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| 722–481 B.C.E |
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| The Spring and Autumn period, named after the Spring and Autumn Annals (See Gongson Long (320–250 B.C.E.)), continued the earlier fractiousness and decentralization. | 1 |
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| 680s B.C.E |
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| In response to continued incursions north by Chu, Duke Huan (r. 685–643 B.C.E.), ruler of Qi, was approached by other states to ally. He turned to his administrative advisor Guan Zhong (d. 654 B.C.E.). | 2 |
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| 681–678 B.C.E |
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| An alliance was thus forged in the north with Huan as hegemon (ba) to repel Chu and other border invaders, which lasted for about two centuries under many subsequent hegemons, mostly from Jin in Shanxi. | 3 |
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| 6th Cent. B.C.E |
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| Qin entered the fray to beat back Chu. | 4 |
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| 453 B.C.E |
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| Wracked by domestic strife, Jin broke up into three states, leaving only three major powers (Chu in the south, Qin and Qi in the north). | 5 |
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| 5th Cent. B.C.E |
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| A major civil war erupted between the states leading to the next era. | 6 |
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| 403–221 B.C.E |
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| The WARRING STATES period (named for an ancient text, Intrigues of the Warring States) began with the Zhou king's formal acceptance (403 B.C.E.) of Jin's dismemberment. There were seven principal players in the subsequent fighting: Qin in the west, Qi in the east, and Chu in the south were the major powers; with a second rung of Yan in the Beijing area and the three substates of Jin (Han, Zhao, and Wei). All sought political unification as in the early Zhou. | 7 |
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| 335 B.C.E |
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| The feudal lords started adopting the title of “king” (wang) for themselves. | 8 |
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| c. 300 B.C.E |
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| Incessant fighting brought developments in hardware and strategy. Chariot warfare was replaced by infantry fighting on a massive scale and by cavalries. | 9 |
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| 297 B.C.E |
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| Qin captured the ruler of Chu and began the process of conquering Chu. In turn, other states began aligning to halt Qin. | 10 |
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| 285 B.C.E |
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| All states aligned to crush Qi. | 11 |
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| 260 B.C.E |
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| Qin defeated Zhao (in Shanxi) and brutally annihilated the entire Zhao military force of allegedly 400,000. | 12 |
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