The feudal states enfeoffed in the early Western Zhou varied in size, and their rulers' ranks varied in status as well. According to historical records, there were five ranks of nobility at the time: duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron.
Below those five ranks was a sixth: the dependent states. Their territories were even smaller, and they generally belonged under nearby larger fiefs. Duke Hu of Chen had been granted the rank of marquis, so from the Western Zhou through the Spring and Autumn period, Chen State was one of the twelve influential feudal states.
Yet it gradually declined in its middle and later years. It first endured three internal upheavals, then was destroyed twice and restored twice. In the end, King Hui of Chu killed Duke Min of Chen, and Chen State was destroyed!
From Gui Man's enfeoffment to 478 BCE, Chen State passed through twenty-five generations and endured for 645 years.
After Chen fell, Prince Chen Wan of Chen State, the son of Gui Yue, became a grand officer of Qi State. In 386 BCE, his descendants replaced the Jiang clan as the marquises of Qi, an event known in history as the Tian clan replacing Qi.
Aside from its formidable strength in its early years, Chen State was frequently bullied during its middle and later periods. Even its restoration had been a gift from Chu Kingdom, and it was later destroyed by Chu Kingdom as well, toyed with in Chu Kingdom's palm time and again. Still, among the feudal states of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Chen State was generally of middling strength.
The second national legacy was Great West, a state founded at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Many people might never have heard of it, but its founder was exceedingly famous—he