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During the Zhou dynasty, it was customary for the ruling families of the Central States to transmit their titles and states from father to son in the direct line. This paper examines the occasions when this pattern was disrupted, in particular occasions when it is clear that fraternal succession was used, and where this was not the result of usurpation or a failure of the direct line. In the Spring and Autumn period, the state of Wu seems to have developed a most unusual pattern of succession, apparently unique at this time, and a methodology for understanding Wu practice is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]