....In the Beginning.

The partition of Jin and the start of the Warring States!

No one really knows what the specific starting point of the Warring States Period was. 475 BC? 453 BC? 403 BC? There is no one single consensus. But it is generally agreed upon that the partition of Jin marks the beginning of the Warring States period.

The Wu state is hitting its high water mark, but now what? The Eastern Zhou court is irrelevant, so it is up to the states to dictate to future of China. But again, there is a new kid on the block in the form of the Yue state.

The Eastern Zhou continues to become a shell of the Western Zhou's long lost authority. Now, even the Hegemon position is becoming irrelevant. And even the inner working of the individual states are falling apart, as Dukes become puppets for Noble families. But a new kid on the block, the Wu State, shakes things up and births Sun Tzu (The Art of War).

Finally. The life of Confucius. No more introduction needed.

The Zhou lives on....sort of. The vassal states now begin to see how far they can push things, so the Zhou implement a new system: The Hegemon system, to try and keep things under control in the short term. Does this work in the long term? Well, if you are the king a strong vassal state, yes.

After hitting their zenith, it seems like it is all down hill for the Western Zhou Dynasty. A string of blunder over nearly 200 years finally catch up with King You and the Western Zhou. The end is nye for the Western Zhou.

The Western Zhou is approaching its zenith. But as with all good things, they are not forever. This week, we dive into the middle years of the Western Zhou Dynasty and all the fun and conflict it saw.

The Zhou Dynasty begins....then immediately faces its demise just three years into it all. But the Duke of Zhou comes to the rescue

The Shang Dynasty succumbs to the same issues that the preceding dynasty did. But what does that entail? What now? Listen to this weeks episode to find out!

The Shang were incredibly spiritual, but just how spiritual? They sacrificed and they conquered, all of which is covered in this weeks episode of "The History of China"