Sixteen Kingdoms

Lore & Background

The Sixteen Kingdoms period began in 304 when Li Xiong, a Ba-Di chieftain and refugee from Guanzhong, formally claimed the imperial title of King and formed the state of Cheng-Han in Sichuan. During the Jin civil wars, Liu Yuan, a noble from the Five Divisions and descendant of the Southern Xiongnu chanyu, rebelled in Shanxi and declared his intent to restore the fallen Han dynasty; his regime, later renamed Zhao, is designated as Han-Zhao (304–329). In 311, Liu Cong's forces annihilated the Jin imperial army and captured Luoyang along with Emperor Huai in the Disaster of Yongjia. In 316, Liu Yao seized Chang'an and Emperor Min, ending the Western Jin. From 376 to 383, the Former Qin unified all of northern and northwest China and Sichuan. The Former Qin's quest to conquer southern China was stopped by the Eastern Jin at the Battle of Fei River (in modern-day central Anhui), after which the Former Qin splintered and northern China experienced even greater political fragmentation, with as many as nine states co-existing in the north in 400.

Reader's Guide

The Sixteen Kingdoms period is significant as the first time in imperial Chinese history that non-Han rulers governed a large portion of the Chinese heartland and ruled as Emperor of China. Each kingdom was multi-ethnic in character, and rulers adopted diverse governance approaches drawing on different mixes of Han and non-Han institutions and customs. The challenges they faced—governing both Han and non-Han peoples, the degree to which they should adopt Chinese culture, and how they redefined what it meant to be Chinese—persisted through the subsequent Northern and Southern dynasties period, from which emerged the Sui and Tang dynasties with their more inclusive governance, multi-ethnic character and cosmopolitan culture. The fall of the Western Jin amidst the rise of non-Han regimes resembles the fall of the Western Roman Empire amidst invasions by the Huns and Germanic tribes, which also occurred in the 4th to 5th centuries. While the division of the Roman empire in 395 AD became permanent, China was able to reunify by integrating the barbarians from the Sixteen Kingdoms era into government and society. This dynamic of non-Chinese rulers adapting their rule to China would recur with the Liao, Jin (1115–1234), Yuan and Qing dynasties.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Sixteen Kingdoms' was first used by the 6th-century historian Cui Hong in the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms.
• For seven years from 376 to 383, the Former Qin unified all of northern and northwest China and Sichuan.
• As many as nine states co-existed in the north in 400 after the Former Qin splintered.
• The Sixteen Kingdoms period ended in 439 when the Northern Wei, established by the Xianbei Tuoba clan, unified northern China.
• The fall of the Western Jin in 316 ended with Liu Yao seizing Chang'an and Emperor Min.