The Partition of Jin Dynasty was a famous event that took place in China history during the late Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States Period. Historians believe it marked the beginning of the Warring States period in China. Personally, I believe that the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in ancient China were characterized by the emergence of a great number of heroes and talents, and a hundred schools of thought competed with each other. The reason for this was mainly due to the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, which in a way is somewhat similar to today’s global situation. So it is highly recommended for everyone to read.
After a long period of wars of rivalry during the Spring and Autumn Period, many small vassal states were annexed by the great powers. Some states underwent internal changes, and the power gradually fell into the hands of a few great physicians. These dafu were originally slave-owning aristocrats, but later they adopted the feudal exploitation method and transformed into the landlord class. Some of them, in order to expand their power, also used the method of tax reduction to enlist people’s support, and in this way, their power became bigger and bigger. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the power of the ruler of the state of Jin, which had always been known as the hegemon of the Central Plains, declined, and the real power was held by six great families (Han, Zhao, Wei, Zhi, Fan, and Zhongxing), which also included the great clans of Yu, Luan, and so on. They each had their own territory and arms, and attacked each other. Later, two families (Fan and Zhongxing) were broken up, leaving the Zhi, Zhao, Han and Wei families. Among these four families, the Zhi family was the most powerful.
Zhi Bo Yao, a senior official of the Zhi family, wanted to take over the land of the other three families and said to Zhao Xiangzi, Wei Huanzi and Han Kangzi, the senior officials of the three families, “The state of Jin was originally the hegemony of the Central Plains, but it was later taken away by Wu and Yue. In order to make the state of Jin strong, I advocate that each family give one hundred miles of land and households to the public.”
The three great physicians knew that Zhi Bo Yao was ill-intentioned and wanted to use the name of the public family to pressure them to hand over their land. However, the hearts of the three families were not united. Han Kangzi firstly ceded his land and 10,000 households to Zhi’s family, while Wei Huanzi, not wanting to offend Zhi Boyao, also ceded his land and households.
When Zhi Boyao asked Zhao Xiangzi for the land, Zhao Xiangzi refused, saying, “The land is the property of the previous generation, and I won’t give it away for any reason.”
Zhi Bo Yao was so furious that he immediately ordered Han and Wei to send troops together to attack the Zhao family.
In 455 B.C., Zhi Bo Yao himself led the center army, Han’s army served as the right road, Wei’s army served as the left road, and the three groups of troops went straight to the Zhao family.
Knowing that he was outnumbered, Zhao Xiangzi retreated to Jinyang (present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi) with the Zhao family’s soldiers and horses.
Not many days later, the three families led by Zhi Bo Yao had surrounded the city of Jinyang. Zhao Xiangzi instructed his generals to defend the city firmly and not to engage in battle. Whenever the soldiers of the three families attacked the city, arrows fell from the top of the city like locusts, so that the soldiers of the three families could not advance any further.
The city of Jinyang was defended by arrows for more than two years. The soldiers of the three families were never able to take it down.
One day, Zhi Bo Yao went to the outside of the city to check the terrain, and saw the Jin water in the northeast of Jinyang City, and suddenly came up with an idea: the Jin water flowed downstream bypassing Jinyang City, and if the Jin water was diverted to the southwest, wouldn’t Jinyang City be flooded? So he ordered his soldiers to dig another river beside the Jin water, which led all the way to Jinyang, and built a dam upstream to stop the upstream water.
It was the rainy season and the dam was full of water. Zhi Bo Yao ordered his soldiers to dig an opening in the dam. In this way, the water rushed straight to Jinyang and poured into the city.
The houses in the city were flooded, and the people had to run to the roofs of the houses to take refuge. The stoves were also submerged in the water, and the people had to hang up the pots to cook. However, the people of Jinyang city hated Zhi Boyao so much that they would rather drown than surrender.
Zhi Bo Yao asked Han Kang Zi and Wei Huan Zi to go with him to inspect the water. He pointed at the city of Jinyang and said to both of them proudly, “Look, isn’t Jinyang almost finished? Earlier I thought that the water of Jin was like a city wall that could stop the enemy, but now I realize that great water can also destroy a country.”
Han Kangzi and Wei Huanzi obediently agreed on the surface, but were secretly surprised in their hearts. It turned out that there was a river next to each of the Wei family’s fief Anyi (present-day northwest of Xiaxian County, Shanxi) and the Han family’s fief Pingyang (present-day southwest of Linfen City, Shanxi). Zhi Bo Yao’s words reminded them that the water of Jin could flood Jinyang, so maybe one day An Yi and Ping Yang would suffer the same fate as Jinyang.
After Jinyang was flooded, the situation in the city became more and more difficult. Zhao Xiangzi was very anxious, and said to his disciple Zhang Mengtan, “The people’s heart has not changed, but if the water rises again, the whole city will not be saved.”
Zhang Mengtan said, “I don’t think the Han and Wei families will be willing to cede their land to Zhi Boyao, I’ll find a way to talk to both of them.”
That night, Zhao Xiangzi sent Zhang Mengtan to sneak out of the city and found first Han Kangzi and then Wei Huanzi, asking them to turn around and attack Zhi Boyao together. The two families of Han and Wei were hesitating, but after Zhang Mengtan’s words, they naturally agreed.
The next night, after the third watch, Zhi Bo Yao was asleep in his own camp, when he suddenly heard a sound of shouting and killing. He hurriedly got up from his couch, and found that his clothes and quilt were all wet, and then took a look at the barracks, which was full of water. At first, he thought that the dike had broken and the water was pouring into his camp, so he hurriedly called his soldiers to repair it. But in a short while, the water was getting bigger and bigger, flooding the barracks. Zhi Bo Yao was in a state of panic when, in a flash, war drums sounded in all directions. Soldiers from Zhao, Han, and Wei came with their boats and rafts. Zhi’s soldiers were hacked to death and drowned in the water. Zhi Bo Yao’s entire army was wiped out, and he himself was caught and killed by the men of the three families.
When the three families of Zhao, Han and Wei destroyed the Zhi family, they not only took back the land that Zhi Boyao had encroached upon the two families, but even the land of the Zhi family was equally divided among the three families.
In 438 B.C., Duke Ai of Jin died and Duke Yu of Jin assumed the throne. Han, Zhao and Wei divided the remaining lands of Jin, leaving only Jiang Jiang and Quwo to Duke Yu of Jin. From then on, Han, Zhao and Wei were called the Three Jin.
When Zhao Huanzi died a year later, the people of Zhao killed his son and welcomed Zhao Run to the throne as Zhao Xianzi. Zhao Xianzi’s son Zhao Ji later succeeded to the throne as Marquis Zhao Lie. After Wei Huanzi, his grandson Wei Si succeeded to the throne; after Han Kangzi, his son Wuzi succeeded to the throne; after Han Wuzi, his son Han Qi succeeded to the throne. This is the demarcation point between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in Ziji Tongjian.
In 403 B.C., the three families of Han, Zhao, and Wei sent messengers up to Luoyi to meet King Wei Lie of Zhou, asking the Zhou Emperor to make the three families vassals. King Wei Lie of Zhou thought that it was useless not to recognize them, so he did them a favor and made them vassals. After that, Han (capital in present-day Yuxian, Henan Province, later moved to present-day Xinzheng, Henan Province), Zhao (capital in present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, later moved to present-day Handan, Hebei Province), Wei (capital in present-day Xiaxian, Shanxi Province, later moved to present-day Kaifeng, Henan Province) became the great powers of the Central Plains, together with four other great powers, namely, Qin, Qi, Chu, and Yan, which were known as the “Seven Warring States” in the history of the country.
In 375 B.C., Han, Zhao and Wei divided the remaining land of Jin, and the state of Jin was completely destroyed.
