Zhou Period Regional States

The kings of the Zhou Dynasty 周しゅう (11th cent.-221 BCE) secured domination over a vast territory by giving distant or critical regions into the hands of regional rulers (zhuhou 諸侯しょこう, see political system), many of them related to the royal house by kinship. The rulers over these secondary states (regional states) were granted titles of nobility, like marquis (hou 侯ほう), or viscount (bo 伯はく). While many of the smaller regional states were conquered by larger ones during the Spring and Autumn period 春秋しゅんじゅう (770-5th cent. BCE), the remaining of the regional rulers began during the Warring States period 戰國せんごく (5th cent.-221 BCE) to appropriate the title of king (wang 王おう).

For the Western Zhou 西にし周あまね (11th cent.-770 BCE) and Spring and Autumn periods, traditional Chinese historians provide the annals and more or less complete ruler lists of 13 regional states (incl. the semi-barbarian state of Wu 吳ご), and for the Warring States period those of 7 states (including Qin 秦はた). Information about lesser states is scarce, even if the ruler lists and genealogies of some houses can be reconstructed.

The regional rulers themselves entrusted their own relatives with offices (qing 卿きょう, dafu 大夫たいふ) and territories inside their states. Some of the genealogies of these tertiary states survive in the chronicle Chunqiu-Zuozhuan 春秋しゅんじゅう左ひだり傳でん.

Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn Period

Warring States Period

Apart from these larger states, there was a abundant number of statelets that were by and by conquered by larger states:

Bei 邶, Bi 畢, Bi 偪, Bin 豳, Bo 柏かしわ, Chao 巢す, Cheng 成しげる/郕, Chui 垂たれ, Dai 戴, Dao 道どう, Du 杜もり, Er 貳に, Fei 費ひ, Fang 房ぼう, Feng 酆, Geng 耿, Guan 管かん, Gui 檜ひのき, Guo 虢, Hua 滑すべり, Huo 霍, Ji 薊あざみ, Ji 極ごく, Ji 冀, Jiang 蔣, Jiao 焦こげ, Jiao 絞しぼ, Ju 莒, Kang 康やすし, Kuai 鄶, Kui 夔, Li 厲, Liao 蓼たで, Lu 六ろく (special reading instead of Liu), Long 龍りゅう, Lü 呂りょ, Mao 茅ちがや, Mi 密みつ, Ni 郳, Pi 邳, Qi 其, Quan 權けん, Quwo 曲きょく沃, Ran or Na 冉 (冄, 𨚗, 𨚉, Dan 𣆀), Ren 任にん, Ruo 鄀, Shen 申さる, Shi 邿, Sui 隨したがえ, Sui 祟たたり, Tan 郯, Tang 唐とう, Teng 滕, Tong 桐きり, Xi 息いき, Xiang 項こう, Xiang 向むこう, Xu 許もと, Xue 薛, Xun 郇, Yang 陽ひ, Yang 揚あげ, Yi 益えき, Ying 應おう, Ying 英えい, Yong 鄘, Yong 雍, Yu 邘, Yu 虞おそれ, Zeng 繒, Zeng 鄫, Zhang 鄣, Zhou 州しゅう, Zhu 邾 (Zou 鄒, Zou 陬 or Zhulou 邾婁), Zhu 祝しゅく, Zhu 鑄い, Zhuan 鄟, Zuo 胙.