Qin dynasty
Note: King Zhaoxiang of Qin (秦昭襄王) had already been ruling Qin for 51 years when Qin annihilated the Zhou dynasty; however the other six warring states were still independent regimes. Some Chinese historiographers thus used the next year (the 52nd year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin) as the official succession from the Zhou dynasty.
Fengjian
During the pre-Qin period, fengjian represented the Zhou dynasty political system, and various thinkers, such as Confucius, looked to this system as a concrete ideal of political organization. In particular, according to Confucius, during the Warring States period, the traditional system of rituals and music had become empty and hence his goal was to return to or bring back the Zhou dynasty political system. With the establishment of the Qin dynasty in 220 BCE, the Qin emperor unified the various vassals and abolished fengjian organization, consolidating a new system of rule, namely the junxian or prefectural system. The Qin emperor established thirty-six prefects and created a centralized system to combat dissent by local officials. There are many differences between the two systems, but one is particularly worth mentioning: the prefectural system gave more power to the emperor, since it congealed power at the center or the top. From the Qin dynasty onward, Chinese literati would find a tension between the Confucian ideal of fengjian and the imperial system.