded in all directions. Soldiers from the Zhao, Han, and Wei families rushed to kill them all in small boats and rafts. The soldiers of the Wise Family, countless people who have been hacked to death and drowned in the water. Zhi Boyao's entire army was destroyed, and he himself was caught and killed by the people and horses of the three families. The Zhao, Han, and Wei families destroyed the Zhi family, and not only did they take back the land that Zhi Boyao had encroached on the two families, but even the land of the Zhi family was divided equally between the three families. Later, they divided up the other lands left by the Jin State. In 403 BC, the three families of Han, Zhao, and Wei sent emissaries to Shangluoyi to see King Weilie of Zhou and asked Zhou Tianzi to make all three of them princes. King Zhou Weilie thought that it was useless not to admit it, so it was better to be a shunshui person, so he officially crowned the three families as princes. After that, Han (the capital was in present-day Yu County, Henan, and later moved to present-day Xinzheng, Henan), Zhao (the capital was in the southeast of present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi, and later moved to present-day Handan, Hebei), and Wei (the capital was in the northwest of present-day Xia County, Shanxi, and later moved to Present-day Kaifeng, Henan), all became great powers in the Central Plains, plus the four great powers of Qin, Qi, Chu, and Yan, which were historically known as the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States".
In 438 years before the incident, the Duke of Jin died and the Duke of Jin took the throne. Han, Zhao, and Wei divided up the remaining land of the Jin state, and only the two lands of Dai and Quwo were left to the Duke of Jin. From then on, Han, Zhao, and Wei were known as the Three Jins. Zhao Huanzi died a year later, and the people of the Zhao clan killed his son and welcomed Zhao Huan to the throne, in order to sacrifice his son for Zhao. Zhao Yuan, the son of the xianzi, later succeeded to the throne as Marquis Liehou of Zhao. Wei Huanzi was succeeded by his grandson Wei Si, Han Kangzi was succeeded by his son Wuzi, and Han Wuzi was succeeded by his son Han Qian. This is the dividing point between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States in the Zizhi Tongjian. In 375 BC, the three families of Han Zhao and Wei divided up the remaining land of the Marquis of Jin, and the Jin state was completely destroyed.