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TheFive Hegemons (Chinese:五霸;pinyin:Wǔ Bà), also referred to as theFive Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period (Chinese:春秋五霸;pinyin:Chūnqiū Wǔ Bà), refers to several especially powerful rulers ofChinese states of theSpring and Autumn period of Chinese history (770–476 BCE), sometimes alternatively referred to as the "Age of Hegemons". There are various lists of fivehegemon rulers of those certain states which rose to power over the other states of this time period, states which were also formed during the period of dissolution of a once real and strong central state, namely the empire of theZhou dynasty. The Hegemons mobilized the remnants of the Zhou empire, according to shared mutual political and martial interests. An especially prominent Hegemon wasDuke Huan of Qi.
In ancient Chinese,霸 (Old Chinese:*pˤrak-s;[1]Pinyin:bà) 'hegemon' has a similar meaning and pronunciation to伯 (Old Chinese:*pˤrak;[2] Pinyin:bó), which means 'the eldest son born to the principal wife in a family', or 'senator'. Both五霸 and五伯 can be translated as the 'Five Hegemons'.五 (wu) literally means 'five', but in the context of ancient Chinese also has a more generally qualitative and less precisely quantitative use, implying completeness.
During the Spring and Autumn era itself, the hegemony tended to apply to states; it was therefore possible to speak of theState of Jin and theState of Chu struggling for hegemony over the Zhou states. In historical accounts it instead became associated with individual rulers, namely the ones who first brought their respective states to a dominant position. During the Spring and Autumn period the reigns of each hegemon tended to correspond with the zenith of their state's power.
The concept of hegemony arose out of the weakness of theEastern Zhou dynasty. Whilst its predecessor, theWestern Zhou dynasty, was alsofeudal in nature, the centre was strong enough to command the obedience of most of its vassals, as well as to maintain a central army. The death ofKing You of Zhou and the sack of the Zhou capital in 771 BC rendered the position of the central court untenable and eventually dependent on the protection of neighbouring states.
The concept of the Hegemon was important to theinterstate relations during the Spring and Autumn period, since the Hegemon was nominally charged with underwriting the stability of the whole system, often heading a league of smaller states whose security was to some extent guaranteed by the state, in exchange for tribute.
These are the two most commonly used lists of hegemons.
TheRecords of the Grand Historian lists:
Alternatively, theXunzi lists:
The first two hegemons are widely referred to in primary sources (e.g.Zuo Zhuan) and therefore rarely disputed becauseDuke Huan of Qi andDuke Wen of Jin themselves were officially rewarded the hegemony by the Zhou kingsXi andXiang in 679 BCE and in 632 BCE respectively.[3][4][5][6][7]
Zuo Zhuan also recognizesDuke Dao of Jin as a hegemon.[8]
Duke Zhuang of Zheng (鄭莊公)[9] andFuchai King of Wu (吳王夫差)[10] were also amongst the contenders aside of the seven rulers mentioned above.
These lists are:
TheCi Tong (辭通) lists:
TheDisquisition of Four Masters Discussing Virtue [zh] lists:
TheBai Hu Tong lists:
Yan Shigu, who commentates on theBook of Han, lists:[10]
In short, some minor differences not withstanding, ancient as well modern scholars are in general agreement that (1)hegemonic politics started with Duke Zhuang of Zheng and ended with king Goujian of Yue, and (2) at any given time during this period there existed only one hegemon.