WARRING STATES

also called Contending States, Wade-Giles romanization Chan-kuo, Pinyin Zhanguo (475-221 BC) six or seven small feuding Chinese kingdoms whose careers constitute an era in Chinese history. The Warring States period was one of the most fertile and influential in Chinese history. It not only saw the rise of many of the great philosophers of Chinese civilization, including the Confucian thinkers Mencius and Hsn-tzu, but also witnessed the establishment of many of the governmental structures and cultural patterns that were to characterize China for the next 2,000 years. The Warring States period is distinguished from the preceding age, the Spring and Autumn (Ch'un Ch'iu) period (770-476 BC), when the country was divided into many even smaller states. The name Warring States is derived from an ancient work known as the Chan Kuo ts'e ("Intrigues of the Warring States"). In these intrigues, two states, Ch'in and Ch'u, eventually emerged supreme. In 223 BC, Ch'in defeated Ch'u and two years later established the first unified Chinese empire.