From 770 B.C. to 476 B.C., history is known as the Spring and Autumn Period. During these two hundred and ninety years, the society was stormy and thunderous, and it can be said that there were a lot of beacons and wars. According to the Lu History of the Spring and Autumn Period alone, there were more than four hundred and eighty military operations. Sima Qian said: in the Spring and Autumn Period, "thirty-six kings were killed, fifty-two kingdoms were destroyed, and the vassals could not protect their gods and goddesses, which is too many to count." According to legend, in the early Spring and Autumn period, there were more than one hundred and forty vassal states, but after years of annexation, only a few larger ones remained. These great powers also attacked each other and fought for hegemony. Historically, the five vassals that claimed hegemony successively were called the "Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period".

The Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period are Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Xiang of Song, Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Mu of Qin and King Zhuang of Chu. Another way of saying this is Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin, King Zhuang of Chu, King Helu of Wu, and King Goujian of Yue.

Duke Huan of Qi (- October 7, 643) was the fifteenth ruler of Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period and the first vassal to claim the throne, with the surname Jiang and the name Xiaobai. He was the grandson of Duke Xi of Qi and the son of Duke Xiang of Qi. The first of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period. After Duke Xiang of Qi and Duke Wuzhi of Qi died in civil strife, Xiaobai successfully fought with Duke Gao for the throne and became Duke Huan of Qi. Duke Huan appointed Guan Zhong as his prime minister and carried out reforms to implement the system of unification of military and government, and unification of soldiers and civilians, and the state of Qi gradually became strong. In 681 BC, Duke Huan summoned the four lords of Song and Chen to an alliance in Zhen (present-day Jancheng, Shandong Province), and Duke Huan of Qi was the first lords in history to act as an alliance leader. At that time, the Chinese lords in the Central Plains were suffering from the attacks of the Rongdi and other tribes, so Duke Huan of Qi, under the banner of "Honoring the King and Stirring up the Barbarians", attacked the Shanrong in the north and invaded the state of Chu in the south, and Duke Huan became the hegemon of the Central Plains, and was rewarded by the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. In his later years, Duke Huan was a mediocrity, and credited villains such as Yi Ya and Zhi Diao, who eventually died of starvation during the civil unrest, and "died without being buried, and the worms flowed out of his house".

Duke Wen of Jin, born in the 23rd year of King Huan of the Zhou (697 BC) or the 6th year of King Hui of the Zhou (671 BC), assumed the throne in the 636 BC, and died in the 24th year of King Xiang of the Zhou (628 BC), was the son of Duke Xian of Jin, with the family name of Ji and the name of Chong'er, and was a famous statesman during the Spring and Autumn Period, and the ruler of the State of Jin. He ruled the state for nine years, and became one of the five hegemonic statesmen of Spring and Autumn Period under the aid of Zhao Fai, Fox Yan, Jia Tuo, Xiezhang, Wei Wuzi, Jie Zhiwei, and so on. One of the Five Hegemons.

King Zhuang of Chu (-591 BC), also known as King Zhuang of Jing, surname Mi, Xiong, name brigade (a Lv, couple). He was a native of Yingdu (Jiangling Ji'nan Cheng), the son of King Mu of Chu. He was the most accomplished monarch of the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period of China, and one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were five successive monarchs who claimed hegemony, among which the state of Chu was the largest in terms of territory and population, the most productive in terms of material goods, and the most flourishing in terms of culture. Before King Zhuang, Chu had been excluded from the culture of the Central Plains. Since King Zhuang claimed hegemony over the Central Plains, he not only made Chu powerful and famous, but also played a role in the unification of China and the formation of the national spirit.

Duke Xiang of Song (宋襄公), second son of Duke Huan of Song (宋桓公), real name Zi Zifu (-637 BC), one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋五霸) was the monarch of the state of Song (宋), who reigned from 650 BC to 637 BC.

King Hui of Zhou was established in the 31st year of his reign, and his concubine brother, Meiyi, was appointed as the prime minister of the state, and he practiced the "Eastern Palace of the Emperor", with the core of the state consisting of Yin Gao, Huayuan, Hua Jiao, and Le Qi. In 642, when Duke Huan of Qi died of illness, there was civil strife in Qi, and Duke Xiang of Song led four states, including Wei, Cao and Zhu Ming, to Qi, where the people of Qi collaborated with each other and installed Duke Xiao of Qi, thus making Duke Xiang famous.

Duke Mu of Qin was a ruler of the state of Qin during the Spring and Autumn Period. His name was Ren Hao (任好). He reigned for thirty-nine years (659 - 621 BC). His posthumous name was Mu. Recognized as one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period in some historical sources. Duke Mu of Qin attached great importance to talents, and during his tenure he was assisted by such wise ministers as Thyme Xi, Jian Shu, Pi Bao, and Gongsun Zhi, and assisted the Duke of Jin to return to Jin to seize the throne. During his reign, King Xiang of the Zhou Dynasty sent troops to attack Shu and other states located west of the Hangu Pass, opening up thousands of miles of land, thus King Xiang of the Zhou Dynasty appointed him as the uncle of the western vassals, and then claimed hegemony over the Western Rong.

Hu Lu (-496 BC), first known as Helu, was surnamed Ji Guang. He was the 24th monarch of the state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period, reigning from 514 to 496 BC. In 514, he sent Zhuanzhu to assassinate King Biao of Wu, seized the throne of Wu and renamed himself "Helu". In the same year, he sent Zhuo to assassinate Qing Ji, the son of King Biao of Wu, and then changed his name to "Helu".

In 506 BC, Helu reused his ministers Sun Wu and Wu Zixu as generals, and united with Tang and Cai to attack Chu, breaking the capital of Chu, Ying (present-day Jiangling North, Hubei Province), and almost destroying the state of Chu. At this time, Wu Zixu dug the tomb of King Ping of Chu and flogged his body 300 times to avenge the death of his father and brother, Wu Xie and Wu Shang.

Goujian (also written as Juchan; in the unearthed artifact "King Goujian's Sword", it is written as Hatsuasa; Sima Zhen's "Shiji Suoyin", citing the "Ji Nian", is written as Miscanthus) was the monarch of the state of Yue in the late Spring and Autumn period of China. His ancestry is said to be "a descendant of Yu", or "his ancestry is unknown", or "a descendant of Zhu Rong", and his family name was "Mi" in the state of Chu, and there are many different opinions. His father was Yue Hou Yun Chang. His birth year is unknown, and he reigned from 496 to 464 BC.