New Topic: Spring Autumn and Warring States Topic

I have always been wondering about the apparent lack of historical recordings of the Spring Autumn and Warring States period between 450 B.C. and 350 B.C. 

I read the Chronocles of the Eastern Chou and noticed a gap between the end of the Spring and Autumn, and the beginning of the Warring States.  There is a period of about a century, from the suicide of the last Wu King to the splitting up of the Dukedom of Jin, that lacks detailed records.

I have always been intrigued by this, because this was an extraordinary period.  This missing century marks the decisive shift from the Spring and Autumn Period into the Warring States Period.  A large number of the small dukedoms that existed during the Spring and Autumn Period disappeared during this time, and many of the schools of philosophy that followed the likes of Confucius and Laozi began to flourish at this time.

Thus, this missing period should actually be the most dynamic period in pre-Qin history, marking a decisive shift in the political, economic, and social makeup of the pre-Qin world.  Then again, why do we not have more accurate and detailed knowledge of this period?

We know plenty of details about the dukes during the Spring and Autumn Period, and we know plently of details of the Warring States Period starting from the 300s B.C.  We know about the Dukes of Jin; we know about Shang Yang.  Yet, we seem to know or care little about the transitionary period between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods.

One of my assertions is the following:

The period from 450 B.C. to 350 B.C. marked such a significant change in politics and society that some of the elements that defined the period proved to be detrimental to future rulers.  The period had been quietly played down and even expurgated from history, during the book burning movements of the Qin Dynasty.  Thus, most records (aside from Chunqiu, Zuo Zhuan) have been lost forever.

I am not so sure about the Shiji, but again, the Shiji is categorized not chronologically, but based on individual chronicles.  And I believe there is a gap about the chronicles of figures between the 450-350 BC.  The Shiji treats, with detal, characters such as the Dukes of Qi and Jin during the Spring and Autumn era, as well as historical figures such as Shang Yang, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi from the Warring States era. 

I pose a question for you MengTzu:

Can you name one major historical figure from 450-350 B.C. who has been chronicled in detail like Su Qin, Zhang Yi, and Sun Bin?

Snowbeagle, I think you are right, I did mistakenly put the splitting of the Dukedom of Jin 50 years later than it should have.  However, that does not change the fact that relatively less details have been written about this time period.

Yes, Wu Qi was a colorful figure, but can you name more characters?

Uhm, could you cite the *corrected* period which you're thinking of ...?

"Omnipotence, can you pull out some sources?  I am very interested"

Well, I can't really prove to you that historical sources during the Warring States DON't mention Suntzu, unless I copy every historical source of the time period to this forum, which i can't do . However, I got the information at 3kingdoms forum at the world history section(and the "Is Suntzu overrated" thread). You can look there.