Everyone knows that the ba institution, the Jou Kings’ delegation of power to a series of strong vassals, was important in Spring and Autumn China.1 Unfortunately for this consensus, the Chun/Chyou (CC), our primary source, does not mention the ba institution. The later Dzwo Jwan (DJ) does mention it, and uses three different terms for it: mv ng-ju, [hou]-bwo, and ba! . None of these terms appears in the CC. I find that the three DJ terms reflect three stages in the evolution of the ba theory, and that the theory is not an 07th century historical fact, but an 04th century historiographical construct.