The Warring States period was an age of constant conflict in ancient China, following the collapse of effective central power under the Zhou dynasty. Seven major states, Qin, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei, fought for supremacy, using iron weapons, cavalry, crossbows and large conscript armies. Reforms such as those of Shang Yang in Qin strengthened the state through law and agriculture. The age was also one of great intellectual activity, the time of Confucian thinkers like Mencius and Xunzi, of Daoism, Mohism and Legalism. It ended when the king of Qin, later known as Qin Shi Huang, conquered the last rivals and founded the first unified empire.
Before and after
- 484 BCEBirth of Herodotus
- 11 August 480 BCEBattle of Thermopylae
- 479 BCEDeath of Confucius
- from 478 BCE to 403 BCEFounding of Delian League
- from 476 BCE to 221 BCEWarring States period
- 470 BCEBirth of Socrates
- 466 BCEDiscovery of Halley's Comet
- 460 BCEBirth of Hippocrates
- 456 BCEDeath of Aeschylus
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The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 5th century BCE.