Yan, (Chinese) state of

The Late Zhou period is increasingly characterized by destruction, as warfare among the semiautonomous Zhou vassals becomes endemic from the fifth century BCE.

China’s so-called “Spring and Autumn Period” ends and the Warring States period begins as the belligerent vassals form alliances with one another to increase their power and gain more land.

This is nevertheless a time of great intellectual achievement, China's "Golden Age".

The endemic warfare results in increased centralization and administrative efficiency within each state.

Mozi (Mo Tzu, or Micius) who preaches pacifism and universal love in China, establishes a dialectical method of argument.

Chinese philosopher Lao-tze, the probable author of the “Tao-te Ching” anthology, formulates Taoism as a religion.

The oldest surviving Chinese literature dates from this age, as does the emergence of three important schools of philosophy: Confucianism, Taoism (Daoism), and Legalism.

Chinese education, largely conducted in private homes, is shaped for the most part by four schools of thought: Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, and Taoism.

The practical use of natural gas begins during the Warring States period in China, where people use bamboo pipes to collect it from natural seeps and convey it to gas-fired evaporators used in boiling ocean water for the salt.

Chinese cast iron appears, but it is of poor quality.

The high phosphorus content of iron from their ore enables the Chinese to melt it––a process unduplicated by their western Eurasian contemporaries––but the castings are unsatisfactorily brittle.

The Chinese are aware of the way in which the cycle of fifths produces the chromatic scale of twelve halftones, but use the chromatic scale only to transpose the customary pentatonic scales.

Sun Tzu (also referred to as "Sunzi" and "Sun Wu"), a high ranking military general and strategist during the late Spring and Autumn period, writes knowingly of spies in his Treatise on the Art of War, the first intelligence manual.

Some scholars believe that the Art of War was not completed until the subsequent Warring States period).

Composed of thirteen chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it is said to be the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time, and is still read for its military insights.

The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy in the world.

It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics.

Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of positioning in military strategy, and that the decision to position an army must be based on both objective conditions in the physical environment and the subjective beliefs of other, competitive actors in that environment.

He thought that strategy was not planning in the sense of working through an established list, but rather that it requires quick and appropriate responses to changing conditions.

Planning works in a controlled environment, but in a changing environment, competing plans collide, creating unexpected situations.

China’s Warring States Period, in contrast to the Spring and Autumn Period, is a period when regional warlords annex smaller states around them and consolidate their rule.

The process had begun in the Spring and Autumn Period, and by the third century BCE, seven major states will have risen to prominence.

These Seven Warring States are the Qi, the Chu, the Yan, the Han, the Zhao, the Wei, and the Qin.

Another sign of this shift in power is a change in title: warlords still consider themselves dukes of the Zhou dynasty king; but the warlords now begin to call themselves kings, meaning they are equal to the Zhou king.

The Qin state launches a series of military campaigns in the late third century BCE against the other six major states—Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi—within the territories that form modern China.

A six hundred thousand-strong Qin army led by Wang Ben conquers more than ten cities on the northern border of Chu in 225 BCE as a precautionary move to guard the flank from possible attacks from Chu while Qin is invading Wei.

Wang Ben then leads his forces north to attack and besiege Daliang (northwest of present-day Kaifeng, Henan), the capital of Wei.

As Daliang is situated at the confluence of the Sui and Ying rivers and the Hong Canal, its geographical location gives it a natural defensive advantage.

Besides, the moat around Daliang is very wide and all the five gates of the city have drawbridges, making it even more difficult for Qin forces to penetrate the city.

The Wei troops use the opportunity to strengthen their fortifications and defenses.

Wang Ben comes up with the idea of directing the waters from the Yellow River and the Hong Canal to flood Daliang.

Wang Ben's troops work for three months to redirect the water flow while maintaining the siege on Daliang, and succeed in their plan.

Daliang is heavily flooded and over one hundred thousand people die, including civilians.

King Jia of Wei surrenders and Wei comes under Qin's control.

Ying Zheng calls in 224 BCE for a meeting with his subjects to discuss his plans for the invasion of Chu.

Wang Jian feels that they need at least six hundred thousand troops for the campaign, while Li Xin claims that less than two hundred thousand men will suffice.

Ying Zheng dismisses Wang Jian's idea and orders Li Xin and Meng Wu to lead an army of about two hundred thousand to attack Chu.

Wang Jian retires on the grounds of illness.

The Qin armies score initial victories as Li Xin's force conquers Pingyu (north of present-day Pingyu County, Zhumadian, Henan) while Meng Wu's capture Qinqiu (present-day Linquan County, Fuyang, Anhui).

After conquering Yan (present-day Yanling County, Xuchang, Henan), Li Xin leads his army west to rendezvous with Meng Wu at Chengfu (east of present-day Baofeng County, Pingdingshan, Henan).

The Chu army, led by Xiang Yan, has been avoiding using its main force to resist the Qin invaders while waiting for an opportunity to launch a counterattack.

During this time, Lord Changping, a relative of Ying Zheng who descends from the Chu royal family, incites a rebellion in a city previously conquered by Li Xin.

He also prepares for a surprise attack on Li Xin later.

The Chu army led by Xiang Yan secretly follows Li Xin at high speed for three days and three nights before launching a surprise attack.

Lord Changping's forces follow suit from behind and join Xiang Yan's army in attacking Li Xin.

Most of Li Xin's forces are destroyed in the battle.

Upon learning of Li Xin's defeat, Ying Zheng personally visits Wang Jian, who is in retirement, apologizes for not heeding Wang's advice earlier, and invites Wang back to serve in the court.

Per Wang Jian's request, Ying Zheng puts him in command of six hundred thousand troops and assigns Meng Wu to be Wang's deputy.

Wang Jian is aware that the king will doubt his loyalty because he wields too much military power, so he frequently sends messengers back to the king, requesting for rewards for his family so as to reduce the king's suspicions.

Wang Jian's army passes through the south of Chen (present-day Huaiyang County, Zhoukou, Henan) in 224 BCE, and makes camp at Pingyu.

The Chu forces, led by Xiang Yan, use their full strength to launch an offensive on the Qin camp but fail.

Wang Jian orders his troops to defend their positions firmly and avoid advancing further into Chu territory.

After failing to lure the Qin army to attack, Xiang Yan orders a retreat and Wang Jian seizes the opportunity to launch a surprise counterattack.

The Qin forces pursue the retreating Chu forces to Qinan (northwest of present-day Qichun County, Huanggang, Hubei), where Xiang Yan is killed in action[e] in the ensuing battle.

Qin launches another attack on Chu in 223 BCE and captures Shouchun (present-day Shou County, Lu'an, Anhui), the capital of Chu.

Fuchu, the king of Chu, is captured and Chu is annexed by Qin.

The following year, Wang Jian and Meng Wu lead the Qin army to attack the Wuyue region (covering present-day Zhejiang and Jiangsu), which is inhabited by the Baiyue, and capture the descendants of the royal family of Yue.

Prince Jia, the elder brother of King Qian of Zhao, had escaped from Handan and gone to Dai (present-day Yu County, Zhangjiakou, Hebei), where, with help from Zhao's remnants, he declares himself "King of Dai".

Dai is conquered in 222 BCE by the Qin army led by Wang Jian's son, Wang Ben.

Zhao Jia is taken captive.

Tian Jian had in 264 BCE ascended the throne of Qi, assisted by his mother, the queen dowager, in managing state affairs.

Qin has bribed Hou Sheng, the Qi chancellor, to dissuade King Jian from helping the other states while they were being attacked by Qin.

By 221 BCE, Qi is the only state in China that has yet to be conquered by Qin.

Qi hurriedly mobilizes its armies to its western borders as a safeguard against a possible Qin invasion, even though its military is not well equipped and morale is low.

In the same year, Ying Zheng uses Qi's rejection of a meeting with a Qin envoy as an excuse to attack Qi.

The Qin army, led by Wang Ben, avoids direct confrontation with enemy forces stationed on Qi's western borders, and advances into Qi's heartland via a southern detour from Yan.

The Qin forces meet with little resistance as they pass through Qi territory and eventually arrive at Linzi (north of present-day Zibo, Shandong), the capital of Qi.

King Jian is caught by surprise and, after being persuaded by Hou Sheng, he surrenders to Qin without putting up a fight.

The Romans, in search of iron, copper, precious metals, slaves, and crops, begin to expand into the Balkan Peninsula in the late third century BCE.

The tax burden on both rural and urban populations of the Hellenistic kingdoms rises as the constant military conflicts raise revenue needs.

The Persians, Parthians, and Bactrians meanwhile threaten from the east; and Roman expansionism in southern Italy and the western Mediterranean sets the stage for repeated clashes between Rome and various Hellenistic rulers.

Conflicts between the Roman Republic and the kingdom of Macedonia from 215 BCE cause increasing involvement by Rome in Greek affairs.