State of Zhao: Rulers: 403-228 BC
Each ruler is recorded under the following protocol: posthumous name (shì | 諡) || personal name (míng | 名), considered tabooed (huì | 諱) upon accession.
| Ruling House: Zhào (趙) | |
| Hóu (侯) | |
| 403 - 395 BC | Liè hóu (烈侯) || Zhào Jí (趙籍) [1][2] |
| 395 - 374 BC | Jìng hóu (敬侯) || Zhào Zhāng (趙章) [3][4] |
| 374 - 349 BC* | Chéng hóu (成侯) || Zhào Zhǒng (趙種) [5] |
| 349 - 325 BC* | Sù hóu (肅侯) || Zhào Yǔ (趙語) |
| Wáng (王) | |
| 325* - 7 Apr 298 BC | Wǔlíng wáng (武靈王) || Zhào Yōng (趙雍) [6][7] |
| 298 - 266 BC | Huìwén wáng (惠文王) || Zhào Hé (趙何) |
| 266 - 245 BC | Xiàochéng wáng (孝成王) || Zhào Dān (趙丹) |
| 245 - 236 BC | Dàoxiāng wáng (悼襄王) || Zhào Yǎn (趙偃) |
| 236 - Sep/Oct 228 BC | Yōumù wáng (幽穆王) || Zhào Qiān (趙遷) [8] |
- Jí was the head of the Zhào clan since 409 BC. With the separation of the Zhào domain from the State of Jin (403 BC), he was elevated to the position of zhūhóu (諸侯), meaning the feudal nobility, assuming the title of hóu (侯).
- According to the Historical Records, ch. 15 and 43, Liè hóu died in his ninth year (equated with 400 BC in the Historical Records, ch. 15, making 408 BC his first year), while the Ancient Bamboo Annals, as cited by the Historical Records Commentary, ch. 13, equates the first year of Wǔ hóu of Wei with Liè hóu's 14th year, indicating that he was still alive then. The first year of Wǔ hóu is equated with 386 BC in the Historical Records, ch. 15, but, following the adjusted Wei record, it falls on 395 BC.
- The Historical Records, ch. 15 and 43, assigns the 13 years corresponding to 399-387 to a ruler who is literally recorded as Wǔ gōng (武公), brother of the predecessor and uncle of the successor, but reporting neither the personal name, nor even a single event during that reign. At the same time, the Historical Records, ch. 43, says that the same year that "Wǔ gōng" died and Jìng hóu succeeded, Wén hóu of Wei died (the latter event dated to 387 BC in the Historical Records, ch. 15, but, following the adjusted Wei record, actually to 396 BC), whereas the Historical Records, ch. 44, states that Jìng hóu of Zhao acceded (初立) in the first year of Wǔ hóu of Wei (equated with 386 BC in the Historical Records, ch. 15, adjusted as above to 395 BC). Combined with the longer reign of the predecessor, this leaves no room for this uneventful reign.
- According to the Historical Records, ch. 15 and 43, Jìng hóu died in his twelfth year (equated with 375 BC in the Historical Records, ch. 15). The Ancient Bamboo Annals, as cited by the Historical Records Commentary, ch. 12, says that he died in the 15th year of Huán gōng of Jin, same as Āi hóu of Han, and four years before the death of Wǔ hóu of Wei (dated by the Historical Records, ch. 15, to 371 BC). Following the adjusted records of Wei and Han, Wǔ hóu of Wei actually died in 370 BC, and thus both Jìng hóu of Zhao and Āi hóu of Han in 374 (not 375). The succeeding reigns of Chéng hóu, Sù hóu and Wǔlíng wáng are shifted accordingly (*).
- The Historical Records, ch. 44, mentions the death of Chéng hóu in the 21st year of Huìchéng wáng of Wei (equated with 350 BC in the Historical Records, ch. 15; adjusted as above to 349 BC). The Historical Records, ch. 43, correspondingly, mentions the "death of Huì wáng of Wei" in the 15th year of Sù hóu of Zhao (for which cf. Wei; equated with 335 in in the Historical Records, ch. 15, adjusted to 334 BC), which also makes 349 BC (adjusted, from 350 BC) the year of succession.
- The Historical Records, ch. 43, dates the abdication of Wǔlíng wáng to day wù shēn (戊申) in the fifth month of his 27th year (equated with 299 BC in the Historical Records, ch. 15). However, there was no wù shēn in the fifth month of 299 BC. While wù shēn might be a mistake for wù chén (戊辰) or gēng shēn (庚申), which there were, a much more likely explanation is that the day is correct but that the year is not. In the following year, 298 BC, wù shēn was the first day of the fifth month, corresponding to 7 Apr 298, and indicating that the abdicating king's last year was actually changed (calendrically) into his successor's first. Such an unusual transition would explain the one-year misalignment of this and the preceding reigns in the Historical Records, ch. 15.
- Zhào Yōng is the first ruler of Zhao referred to as wáng in the Historical Records, but, according to ch. 43, he ordered his people to call him 'the ruler' (jūn|君). The adoption of the title of wáng either by him or by his successors is not explicitly recorded in the chronicles.
- Handan, the capital of Zhao, was seized by the armed forces of the State of Qin in the 10th month of the 8th year of Yōumù wáng (Sep/Oct 228 BC), who was captured by the invaders (Historical Records, ch. 43). His brother, Zhào Jiā (趙嘉), was proclaimed king in the city of Dai and ruled for six years, possibly as the ruler of the revived State of Dai (Dài guó|代國) which had been conquered by the clan of Zhao in 457 BC. The reign of Zhào Jiā ended in early 222 BC when Qin occupied Dai and the king was captured (a great feast celebrating the conquest of Yan and Zhao is recorded under Apr 222 BC in the Historical Records, ch. 6).