The Jin dynasty (, 266–420) was a major Chinese imperial dynasty. Following the devastation of the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period, the Jin unified those territories and fostered a brief period of prosperity between 280 and 304 CE. However, during this period many social problems developed as well, the most pressing of which was the migration of non-

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

tribes into Jin territory, to the point where they outnumbered the Han people in some regions. Eventually, these tribes began the Wu Hu uprising, during which they took control of much of North China, and reduced Jin control to the territory south of the

Huai River The Huai River (), Postal Map Romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

. This ended the prosperity of the early Jin. The Jin dynasty was afterwards known as the Eastern Jin. The Eastern Jin's government was dominated to a large extent by powerful generals such as

Wang Dun Wang Dun () (266 – after 8 August 324According to Sima Shao's biography in ''Book of Jin'', Wang Dun died shortly after the ''renshen'' day of the 7th month of the 2nd year of the ''Taining'' era of Shao's reign; the date corresponds to 8 Aug 3 ...

and Huan Wen. These generals often launched expeditions to recover northern China from Wu Hu rule. However, internal division in the government and military, coupled with the weakness of the Southern economy, meant that these expeditions were mostly unsuccessful. By 383 CE, the Jin dynasty was threatened by the Former Qin dynasty, which had reunified all of North China. Instead of reconquering the North, Jin was fighting for its very survival. However, in the

Battle of Fei River The Battle of Fei River, also known as the Battle of Feishui (), was a battle in AD 383 in China, where forces of the Di-led Former Qin dynasty was decisively defeated by the outnumbered army of the Eastern Jin dynasty. The location of the bat ...

, Jin forces prevailed over the much larger Qin army, causing the collapse of Former Qin in the North. Taking advantage of this, Jin forces under first Xie An and then Liu Yu launched a series of expeditions that retook much of Jin's territory south of the Yellow River, the traditional heartland. Eventually, though, the Jin were overthrown by Liu Yu in 420, ending the dynasty.

Rise of the Jin

Foundation

The Jin dynasty was founded by the Sima family, a prominent family within

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

, the most powerful of China's

. They effectively controlled Cao Wei's military forces after 250, becoming the real rulers of the state. In 265 CE, the last Wei emperor abdicated and gave up his throne to Sima Yan, who became the first Jin emperor.

Conquest of Wu

As Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan immediately focused on conquering the last of the Three Kingdoms, Wu, which controlled southeastern China. In 280 CE, 200,000 Jin troops in six columns, travelling by river and land, invaded Wu from both

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

and the North. They quickly broke through all resistance, including an attempt by Wu's chancellor Zhang Di to stop them with 30,000 troops. Very soon, Jin forces were besieging the Wu capital,

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, which had only 20,000 defenders. Realizing he was doomed, the Wu ruler surrendered to Jin, and China was reunified.

Prosperity of the Taikang Era

During the rule of Emperor Wu, China entered an era of prosperity. The Jin encouraged recovery by lowering taxes and subsidizing the construction of dikes and other works to benefit agriculture. The reunification of China also spurred on trade to help stimulate the economy. This prosperity was reflected in the growing luxury of the emperor. One official reportedly entertained Emperor Wu with pork that had been fed on human milk, while another spent over 20,000 strings of cash each day on food alone. This decadence was criticized by other Jin officials, who also worried about increasing barbarian migration into China.

Fall of the Western Jin

War of the Eight Princes

Emperor Wu believed that Wei's fall had been caused by the royal family losing power and support. To prevent this in his own dynasty, he appointed many of his brothers and sons as "kings" of individual provinces, in effect creating a series of powerful regional governments alongside the central government. Consequently, following Emperor Wu's death, control of his weak heir

Emperor Hui of Jin Emperor Hui of Jin (; 260 - January 8, 307), personal name Sima Zhong (司馬衷), courtesy name Zhengdu (正度), was the second emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420). Emperor Hui was a developmentally disabled ruler, and throughout his reign, t ...

was fought over by the regional princes in the devastating

War of the Eight Princes The War of the Eight Princes, Rebellion of the Eight Kings, or Rebellion of the Eight Princes () was a series of civil wars among kings/princes (Chinese: ''wáng'' 王) of the Chinese Jin dynasty from 291 to 306 AD. The key point of contention in ...

(301-305 CE), severely weakening the Jin.

Wu Hu uprising

Following the

, the barbarian tribes in north China, under the collective Wu Hu, saw an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos in China. Their forces, under Liu Yuan, revolted against the Jin in 304 CE. Although Jin forces fought hard to contain Wu Hu uprising, they suffered a major defeat in 310 CE that wiped out an army of over 100,000 troops, and afterwards could not hold north China. In 311 CE, the Wu Hu sacked the Jin capital, Luoyang, killing over 30,000 people, and Jin's secondary capital, Chang'an, was also captured in 316 CE.

The Middle Jin (316–383)

Internal crisis

The remaining followers of the Jin dynasty retreated south and formed the Eastern Jin, whose control was limited to South China. Throughout this period, the Jin court was severely weakened, allowing the Eastern Jin to be dominated by strong generals such as Wang Dun and Huan Wen. Special "commanderies of immigrants" and "white registers" were created for the massive amount of northern origin Han Chinese who moved south during the Eastern Jin dynasty. The southern Chinese aristocracy was formed from the offspring of these migrants. Celestial Masters and the nobility of northern China subdued the nobility of southern China during the Eastern Jin and Western Jin in Jiangnan in particular. The most populous region of China was southern China after the depopulation of the north and the migration of northern Chinese to southern China. Different waves of migration of aristocratic Chinese from northern China to the south at different times resulted in distinct groups of lineages, with some lineages arriving in the 300s-400s and others in the 800s-900s.

Huan Wen's expeditions

Huan Wen, who effectively controlled the Jin state from 346 CE to 373 CE, launched a series of expeditions against the Wu Hu, in an attempt to strengthen both the Jin and his own prestige. However, most of these expeditions failed due to lack of supplies and the Jin court's suspicion of Huan Wen.

The Late Jin (383–420)

Battle of Fei River

By 376 CE, the North had been reunified under the state of Former Qin, putting Jin in grave danger. In 383 CE, Fu Jian, ruler of Former Qin, invaded Jin with 300,000 troops, against which the Jin could only deploy 80,000 troops. However, the Chinese troops were well-trained and equipped, while the Qin army was made up mostly of conscripts. In the

, the Qin army was routed by the Jin army. After this victory, Chancellor Xie An, taking advantage of Former Qin's collapse, reclaimed much of the territory north of the Huai River for Jin. However, a rebellion by Huan Wen's son

Huan Xuan Huan Xuan (桓玄) (369 – 19 June 404), courtesy name Jingdao (敬道), nickname Lingbao (靈寶), formally Emperor Wudao of Chu (楚武悼帝), was a Jin Dynasty warlord who briefly took over the imperial throne from Emperor An of Jin and de ...

distracted the Jin, who were unable to defeat it until the rise of Liu Yu.

Liu Yu's expeditions

Usually regarded as the best general of the Southern and Northern dynasties, Liu Yu defeated the regime of Huan Xuan in 406 CE. He then launched a series of expeditions against Later Qin,

Xia Xia (Hsia in Wade–Giles) may refer to: Chinese history * Xia dynasty (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC), the first orthodox dynasty in Chinese history * Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms) (407–431), a Xiongnu-led dynasty * Xia (617–621), a state founded by Dou Ji ...

Southern Yan The Southern Yan (; 398–410) was a Xianbei-led dynastic state during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Its territory roughly coincided with modern Shandong. Its founder Murong De was a son of Murong Huang and brother of Murong Jun and Muron ...

, and

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

, all of which succeeded with the exception of Xia. These victories allowed the Chinese to retake the heartland of China and fixed their northern border at the Yellow River. Following these victories, Liu Yu's prestige rose, to the point where he usurped the Jin throne in 420 CE, ending the dynasty. Under the rule of him and his son, China would enter a brief golden age, lasting until the Xianbei again conquered north China during the rule of

Emperor Ming of Liu Song Emperor Ming of (Liu) Song ((劉)宋明帝) (9 December 439 – 10 May 472), personal name Liu Yu (劉彧), courtesy name Xiubing (休炳), childhood name Rongqi (榮期), was an emperor of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty. He became emperor after h ...

Imperial Family

Sima Fei (司馬朏) was a descendant of the Jin dynasty royalty who fled north to the Xianbei

in exile and married the Xianbei Princess Huayang (華陽公主), the daughter of

Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝文帝) (October 13, 467 – April 26, 499), personal name né Tuoba Hong (拓拔宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of the Northern Wei from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499. Under the r ...

. When the Eastern Jin dynasty ended Northern Wei received the Jin prince Sima Chuzhi 司馬楚之 as a refugee. A Northern Wei Princess married Sima Chuzhi, giving birth to

Sima Jinlong Sima Jinlong (; after 420-484), courtesy name Rongze (榮則), was a Han–Xianbei prince and general of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China, whose tomb was discovered in the village of Shijia, Datong, Shanxi. Sima Jinlong was of mixed ...

Northern Liang The Northern Liang (; 397–439) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was ruled by the Juqu family of Lushuihu origin (a branch of the Xiongnu). Although Duan Ye of Han ethnicity was initially enthroned as the Northern Liang ...

Xiongnu King

Juqu Mujian Juqu Mujian (; before 420 – 447), named Juqu Maoqian (沮渠茂虔) in some sources, formally Prince Ai of Hexi (河西哀王), was a king of the Xiongnu-led Northern Liang dynasty of China—with most Chinese historians considering him the last ...

's daughter married Sima Jinlong. The

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

chancellor Sima Guang (1019–1086) was descended from the Jin Imperial family.

References

Sources

*Book of Jin *Li, Bo; Zheng Yin (Chinese) (2001) 5000 years of Chinese history, Inner Mongolian People's publishing corp, {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of The Jin Dynasty (265-420) Jin dynasty (266–420)