Ancient states and kingdoms of China

China is usually thought of as one vast homogenous country and yet there are many regions which retain their own cultural identity. Before the Qin dynasty, over two thousand years ago, the core part of modern China was a patchwork of very small kingdoms. These ancient states would be just an academic study except that the names of the kingdoms crop up quite widely in Chinese literature. These old kingdoms are mentioned in poems and more significantly were around at the time of Confucius and so feature heavily in his writings. So it is useful to have a rough idea of where and when they existed.

Apart from the many states/kingdoms of the Zhou dynasty there are other periods of Chinese history when regions became independent. Confusingly some of these later divisions re-used the old Zhou names so it is easy to mix them up. We describe the kingdoms in two groups - those of the Zhou dynasty and then a group of later kingdoms and regional dynasties.

Kingdoms of the later Zhou dynasty

These kingdoms or states were clustered around the Yellow River. They were rules by a local fief with total control over a few towns and cities. Most books use the term ‘state’ but I think ‘kingdom’ more closely reflects their status. Areas outside the city walls were under much less control. Further details ➚

There was only token acknowledgment to the Zhou Emperors on matters of ritual in a situation rather like medieval Europe where there were many city states and one leader - the Pope - who had limited power except in areas of religion. The Zhou Emperor was the Lord of all under heaven while the rest were termed 君子 jūn zǐ ‘lords’ who were both educated and literate. Most lords claimed ancestry from the early Zhou emperors or the legendary emperors, it is possible that some were direct descendents of Shang dynasty aristocrats.

The boundaries of the kingdoms varied during the Zhou dynasty. There were 15 large states (only 11 considered 'true' states) and numerous smaller ones often based on a single city as the independent fiefdom of one individual. Most of the ‘Han Chinese’ were clustered around the Yellow River with peoples regarded as semi-barbarian to the north (Yan), west (Shu) and south (Chu).

From 685BCE the major kingdoms established the system of hegemony ➚ where one kingdom was considered the leading kingdom over its neighbors. These follow the rough date ranges Qi (685 - 643 BCE), Song (643 - 637 BCE), Jin (636 - 628 BCE), Qin (628 - 621 BCE) and finally Chu (613 - 591 BCE).

Here are a list of the major kingdoms - there were too many smaller ones to include. We refer to an excellent external site chinaknowledge.com for full details of these kingdoms. The kingdoms are in alphabetic order:

Cai蔡 Cài c.1100 - 447BCE

A small state that was south-west of Chen in present day south-eastern Henan. Founded by 蔡叔度 Cài shū dù. Capital was at 上蔡 Shàng cài, Henan then XinCai and Xiacai. Conquered by Chu in 447BCE. Further details ➚

Chen 陈 陳 Chén c.1100 - 469BCE

Founded by 陈胡公 Chén hú gōng. An area now in south-eastern Henan and north-west Anhui. Capital at 宛丘 Wǎn qiū in present day 淮阳 Huái yáng county, Henan. Conquered by Chu in 469BCE. Further details ➚

Xue 薛 Xuē c.1100 - 418BCE

Small city state in eastern Shandong. Capital at modern day Tengzhou . Founded by 禺阳 Yù yáng. Conquered by Qi in 418BCE. Further details ➚

Yan 燕 Yān c.1100 - 222BCE

Semi-barbarian frontier state in north-eastern China from Hebei east into Liaoning. Capital was 蓟 Jì near present day Beijing. Legendary founder 燕召公 Yān shào gōng. Conquered by Qin 222BCE. Further details ➚

Zheng 郑 (鄭) Zhèng 806 - 375BCE

Small state is southern present day Henan. Founded by 郑桓公 Zhèng huán gōng in 806BCE. Conquered by Han 375BCE. Further details ➚

Kingdoms at other times in Chinese history

Here are some of the large number of other regions and kingdoms that arose at various other times in Chinese history. Kingdoms are listed in alphabetic not date order:

Chu or 马楚 (馬楚)Mǎ chǔ 926 - 951CE

A short-lived kingdom that covered the modern state of Hunan with capital at Changsha the present-day provincial capital. It was founded by 马殷 Mǎ yīn. It became part of the Later Zhou kingdom to the north in 951CE. Not to be confused with the Zhou dynasty kingdom of Chu. Further details ➚

Jin dynasty 晋 (鄭) Jìn 265 - 420CE

Conventionally split into western and eastern periods. Not to be confused with the Zhou dynasty kingdom of Jin. Further details ➚

Later Jin dynasty 后晋 (後晉) Hòu jìn 907 - 660CE

Founded by 石敬瑭 Shí jìng táng. Not to be confused with the Zhou dynasty kingdom of Jin. Further details ➚

Min 闽 (閩) Mǐn 909 - 945CE

Min arose as one of the ten states in southern China during the Five Dynasties period. Occupied much of present day Fujian with capital at Fuzhou which was then called Changle. The brothers Wang Chao 王潮, Wang Shenzhi 王審知 occupied Fuzhou in 893CE the independent state protected by mountains managed to survive until 945 when it was conquered by the southern Tang under Li Randa which itself lingered on until 978 into the beginning of the Song dynasty. Further details ➚

Shu or 蜀汉 (蜀漢) Shǔ hàn 221 - 263CE

The westernmost of the Three Kingdoms. This covered the prosperous province of Sichuan. Founded by 刘备 Liú bèi but conquered by the Wei kingdom in 263. Not to be confused with the Zhou dynasty kingdom of Shu. Further details ➚

Wei or 曹魏 Cáo wèi 220 - 265CE

The northernmost of the Three Kingdoms. Founded by 曹操 Cáo cāo at the end of the Han dynasty. The ‘dynasty’ was short-lived and conquered by the Jin in 265. Not to be confused with the Zhou dynasty kingdoms of Wei. Further details ➚