Main Character 4

Part 1: The Birth of a Hero

Entering 19
Chapter 1: Taihang Mountain Tour 29
Chapter 2: The Machiavellian Father and the Abandoned Sons 47
Chapter 3: Jung-i Goes into Exile 65
Chapter 4: Duke Heon's Death and Rebellion 81
Chapter 5: Intervention by the Eastern and Western Powers 93
Chapter 6: The Beginning of the East-West War 111
Chapter 7: The Spring and Autumn Period's Main Weapons 121
Chapter 8: The Showdown between Hanwon and Hanwon 143
Chapter 9: Jin's Reforms and Strengthening 159
Chapter 10: Heejung's Odyssey 173
Chapter 11: International Situation at the Time of Duke Wen of Jin's Ascension to the Throne 193
Chapter 12: Duke Wen of Jin ascends the throne (205)
Chapter 13: The Politics of the Duke of Mun 227
Chapter 14: The Battle of Seongbok: Duke Wen Subdues the State of Chu (243)
Chapter 15: Duke Wen Shows the Way of the Loser (273)
Chapter 16: The Chronicles of the Jin Dynasty (Qin Xiaoshan) 297
Chapter 17: After the Battle of Hyosan: The Development of the Three Powers of Jin, Qin, and Chu 315
Leaving: Leadership in the East, Leadership in the West 347
Travelogue: The Wild Taste of the Northwest: Truth in the Desolation 371

Part 2: The Southern Monarch Who Controlled the Central Plains

Enter 393
Chapter 1: The Han River Dragon and the Dragon of the Yangtze: A Journey Through the Lands of the Chu Kingdom, Vol. 415
Chapter 2: International Situation Before the Emergence of King Jang 447
Chapter 3: King Jang's Ascension to the Throne 465
Chapter 4: The Conditions for Progress Are Ripening 481
Chapter 5: The Prelude to a Long Rise 497
Chapter 6: The Wings of the Great Phoenix 523
Chapter 7: The Loser's First Step: Establishing a Cause 549
Chapter 8: The Perfection of Hegemony: The Battle of Phil 567
Chapter 9: Completing the Hegemony in the East (607)
Chapter 10: Lao Tzu and King Zhang: The Taoist Monarchs 625
Chapter 11: The Political Situation After King Jang's Death 653
Chapter 12: The End of the Chu Hegemony: 691
Chapter 13: The Final Chapter: Conditions for Successful Expansion 729
Deep Reading: Who Are the Chu People? 739
Field Trip: Meeting Two Strong Men in the Land of the First 761

supplement
Chronology of the Reigns of the Major States of the Spring and Autumn Period, 774
Major Events of the Spring and Autumn Period 781
Note 782
Search 783

Three years of planning, ten years of direct exploration across China
Korea's first historical textbook that directly addresses the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Stories of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Warring States are back with a new design and meticulous proofreading.

This is the revised second edition of the 『Spring and Autumn Annals and Warring States』 series, planned over three years by traveling humanist Park Won-guk and Wisdom House, and written by the author after exploring all of China for ten years.
After the first edition published in 2010 and the revised edition in 2017, it meets readers in a new form after six years.
In this revision, the composition has changed first and foremost.
The original 11 volumes were changed to a combined 6 volumes to take into account the flow of the story.
Readers can feel a powerful sense of immersion in the feast of stories that continues seamlessly from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period and the Hundred Schools of Thought.


The second thing that changes is the design.
The cover design has been renewed to enhance the completeness of the series.
If you unfold the covers of all volumes, it seems as if the 550-year Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period unfolds like a panorama.
As a reader, you can visually feel the thrill of breaking through a brick book and the fulfillment of understanding an era every time you finish reading each volume of 'Spring, Autumn, Jeon, Guk, Poetry, and Dae'.
The main text format was also reduced from the existing new national format to a national format and the line spacing was widened to increase readability while allowing readers to enjoy the pleasure of reading.
The third thing that has changed is the proofreading of the entire text.
We have carefully corrected errors in the content, reflected typos and unified terminology, as well as changed spelling.


This series is an unprecedented series that presents a completely new historical perspective through a 'geographical approach' that took a long time to plan and write.
Even in China, the birthplace of 『The Spring and Autumn Annals and the Warring States』, its value was recognized, and in an unusual move, the complete volume was translated and published in Chinese by the Yelin Publishing House under the Jiangsu Phoenix Publishing Group.
As this is a work that is unlikely to be reproduced again in Korean publishing history, we hope that this revision will allow it to be read by readers for a longer period of time.

The origin of East Asian culture and a keyword for understanding modern China.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a collection of unprecedented events and characters.

In the overwhelming pleasure of narrative that provides insight into the times,
Read history and gain wisdom to understand life!

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period refers to a period of approximately 550 years from 770 BC, when the Zhou Dynasty was forced by the Rong people and moved east to Luoyang (Luoyi), until 221 BC, when the Qin Dynasty unified the country.
Chinese history began with the Shang Dynasty and developed into a vast empire through the Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, powerful centralized states emerged around major rivers, including the Yellow River.
In addition, the foundation of an agricultural nation was established in which ordinary people took charge of production instead of slaves, and a national tax system and standing army were created.

Towards the end of the Warring States period, Qin finally absorbed the six rival states and formed the first unified empire.
And the Han Dynasty inherited this, and the huge body we call 'China' was born today.
This is why the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period can be said to be the period when the great framework called 'China' was born, and the flesh of history was added to that framework to create the China of today.


The "Spring and Autumn Annals and Warring States" series does not focus on fragmentary events, but rather examines Chinese history by focusing on the fierce competition and rise and fall of the great powers in a macroscopic way.
Through the rise and fall of numerous nations and the people who played a central role in their development, we can gain wisdom for life through the broad perspective of history.
In addition to known sources, the author meticulously researched the field and examined various bamboo slips, inscriptions, and stone steles to capture the essence of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a time of constant conflict, convergence, and development.
This series presents a profound insight that allows us to understand the past, reflect on the present, and open the door to the future by intertwining the contemporary assessments of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the records of later generations, and the author's perspective on them.
You can also look at the flow of the world that creates the joys and sorrows of life, winners and losers.

Based on the geographical background I personally investigated
It presents a completely new historical perspective.

The Four Books and Five Classics, which were required reading for scholars in the Joseon Dynasty, were established during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
In China, until the Xinhai Revolution, the institutions of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period continued to be adopted even when dynasties changed.
Ultimately, the keyword that can help us understand the roots of not only China but also East Asian countries at once is the 'Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period'.
Just as there were hundreds of states at the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period, but only seven remained at the end of the Warring States Period, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were a battleground for survival and competition more fiercely than any other period in history.
In this fierce battlefield, countless heroes and iron men have competed with their strength and wisdom, and tens of millions of people have poured their lives into it.
In the process, the paths of humanity and evil, virtue and power, justification and practicality collided with each other, ultimately creating a crossroads of victory and defeat.

The author has spent several years traveling through China and its neighboring countries, seeking to understand how a small tribal state that began in the Yellow River basin expanded to the limits of nature, and how it integrated diverse cultures to create the vast nation we know today as "China."
And the original form of China was traced back to a special period called the 'Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period' two thousand years ago.
Because the author describes the history of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period based on the geographical background he personally confirmed through field research, readers will be able to imagine this era in a more three-dimensional way with a broad outline.

Jin (晉) - Chu (楚) won the Battle of Chengfu and became the second hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period.
Duke Wen of Jin, the 'reflective monarch'

During the process of succession to the Jin Dynasty, Zhongyi (later Duke Wen of Jin) was exiled due to the false accusations of Yeo Ji. After 19 years of exile, he returned to his country after enduring many hardships and became the ruler of Jin.
Although Duke Wen did not possess outstanding innate qualities, he was a monarch who always reflected on his actions. He took to heart the advice of his wise ministers, including Hu Yan, Zhao Chou, Ga Tuo, Xian Jin, and Xu Shen, and ended the Jin-Chu Chengfu War with victory, becoming the second hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Duke Wen of Jin had a weak foundation.
To secure a new support base, he emphasized a fresh start and used a policy of favors to strengthen his weak base.
He emphasized debt consolidation, tax reduction, relief for the poor and the socially disadvantaged, promotion of agriculture and commerce, encouragement of harvest, and encouragement of frugality, and King Mun himself took the lead in promoting frugality.
In addition, military reform is achieved through continuous expansion of the military from the existing two-army system to the three-army system, five-army system, and three-line system.
On this basis, Duke Wen led the Jin-Chu Battle of Chengfu to victory and the Jin-Qin Battle of Xiaoshan, making the Jin Dynasty an unrivaled power.

In Part 1 of 『Story of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Warring States 2』, we can see the differences between mountainous and plain states, the correlation between material conditions and mental power, centralization, the birth of a rudimentary territorial state, the birth of the study of rulership, and the development of the aristocracy through the rise of Jin, which reigned as a defeated state in a situation where Qin in the west and Chu in the south were fiercely advancing toward the Central Plains. We can also see that Duke Wen, who led the rise of the Qin dynasty, was a true hero equipped with courage and wisdom.

King Zhang of Chu, the 'Taoist monarch' who knew how to stop at the peak,
He won the Battle of Phil(?) and became the third hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period.

King Jang, who ascended to the throne in the 'barbaric' land of Chu, inheriting the tradition of military kings, fought with the northern leader Jin for hegemony over the Central Plains.
Finally, he personally took the lead in the battle of Pil(?), took up the drumstick, and relentlessly drove down the Jin army, achieving an unprecedented victory during the Spring and Autumn Period, and becoming the third loser during the Spring and Autumn Period.

Wearing a rhinoceros crown and colorfully embroidered clothes, he roams all the hunting grounds and is a lecher who doesn't discriminate between women.
A hot-blooded man who forgets his pride and runs barefoot when he gets angry, and a passionate man who drives a tank at the forefront and rushes into enemy lines.
King Zhang differed in many ways from the traditional image of a monarch created by King Wen of Zhou, and his quixotic magnanimity was unmatched by any other monarch.
During his 23-year reign, King Zhang brought the countries south of the Yellow River to the side of the Chu state, and brought the vast land between the Huai River and the Yangtze River to the east into the territory of the Chu state, leading to the golden age of the Chu state.
If Duke Huan of Qi, the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period who appeared in 『Stories of the Spring and Autumn Annals and Warring States 1』, was a 'Confucian monarch' who showed boundless trust, and Duke Wen of Jin, the protagonist of Part 1 of 『Stories of the Spring and Autumn Annals and Warring States 2』, was a 'Legalist monarch' who valued principles and strict rewards and punishments, then King Zhang of Chu, the protagonist of Part 2, can be seen as a 'Taoist monarch' who knew how to stop at the top.
So King Jang was always eyeing the Central Plains, but he suddenly stopped while driving the Jin army, and after taking over the Chen state, he returned it, and after taking over the Zheng state, he restored it.
When he finally got the results, he stopped.
This is the moment when the 'pause' of 『Lao Tzu』 is felt in him, who has a fiery personality.

In this book, we can see the archetype of a great leader through the process of King Zhang, who resembles Duke Wen of Jin in terms of strategic thinking and Duke Huan of Qi in terms of boldness, creating a cause and putting it into practice himself to become the ruler of the Central Plains. We can also confirm that the culture of the state of Chu, which retained the rough and lively southern style untainted by the teachings of propriety, made King Zhang's success possible.