The Five Hegemons (Chinese: 五霸; pinyin: Wǔ Bà), also referred to as the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period (Chinese: 春秋五霸; pinyin: Chūnqiū Wǔ Bà), refers to several especially powerful rulers of Chinese states of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history (770–476 BCE), sometimes alternatively referred to as the "Age of Hegemons". There are various lists of five hegemon 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 the Zhou dynasty. The Hegemons mobilized the remnants of the Zhou empire, according to shared mutual political and martial interests. An especially prominent Hegemon was Duke Huan of Qi.
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👉 Five Hegemons in the context of Duke Huan of Qi
Duke Huan of Qi (Chinese: 齊桓公; pinyin: Qí Huán Gōng), personal name Lü Xiaobai, was a duke of the Qi state, ruling from 685 BC to 643 BC.
Duke Huan and his long-time advisor Guan Zhong managed to transform Qi into China's most powerful polity. Duke Huan is commonly listed among the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period. Toward the end of his more than 40-year-long reign, however, Duke Huan's power began to decline as he grew ill and the Qi state came to be embroiled in factional strife. Following his death in 643 BC, Qi completely lost its predominance.
Five Hegemons in the context of Guan Zhong
Guan Zhong (Chinese: 管仲; Wade–Giles: Kuan Chung; c. 720–645 BC) was a Chinese philosopher and politician. He served as chancellor and was a reformer of the State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. His given name was Yiwu (Chinese: 夷吾; pinyin: Yíwú). Zhong was his courtesy name. He is mainly remembered for his reforms as chancellor under Duke Huan of Qi, as well as his friendship with his colleague Bao Shuya, though his reputation remained controversial among the Confucians, as detailed in the appraisal section.
Through Guan Zhong's reforms and skilful diplomacy Qi became the most powerful of the feudal states and Duke Huan became the first of the Five Hegemons. Though knowledge of his reforms is limited, in particular he instituted a famous fiscal policy known as "balancing the light and the heavy", associated with salt and iron monopolies. Otherwise a diverse work, the Guanzi compilation making use of his name makes similar such recommendations.