Dynasties of ChinaWei, Jin & the Northern and Southern Dynasties · Division and exchange
11 Eastern Jin emperors · AD 317-420 · The Sixteen Kingdoms coexist
Elite families crossed the Yangtze and shared power with the imperial court. Sixteen Kingdoms rose and fell in the north; the Battle of the Fei River helped preserve the southern regime.
Dynastic color · Bamboo green
At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was great chaos in the Central Plains. Northern gentry and people migrated south in large numbers, which was known in history as the "Southern Crossing in Clothes". Langya King Sima Rui, with the assistance of Wang Dao and others, took control of Jianye (later renamed Jiankang to avoid the Emperor Min taboo) and united with the Jiangnan nobles to stabilize the situation. In 317, the news came that Emperor Min was captured. Sima Rui was proclaimed King of Jin and the emperor the following year. He continued the Jin Dynasty and was known as Eastern Jin in history.
The imperial power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was weak, and the government had long been dominated by noble families such as the Wang family of Langya, the Yu family of Yingchuan, the Huan family of Qiaoguo, and the Xie family of Chenjun. It was said at that time that "the king and the horse share the world." Although there were rebellions such as Wang Dun, Su Jun, and Huan Xuan during this period, Zu Ti, Huan Wen, and Liu Yu successively made northern expeditions. In the Battle of Feishui, they defeated the former Qin Dynasty with a small victory and a large number. Jiangnan maintained relative stability for more than a hundred years, and its economy and culture developed significantly.
During the same period, the Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, Di, Qiang and other ethnic groups in the north and the Han nationality successively established more than 20 political powers. Cui Hong of the Northern Wei Dynasty wrote "Sixteen Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Period" and selected sixteen of them for biography. Later generations called them "Five Hus and Sixteen Kingdoms". The former Qin Fu Jian unified the north for a time, but after the defeat of Feishui, the north split again. In the last years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Liu Yu, the general of the Beifu army, put down the Huan Xuan rebellion. He made two Northern Expeditions, and his prestige grew. In 420Date range, the Jin Dynasty proclaimed himself emperor, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty perished.
The imperial power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was controlled by the Gao family, and representatives of the families such as Wang Dao, Yu Liang, Huan Wen, and Xie An took charge of the government one after another. The gentry relied on their family status to monopolize high-ranking officials, and they were interdependent and balanced each other with the Sima royal family, forming a unique political structure in history.
In order to resettle the refugees from the north, Eastern Jin established Qiaozhou, Qiaojun, and Qiaoxian in the south of the Yangtze River named after the old places in the north. The overseas Chinese established Bai nationality and enjoyed preferential exemptions. Huan Wen and Liu Yu successively implemented "Tujuan", which included overseas residents in the household registration of commanders and counties where they lived to increase the source of taxes and servitude.
A large number of northern people brought labor and production technology, a large amount of wasteland in the south of the Yangtze River was reclaimed, water conservancy projects were built, and the Sanwu area (Wujun, Wuxing, and Kuaiji) became a prosperous area, and the southern economy began to gradually catch up with the north.
Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi's father and son promoted regular script, running script, and cursive script to mature. "Lanting Preface" is known as "The First Cursive Script in the World"; Gu Kaizhi advocated "writing the spirit with form" and was one of the founders of Chinese figure painting.
Scholars advocated metaphysical talk, and metaphysical poetry was once popular; Tao Yuanming described pastoral life in a simple and natural style, creating the pastoral poetry school. Liu Yiqing of the Southern Song Dynasty compiled Shi Shuo Xin Yu, which recorded the words and deeds of celebrities in this era.
Hui Yuan preached Dharma in Mount Lu, the forerunner of Pure Land belief; Fa Xian traveled to Tianzhu to seek Dharma; Kumārajīva translated a large number of classics such as the Diamond Sutra and the Lotus Sutra in Chang'an of the post-Qin Dynasty;
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Zu Ti led his tribe of more than a hundred families to cross the river and go north, hitting the river in the middle, and swore that "those who cannot clear the Central Plains and restore relief will be like the big river." He recruited troops to farm in Yuzhou and recovered a large area of land south of the Yellow River. Later, he was hampered by the suspicion of the court and died of illness in 321 AD.
Sima Rui was proclaimed King of Jin in Jiankang, and Emperor the following year, and was known as Eastern Jin in history. He relied heavily on the Langya Wang family to establish a foothold in Jiangdong. Wang Dao presided over the government, and Wang Dao's cousin Wang Dun controlled a large number of troops. As the saying goes, "the king and his horse share the world."
Liu Yao of the Han Dynasty moved the capital to Chang'an and changed the country's name to Zhao, which was called the Former Zhao in history; Shi Lei called himself the King of Zhao in Xiang State and was called Later Zhao in the history. A confrontation between the two Zhaos formed in the north. In 329 years later Zhao destroyed the former Zhao and took over most of the north.
Wang Dun, who was based in Wuchang, raised troops in the name of killing Liu Kui and Diao Xie and invaded Jiankang. Emperor Yuan died of illness in anger. In 324, Wang Dun once again raised his troops to seek usurpation. Emperor Ming personally deployed a crusade. Wang Dun fell ill and died in the army, and the rebellion was put down.
The ruling foreign relative Yu Liang forced Liyang Neishi Su Jun to enter the dynasty. Su Jun united with his ancestors to raise troops, captured Jiankang, took the young Emperor Cheng hostage, and plundered him. In 329, Tao Kan, Wen Jiao and others led the coalition to quell the rebellion, and most of the Jiankang palaces were burned down.
On the third day of March in the ninth year of Yonghe, Wang Xizhi, Xie An, Sun Chuo and other more than 40 celebrities were practicing at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji. They drank water, drank wine and composed poems.
After Huan Wen destroyed the Han Dynasty in 347, he made three Northern Expeditions: he marched from Guanzhong to Bashang in 354, recaptured Luoyang in 356, and attacked Qianyan and was defeated in Fangtou in 369. After that, he deposed Hai Xigong and established Emperor Jianwen, trying to succeed the Jin Dynasty, but failed due to resistance from Xie An and others.
The Fu Jian of the former Qin Dynasty used Wang Meng to reorganize government affairs and develop production, and the country's national strength became increasingly strong. In 370, they destroyed Qianyan, and in 376, they destroyed Qianliang and Dai, unified the north, and formed an N&S confrontation with Eastern Jin.
Fu Jian personally led an army of millions to the south, Xie An took command of Jiankang, and Xie Shi and Xie Xuan led 80,000 Beifu soldiers to fight. The Jin army defeated the large number at Feishui with a small number, and the Qin army collapsed. "The wind roared and the cranes roared, and the grass and trees were all soldiers." The former Qin Dynasty collapsed immediately, and the north fell into division again.
After the Battle of Feishui, Xianbei Tuoba Gui rebuilt the Dai Kingdom, changed the name of the country to Wei, and was known as the Northern Wei Dynasty in history. In 398, he moved the capital to Pingcheng and proclaimed himself emperor. Around the same time, regimes such as Later Yan, Later Qin, and Western Qin were also established one after another.
Eastern Jin forcibly conquered the "Le family" in Sanwu, which aroused public resentment. In 399, Sun En, the leader of Wudou Mi Road, raised troops in Kuaiji, and eight counties responded; after Sun En's death, his brother-in-law Lu Xun continued to fight, and was put down by Liu Yu in 411.
The eminent monk Fa Xian set out from Chang'an and traveled westward to seek Dharma. He crossed the Congling Mountains to Tianzhu and traveled to more than 30 countries. In 412, he returned by sea via the Lion Kingdom (today's Sri Lanka) and brought back a large number of Sanskrit sutras and laws, and wrote "Buddha Kingdom".
Huan Wen's son Huan Xuan invaded Jiankang and took control of the government. In 403, he deposed Emperor An and proclaimed himself emperor, and the country was named Chu. The following year, Liu Yu, the general of the Beifu army, launched a crusade in Jingkou. Huan Xuan was defeated and killed. Emperor An was restored to power, and Liu Yu took charge of the government.
Liu Yu led his army in the Northern Expedition and destroyed Southern Yan in 410. In 417, he invaded Chang'an and destroyed Later Qin, and recovered Luoyang and Chang'an. However, he was eager to return to Jiankang and seek to succeed the Jin Dynasty. The generals who stayed in Guanzhong started to fight among themselves. The next year, Chang'an was captured by Xia Kingdom Helianbobo.
Liu Yu first ordered Emperor An to be hanged and renamed Emperor Gong. In 420, Emperor Gong was forced to proclaim himself emperor in Jiankang. The country was named Song. Eastern Jin was destroyed and Chinese history entered the Northern and Southern Dynasties period.
Rarely ambitious, he slept with Liu Kun, heard the chickens dancing, and agreed to serve the country. In 313, he led his troops to cross the river, attacked Ji in the middle of the river, and swore to recover the Central Plains. He trained troops in the fields of Yuzhou and recovered a large area of land south of the Yellow River, so that Shi Lei did not dare to invade south. Because of the court's suspicion, he died of illness in Yongqiu in sorrow and anger.
Born in the Wang family of Langya, he urged Sima Rui to move to the town to build Ye, contact the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, resettle the overseas Chinese from the north, and lay the foundation of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He served as an official in the three emperors of Yuan, Ming and Cheng, and he governed with a lenient and peaceful government. He stabilized Jiangdong with the idea of "controlling it with tranquility", and Wen Jiao praised it as "Jiangzuo Guan Yiwu".
He calls himself Baopuzi and is a native of Jurong, Danyang. The author of "Baopuzi", the inner part systematically summarizes the magical alchemy and alchemy since the Warring States period, and the outer part discusses the gains and losses in the world. His book "Emergency Prescriptions" records the use of artemisia annua juice to treat malaria, which inspired Tu Youyou to discover artemisinin.
Born in the Langya Wang family, he rose to the rank of General of the Right Army, and was known as "Wang Youjun" in the world. He learned from everyone's strengths and transformed the simple calligraphy style of the Han and Wei dynasties into a beautiful one. The "Lanting Preface" written in 353 was hailed as "the best calligraphy in the world", and he and his son Wang Xianzhi were also called "the two kings".
Emperor Ming's son-in-law. In 347, the Western Expedition destroyed the Cheng Han Dynasty. After that, he made three Northern Expeditions and once regained Luoyang. On the way to the Northern Expedition, I saw that the willow trees planted in the old days had grown to ten inches thick. I sighed, "How can people tolerate the trees like this?" In his later years, he specialized in government affairs. He deposed Haixi Gong and established Emperor Jianwen. His attempt to succeed the Jin Dynasty failed but he died.
Born in the Xie family of Chen County, he lived in seclusion in Dongshan, Kuaiji in his early years. He became an official in his forties before he became an official. This is where the phrase "come back from the mountain" comes from. He resisted Huan Wen's usurpation of the throne and recommended his nephew Xie Xuan to form the Beifu Army after taking power. When the news of Feishui's victory came, he was playing chess with a guest, and he simply said, "The kid has already defeated the thief."
In his early years, he lived in seclusion in Huayin. When Huan Wen entered the customs, he "discussed the major events in the world". Later, he assisted Fu Jian, cracking down on the powerful, rectifying the administration of officials, and encouraging farmers to teach farming, making the former Qin country rich and powerful, and led the army to destroy the former Yan in 370. Before his death, he advised Fu Jian not to pursue the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but Fu Jian did not listen.
A member of the Di tribe killed Fu Sheng in 357 and established himself as the King of Qin. He reused Wang Meng, advocated Confucianism and established learning, destroyed Qianyan, Qianliang, and Dai successively, and unified the north. In 383, he ignored the dissuasion of his ministers and launched a large-scale southern expedition. Feishui was defeated miserably, and the former Qin collapsed. He was killed by Yao Chang two years later.
Nephew of Xie An. In 377, he guarded Guangling and recruited brave men among the refugees from the north to form the Beifu Army. In 383, he served as the commander-in-chief of the vanguard. In the Battle of Feishui, he defeated the former Qin Dynasty with 80,000 men. Then he took advantage of the victory in the Northern Expedition and recovered Yan, Qing, Si, Yu and other states.
A native of Qiuci, he became a monk since childhood and is proficient in Mahayana and Mahayana Buddhism. Lu Guang of the former Qin Dynasty brought him to Liangzhou during his western expedition to Kucha; 401 years later, Yao Xing of the Qin Dynasty welcomed him to Chang'an and presided over the translation field. He translated the Diamond Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakīrti Sutra and other sutras. The translations were fluent and elegant, and had far-reaching influence.
A native of Wuxi, Jinling, had many talents. People at the time said he had "unparalleled talent, extraordinary painting, and extraordinary infatuation." He was good at painting figures and advocated "describing the spirit with form", with special emphasis. The handed down "Pictures of Admonitions of Women's History" and "Pictures of Luo Shen Fu" are later copies, setting the precedent for Chinese figure painting to express the spirit.
Feeling that the precepts were incomplete, he set out from Chang'an westward in 399 and crossed the Congling Mountains to reach Tianzhu. It lasted more than ten years and traveled to more than 30 countries. In 412, he returned by sea and brought back and translated a large number of sutras. His book "Buddha Kingdom" is a precious historical material for the study of ancient Central Asia and South Asia.
Great grandson of Tao Kan, the famous Eastern Jin general. He once served as the magistrate of Pengze County, but he was unwilling to "break down his waist for five buckets of rice." He resigned after more than eighty days in office and went into seclusion to cultivate the countryside. His poems are plain and natural, creating the pastoral poetry school. "Come Back and Come Back", "Peach Blossom Spring" and "Drinking" have been passed down through the ages.
Born into a humble family, he started out as a soldier in Beifu and rose to prominence by suppressing the Sun En uprising. In 404, he launched an army to annihilate Huan Xuan. After that, Lu Xun was pacified, and he made two Northern Expeditions to destroy Southern Yan and Later Qin. 420Date rangeJin proclaimed himself emperor and established the Song Dynasty. Xin Qiji praised him as "a golden warrior and an iron horse, capable of swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger".