Partition of Jin / 三家分晋
Partition of Jin / 三家分晋 is the wiki’s frame for the staggered transfer of power from 晋国 to Han, Zhao, and Wei. 《资治通鉴·周纪》04｜豫让 为智瑶复仇 emphasizes the 453 BCE threshold: after the Battle of Jinyang, 韩国, 赵国, and 魏国 divide 智瑶’s territory, and the source treats this as the practical beginning of the 战国时期.
The existing Zhouji branch adds later thresholds. 《资治通鉴·周纪》04｜豫让 为智瑶复仇 also records 周威烈王 formally recognizing 魏斯 / 魏文侯, 赵籍 / 赵烈侯, and 韩虔 / 韩景侯 as vassals, which is the de jure threshold captured by 三晋受封. 《资治通鉴·周纪》09丨战国时代的世界大战 records the later 376 BCE endpoint when the three houses depose 晋静公 and divide Jin’s remaining land.
The concept therefore avoids forcing one start date. The partition has at least three layers: military balance after Zhi’s destruction, title recognition by the Zhou royal house, and final disposal of residual Jin territory.
Key Claims
- “The beginning of the Warring States” can refer to different political thresholds rather than one universally settled event.
- 453 BCE marks de facto power rearrangement after Zhi’s fall in this source.
- 403 BCE marks formal Zhou recognition of the three Jin houses in the Zizhi Tongjian opening frame.
- 376 BCE marks the final extinction of residual Jin authority in the later Zhouji 09 source.
Connections
- 晋国, 韩国, 赵国, and 魏国 - main polity nodes.
- 智瑶 - defeated power-holder whose fall opens the 453 BCE threshold.
- 周王室 and 周威烈王 - formal-recognition layer.
- 三晋受封 - de jure recognition concept.
- 晋静公 - final Jin ruler in the 376 BCE endpoint.
- 战国时期 and Chronicle Source Gaps / 编年史料空缺 - periodization and source-caution frame.