Partition of Jin

The Partition of Jin (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Sān Jiā Fēn Jìn; literally: "Three Families Partitioning Jin"), the watershed between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, refers to the division of the State of Jin between rival families into the three states of Han, Zhao and Wei. As a result the three states were often referred to as the "Three Jins" (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Sān Jìn)).

Because the process took several decades, there is some debate between scholars as to the year that best marks the true partition of Jin. Kiser & Cai (2003) state that the most common dates picked by historians are 481, 475, 468, and 403 BCE. The last date, according to Sima Guang marks the conferring of Marquessates by King Weilie of Zhou on Wei Si, ruler of the State of Wei; Zhao Ji, ruler of the State of Zhao, and Han Qian, ruler of the State of Han.