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Map of 'Sixteen Kingdoms' China AD 350 |
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By the early fourth century AD China had fractured once again, with the north splintering into the 'Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarians'. The Jin imperial dynasty, on the run in the north, retreated south of the River Huai to retain their claim of imperial superiority in the form of the Eastern Jin. This allowed various regional kingdoms and even barbarian empires also to rise and fall in the north and along China's western borders. Not included in the total of sixteen kingdoms or five barbarians are further kingdoms (many short-lived), including those of Chouchi, Duan Qi, Huan Chu, Qiao Shu, Ran Wei, Tuyuhun, Zhai Wei, and Western Yan. Also not included - probably because it was more distant - was the Rouran khaganate to the north-west, which governed much of Mongolia until its defeat by the Göktürk people in the middle of the fifth century. The 'Sixteen Kingdoms' period would not end with a reunified China. Instead, the north was largely consolidated under the rule of a single kingdom which then faced off against the successors to the Eastern Jin. A clickable version of this map is available for desktop displays. To select a kingdom, state, or tribe for further information, click on its name.
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Original text and map copyright © P L Kessler and the History Files. An original feature for the History Files. Go back or return home. |
