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Main articles: andFrom the late to the early, large numbers of non-Chinese peoples living along China's northern periphery settled in northern China. Some of these migrants such as the and had been pastoralist nomads from the northern steppes. Others such as the and were farmers and herders from the mountains of western of. As migrants, they lived among ethnic Chinese and were to varying degrees. Many worked as farm laborers. Some attained official positions in the court and military. They also faced discrimination and retained clan and tribal affiliations.initiated the policy of settling Xiongnu nomads away from the frontier near Taiyuan in modern province, where they would be less likely to rebel.
The Xiongnu abandoned nomadism and the elite were educated in Chinese-Confucian literate culture, but yet retained their distinct identity and resentful of the discrimination they received.The during the reign of the second Jin ruler severely divided and weakened imperial authority. Hundreds of thousands were killed and millions were uprooted by the internecine fighting. Popular rebellions against heavy taxation and repression erupted throughout the country. In region, a Di chieftain, led a successful rebellion and founded kingdom in 304. Thus began the creation of independent kingdoms in China as Jin authority crumbled. Most of these kingdoms were founded by non-Chinese tribal leaders who took on Chinese reign names.Liu Yuan and the Former Zhao Jin princes and military governors often recruited non-Chinese tribes into their armies in their suppression of rebellions and wars with each other. Also in 304, a chieftain, who had been fighting in the Jin civil war on the side of Prince, returned home to Shanxi where he reorganized the five tribes of the Xiongnu and declared independence as the successor to the.
His regime, later renamed Zhao, is designated by historians as the Han Zhao or.After Liu Yuan died in 310, his son killed older brother Liu He and claimed the throne. Liu Cong the Jin capital and Emperor Hui in 311. In 316, Liu Cong's uncle seized (modern day ) and, ending the Western Jin Dynasty., a Jin prince who had moved to the South, continued the dynasty as the Eastern Jin from (modern day ). The collapse of Jin authority in the North led other leaders to declare independence. In 313, the ethnic Chinese governor of Liangzhou founded the in modern-day. In 315, a Xianbei chieftain, founded the in modern-day.Shi Le and the Later Zhao After Liu Cong's death, the kingdom was split between and General. Was an ethnic who had worked as an indentured farm laborer before joining 's rebellion and becoming a powerful general in.
In 319, he founded a rival Zhao Kingdom, known as the and in 328 conquered Liu Yao's Former Zhao. Shi Le instituted a dual-system of government that imposed separate rules for Chinese and non-Chinese, and managed to control much of northern China. After his death, his sons were locked in a fratricidal succession struggle and the kingdom was ended in 350 by General, an ethnic Chinese who seized the throne and founded the.
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Ran Min favored Han Chinese and massacred thousands of Jie. He was by the from.In 337, founded the in Liaodong, which by 356 had expanded into much of,. For a time, the Former Yan vied for supremacy in northern China with the.Former Qin and the brief unification of northern China. Territory of the Former Qin kingdom and the in 376.The Former Qin was founded in 351 by, a Di general, who had served under the Later Zhao and surrendered to the Jin before declaring independence in. After his death in 355, the kingdom was briefly handed to his son, before his nephew took control of the leadership.
Under the younger Fu Jian, who was guide by, an ethnic Chinese advisor, the Former Qin strengthened rapidly. From 370–76, the Former Qin extinguished the Former Yan, Dai and Former Liang to unite all of northern China.
Fu Jian also captured from the Eastern Jin and wanted to conquer the rest of southern China. Wang Meng opposed this move, citing the need for the Former Qin to consolidate control over various ethnicities in northern China. But the chieftain and the Xianbei general both supported the idea. In 383, after Wang Meng's death, Fu Jian launched a massive invasion of southern China, but was routed in the by the Eastern Jin in modern-day.Fragmentation after the Battle of Feishui After the Battle of Feishui, the power of the Former Qin quickly unraveled as various regimes in the North broke loose. In 384, Murong Chui founded the in Hebei. Other royals founded the in Shanxi.
Yao Chang founded the in eastern. Fu Jian was killed by Yao Chang, but the Former Qin survived by relocating from Shaanxi to Gansu and then. In 385, a Xianbei former vassal under Fu Jian, founded the. In 386, a Di general of the Former Qin, founded the in western Gansu.
Revived the Dai as the. In 388, an ethnic leader in Henan founded the, which was wedged between the Later Yan, Western Yan and Eastern Jin. As many as seven kingdoms coexisted for nine years.The Later Qin, which ended the Former Qin in 394, the Western Qin in 400, and Later Liang in 403, extended its control over much of Shaanxi, Gansu,. But in 407, a Xiongnu chieftain, rebelled and founded the in northern Shaanxi, and the Western Qin was revived in the southern Shaanxi. In 416, the Eastern Jin under General launched a northern expedition that captured and and extinguished the Later Qin.
The Eastern Jin could not hold these cities as Liu Yu returned south to. The Xia kingdom quickly seized Chang'an.Later Liang breaks down into Northern, Southern and Western Liang In the of western Gansu, the Later Liang splintered into the and in 397. The Southern Liang was founded by, a Xianbei, in, Qinghai.
The Northern Liang was founded by an ethnic Chinese, in, Gansu with the support of, a Xiongnu, who then seized control of the kingdom in 401. In 405, the Chinese commander at broke away from the and founded the short-lived. The Western Liang was reabsorbed by the Northern Liang in 421. Li Gao's descendants would go on to found the in the 7th century. The Southern Liang was conquered by the Western Qin in 414, and the Northern Liang lasted until 439, when it surrendered to the Northern Wei.Later Yan breaks down into Northern and Southern Yan The Later Yan conquered the Zhai Wei in 392 and the Western Yan in 394, but lost a series of engagements to the Northern Wei. In 397, the Northern Wei captured Hebei and splitting the Later Yan into two.
Moved the Later Yan capital north to but refused to move north and founded the in Henan and Shandong. The Southern Yan was extinguished by the Eastern Jin in 410. The Later Yan lasted until 407 when General, killed and installed. Gao Yun, a descendant of royalty who was adopted into the Murong court, is considered either the last emperor of the Later Yan or the founding emperor of the.
In 409, he was killed by Feng Ba, a Han Chinese assimilated to Xianbei culture, who took control of the Northern Yan.Eastern Jin efforts to retake the North. Main articles: andDuring its century-long rule of southern China, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, though beset by local rebellions and insurrections, made several attempts to recapture the North, and managed to make some inroads, but were ultimately unsuccessful. In 313, gave 1,000 men and 3,000 bolts of cloth for a northern expedition. Despite meager resources, Zu Ti managed to recapture a large swath of Henan south of the and repeatedly defeated Shi Le's Later Zhao forces.
Eastern Jin Emperors were wary of generals acquiring power and prestige from successful northern expeditions and threatening the throne. The Yuan Emperor did not entrust Zu Ti with the command of much larger expeditionary force in 321. A disappointed Zu Ti died of illness. The expeditionary force was called back to Jiankang to quell an insurrection, and Shi Le retook Henan.In 347, Jin general invaded Sichuan and ended the Cheng Han kingdom.
He then launched successive expeditions against northern kingdoms, briefly retaking Chang'an from the Former Qin in 354 and Luoyang from chieftain in 356. In 369, he led a large force across the Yellow River into Hebei but was defeated by the Former Yan. In 383, the Eastern Jin reclaimed Henan south of the Yellow River after turning back the Former Qin in the Battle of Feishui in 383, but lost that territory once the northern kingdoms strengthened.Huan Wen had pretensions to seize power and deposed in favor of in 371.
His son briefly took the throne from in a palace coup in 403, but was defeated by general.Liu Yu also used northern expeditions to build up his power. In 409–10, he led Jin forces in attacking and destroying the Southern Yan in Shandong. In 416, he took advantage of the death of the Later Qin ruler, invaded Henan and captured Luoyang, and then turned toward Shaanxi and seized Chang'an. The last Later Qin ruler Yao Hong surrendered and was sent to Jiankang and executed.
With the Later Qin destroyed, several smaller states in the northwest, Western Qin, Northern Liang and Western Liang, nominally submitted to Eastern Jin authority. But Liu Yu retreated back to Jiankang to plan his takeover of the Jin throne, and Chang'an was taken by the Xia forces. In 420, Liu Yu forced the to abdicate and declared himself emperor of the. In 423, he planned to launch an expedition against the Northern Wei, but died of illness. The Liu Song dynasty ruled southern China until 479.Northern Wei and the reunification of northern China. Ruins of, the capital of the built in the early 5th century by chieftain in modern-day, in northern, near the border with. Tongwancheng was captured by the -led in 427.The ancestral home of the Xianbei was the range of Inner Mongolia.
In 258, the clan migrated south to the and spread into the region. In 315, chief Tuoba Yilu was recognized as the Prince of Dai by the Jin Emperor. In 338, formally declared Dai's independence and built the capital at Shengle (modern day, ). In 376, the Former Qin attacked Shengle and drove the Tuoba into the northern steppes; Tuoba Shiyijian was killed by his son.In 386, Tuoba Shiyijian's grandson revived the kingdom, which he renamed Wei; it is known to historians as the Northern Wei. From near Hohhot, Tuoba Gui expanded southward, capturing and Hebei from the Former Yan and Henan from the. In 398, he moved the capital to Pingcheng (modern day ) and declared himself the Emperor Daowu.
In 423, Tuoba Gui's grandson took the throne as Emperor Taiwu and began the quest to unify the North. Under his leadership, the Northern Wei subdued the nomads to the north and began the conquest of Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu. In 427, he captured the Xia capital, in modern-day, Shaanxi.The Xia under moved to, Gansu and conquered the Western Qin at Jincheng (modern day ) in 431. Helian Ding sought an alliance with the Liu Song dynasty but was driven further west by the Northern Wei. Helian Ding wanted to invade the Northern Liang but was captured in a raid by the nomads and executed by the Northern Wei. In 436, the Tuoba Tao, as Emperor Taiwu, led an expedition against the Northern Yan.
Feng Hong, the younger brother of Feng Ba, fled to, where he was killed. The last ruler of the Northern Liang, surrendered in 439, completing the Northern Wei's unification of northern China and marking the end of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Tuobas were eventually sinified, changing their name to Yuan, and held northern China through the 550s.Chinese history then entered the period as parallel series of dynasties in the North and South co-existed until the united the country in 589.Maps. 436Chronology Chronology of the Sixteen Kingdoms with Ethnicity of Founders303Jin Dynasty's rule over northern China and Sichuan begins to break down in 304.204-4314-76315.38.3037350.31-0376377From 376 to 383, briefly unites northern China384.386-534384-421.384-88.39-449Western Qinresurrected409-.4In 439, the reunites northern Chinaasterisk (.) denotes kingdoms not counted among the sixteen in theInvolvement of other ethnicities.