Warring States of Ancient China: Map & History

The founding duke, formally known as Duke Hu of Chen, is credited with being the originator of the Hu (surname) and the Chen (surname).

From Wikipedia: Chen (state) · Achievements and descendants (CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to legends recounted in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, the ruling family of Chu descended from the Yellow Emperor and his grandson and successor Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu's great-grandson Wuhui (吳回) was put in charge of fire by Emperor Ku and given the title Zhurong. Wuhui's son Luzhong (陸終) had six sons, all born by Caesarian section. The youngest, Jilian, adopted the ancestral surname Mi. Jilian's descendant Yuxiong was the teacher of King Wen of Zhou (r. 1099–1050 BC). After the Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty, King Cheng (r. 1042–1021 BC) enfeoffed Yuxiong's great-grandson Xiong Yi with the fiefdom of Chu in the Nanyang Basin and the hereditary title of zǐ (子; "viscount"). Then the first capital of Chu was established at Danyang (present-day Xichuan in Henan).

From Wikipedia: Chu (state) · History: Founding (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Mo'ao (莫敖) and the Lingyin (令尹) were the top government officials of Chu. Sima was the military commander of Chu's army. Lingyin, Mo'ao and Sima were the San Gong (三公) of Chu. In the Spring and Autumn period, Zuoyin (左尹) and Youyin (右尹) were added as the undersecretaries of Lingyin. Likewise, Sima (司馬) was assisted by Zuosima (左司馬) and Yousima (右司馬) respectively. Mo'ao's status was gradually lowered while Lingyin and Sima became more powerful posts in the Chu court.

From Wikipedia: Chu (state) · Bureaucracy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Based on the archaeological finds, Chu's culture was initially quite similar to that of the other Zhou states of the Yellow River basin. However, subsequently, Chu absorbed indigenous elements from the Baiyue lands that it conquered to the south and east, developing a blended culture compared to the northern plains.

From Wikipedia: Chu (state) · Culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the Zhou conquest of Shang, Jiang Ziya, a native of Ju County served as the chief minister to King Wu of Zhou, the same position he had held in service to King Wu's father. Following Zhou victory, the lands comprising much of the Shandong peninsula and some nearby surrounds were established as the state of Qi, with the Jiang clan charged with ruling and defending them. After King Wu's death, Ziya remained loyal to the Duke of Zhou's regency during the Three Guards' failed rebellion. Jiang Ziya was also called Lü Shang so the state of Qi is ruled by the Lü family of the Jiang clan and was commonly known as Jiang Qi.

From Wikipedia: Qi (state) · History: Foundation (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Before Qin unified China, each state's customs, culture, dialects, and orthography had pronounced differences. According to the Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu, composed in the fourth or fifth century BCE and included in the Classic of Documents, there were nine distinct cultural regions of China, which are described in detail. The work focuses on the travels of the titular sage, Yu the Great, throughout each of the regions.

From Wikipedia: Qi (state) · Culture of Qi (CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to the 2nd-century BC Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian, the state of Qin traced its origin to Zhuanxu, one of the legendary Five Emperors in ancient times. One of his descendants, Boyi, was granted the family name of Ying by Emperor Shun. During the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Ying clan split in two: a western branch that migrated across the Ordos Plateau to Quanqiu (犬丘; 'hill of the Quanrong', modern Li County, Gansu), and an eastern branch that settled east of the Yellow River in modern Shanxi. The latter became the ancestors of the rulers of the later state of Zhao.

From Wikipedia: Qin (state) · History: Founding (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the five decades following King Huiwen's death, King Zhaoxiang of Qin shifted his focus to the central plains after victories in the south against Chu. In the early years of King Zhaoxiang's reign, the Marquis of Rang (穰侯) served as Qin's chancellor and actively advocated for military campaigns against the state of Qi in the far eastern part of China. However, the marquis had personal motives, intending to use Qin's formidable military to secure his own fief in Qi territories, as these lands were not directly linked to Qin and would not be under the Qin government's direct administration.

From Wikipedia: Qin (state) · History: Wars against Zhao, Han, and Wei (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Before Qin unified China, each state had its own customs and culture. According to the Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu, composed in the 4th or 5th century BC and included in the Book of Documents, there were nine distinct cultural regions of China, which are described in detail in this book. The work focuses on the travels of the titular sage, Yu the Great, throughout each of the regions. Other texts, predominantly military, also discussed these cultural variations.

From Wikipedia: Qin (state) · Culture and society (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Records of the Grand Historian states that the people in Wu wore their hair short and sported tattoos. For Sima Qian this would have illustrated their supposed barbarism, as in his time Chinese men and women were not allowed to cut their hair or otherwise modify their body - doing so was considered an offence against the ancestors from which one had inherited one's physical features.

From Wikipedia: Wu (state) · Culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

"Wu" continues to be used as a name for the region around Suzhou and Shanghai and their regional speech, Wu Chinese. It was employed by other states and princes holding power in the region, most notably Eastern Wu of the Three Kingdoms, and Wu and Wuyue of the Ten Kingdoms.

From Wikipedia: Wu (state) · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Before the state of Qin unified China in 221 BC, each region had its own unique customs and culture, although all were dominated by an upper class that shared a largely common culture. In the Yu Gong (Tribute of Yu), a section of the Book of Documents which was most likely composed in the 4th century BC, the author describes a China that is divided into Nine Provinces, each with its own distinctive culture and products. The core theme of this section is that these nine regions are unified into one state by the travels of the eponymous sage, Yu the Great and by sending each region's unique goods to the capital as tribute. Other texts also discussed these regional variations in culture and physical environments.

From Wikipedia: Yan (state) · Culture and society (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Zheng was founded in 806 BC when King Xuan of Zhou, the penultimate king of the Western Zhou, made his younger brother Prince You (王子友) Duke of Zheng and granted him lands within the royal domain in the eponymous Zheng in modern-day Hua County, Shaanxi on the Wei River east of Xi'an. Prince You, known posthumously as Duke Huan of Zheng, established what would be the last bastion of Western Zhou. He went on to serve as Situ under King You of Zhou. When the Quanrong tribes sacked the Zhou capital Haojing in 771 BC, Duke Huan was killed along with his nephew King You of Zhou.

From Wikipedia: Zheng (state) · Foundation (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Possible languages spoken in the state of Yue may have been of Tai-Kadai and Austronesian origins. 126 Tai-Kadai cognates have been identified in Maqiao Wu dialect spoken in the suburbs of Shanghai out of more than a thousand lexical items surveyed. According to the author, these cognates are likely traces of 'old Yue language' (古越語; Gǔyuèyǔ).

From Wikipedia: Yue (state) · Language (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Surviving sources trace the ruling house of Wei to the Zhou royalty: Gao, Duke of Bi (畢公高), was a son of King Wen of Zhou. His descendants took their surname, Bi, from his fief. Bi Wan (畢萬), a descendant of the duke, served the Jin, where he became a courtier of Duke Xian's. After a successful military expedition, Bi Wan was granted the fief of Wei (in present-day Ruicheng County, Shanxi), from which his own descendants then founded the house of Wei.

From Wikipedia: Wei (state) · History: Foundation (CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to the Records of the Warring States, a king of Wei had a lover named Lord Longyang, with whom he enjoyed fishing. One day, Longyang began to weep. When questioned, Longyang said he saw his own future in how he had treated a fish. Happy to have the catch at first, Longyang had wanted to throw it back when he caught a better fish. He wept, "I am also a previously-caught fish! I will also be thrown back!" To show his fidelity to Longyang, the king declared that, "Anyone who dares to speak of other beauties will be executed along with his entire family".

From Wikipedia: Wei (state) · Legacy: Chinese legend (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Zhao clan within Jin had been accumulating power for centuries, including annexing the Baidi state of Dai in the mid-5th century BC.

From Wikipedia: Zhao (state) · Origins and ascendancy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Before Qin Shi Huang unified China in 221 BC, each region had its own customs and culture, although elite culture was identical throughout. In the Yu Gong (Tribute of Yu) chapter of the Book of Documents – probably written in the 4th century BC – China is described as divided into nine regions, each with its own distinctive peoples and products. The central theme of this section is that these nine regions are unified into one state through the travels of the eponymous sage, Yu the Great, and the sending of each region's unique goods to the capital as tribute. Other texts also discussed these regional differences in culture and physical environment.

From Wikipedia: Zhao (state) · Culture and society (CC BY-SA 4.0)

By the end of the Warring States period, Zhao was the only state strong enough to oppose the mighty Qin. An alliance with Wei against Qin began in 287 BC, but ended in defeat at Huayang in 273 BC. The struggle then culminated in the bloodiest battle of the entire period, the Battle of Changping in 260 BC. Zhao's forces were utterly defeated by Qin. Although the forces of Wei and Chu saved Handan from a subsequent siege by the victorious Qin, Zhao would never recover from the enormous loss of troops in the battle.

From Wikipedia: Zhao (state) · Fall of Zhao (CC BY-SA 4.0)