Spring and Autumn period

Chinese polities in the late 5th century BCE, before the breakup of Jin and the Qin move into Sichuan. The Wei on this map is Wey (衛), not the state of Wei (魏) that arose from the Partition of Jin.

Spring and Autumn period
Traditional Chinese	春秋時代
Simplified Chinese	春秋时代
Hanyu Pinyin	Chūnqiū shídài
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chūnqiū shídài Bopomofo ㄔㄨㄣ ㄑㄧㄡ ㄕˊ ㄉㄞˋ Wade–Giles Chʻun1-chʻiu1 Shih2-tai3 Tongyong Pinyin Chunciou shíhdài Yale Romanization Chwūn chyōu shŕdài MPS2 Chuēn chiōu shŕdài IPA [ʈʂʰwə́n tɕʰjóʊ ʂǐ.tâɪ] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Ceon1 cau1 si4 doi6 IPA [tsʰɵn˥ tsʰɐw˥ si˩.tɔj˨] Middle Chinese Middle Chinese /t͡ɕʰiuɪn t͡sʰɨu d͡ʑɨ dʌiH/ Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *tʰun tsʰiw [d]ə (~ [d]əʔ) lˤək-s Zhengzhang /*tʰjun sʰɯw djɯ l'ɯːɡs/

The Spring and Autumn period (c. 770 – c. 481 BCE) was a period in Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (c. 771 – 256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject to the Zhou exercised increasing political autonomy. The period's name derives from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 481 BCE, which tradition associates with Confucius (551–479 BCE).

During this period, local polities negotiated their own alliances, waged wars against one another, up to defying the king's court in Luoyi. The gradual Partition of Jin, one of the most powerful states, is generally considered to mark the end of the Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the Warring States period. The periodization dates to the late Western Han (c. 48 BCE – 9 CE).