China's Aristocratic Age: Politics and Power in the Springs-and-Autumns Period

A new perspective on the Springs-and-Autumns period, China’s longest experiment with polycentrismThe Springs-and-Autumns period (770-453 BCE)-the longest aristocratic age in Chinese history-marks a break from what is often associated with the normative orientations of Chinese political life.During this era, political fragmentation was regarded as acceptable, many states transitioned to oligarchic forms of rule, political participation by lower strata was allowed, pedigree mattered more than ability in determining an individual’s career, and the concept of the Mandate of Heaven had little to do with the notion of universal rule.Indeed, in many respects, the politics of this period inverted traditional Chinese political values.In China’s Aristocratic Age, Yuri Pines offers a new history of the Springs-and-Autumns period, arguing that it should be considered on its own terms rather than simply as a precursor for the centralized and bureaucratized Warring States era that followed. Pines dr