Chapter 16 Section 2 The Rivalry of Heroes in Troubled Times: The Rise and Fall of the Sixteen Kingdoms

Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Qiang, Di, Jie, Lushuihu, Dingling and other tribes who moved into the Yellow River Basin successively had a large number by the Western Jin Dynasty.During the long-term living together with the Han and various ethnic groups, the economic and cultural level has improved to a certain extent, especially the rulers and upper-level people of each ethnic group have quite strong political and military talents, and have adapted to the production and life of the Central Plains. Way.The leaders of these ethnic groups should not only get rid of the discrimination and oppression of the Han rulers, but also seize the opportunity to seize power and wealth and become the masters of the region and even the whole country.The fire within the Western Jin royal family and the ruling group provided them with the best opportunity, so more than a dozen regimes were successively established in the Yellow River Basin, the Liaohe River Basin, and the Sichuan Basin, and then disappeared hastily in the annexation of other regimes.

In 298 (the eighth year of Emperor Hui of Jin and Yuankang years), there was a famine in Guanzhong for many years, and Li Te, the leader of Badi (a branch of Di people originally in Badi, who moved to Longdong and Guanzhong at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty), led the refugees to Shu.In 301 (the first year of Jin Yongning), Luo Shang, the governor of Yizhou, restricted the refugees to return home in July, and the refugees asked to leave after the autumn harvest, but they were not allowed.In October, the refugees led by Li Te and others set up troops in Mianzhu (now north of Deyang City, Sichuan Province) to attack Chengdu. In 304 (the first year of Jin Yong'an), Li Xiong became the king of Chengdu. In 306 (the first year of Jin Guangxi), he was proclaimed emperor, and the country was named Dacheng.Because Li Shou later changed the name of the country to Han in 338, it was called Cheng Han in history.The territory of Cheng Han is roughly the western part of Sichuan Province except the Western Sichuan Plateau and the Hanzhong Basin.In the second year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (346 A.D.), Huan Wen defeated Cheng Han, Li Shi surrendered, and Cheng Han died.

In 304 (the first year of Jin Yong'an), Liu Yuan, the wise king of Xiongnu, set up an army in Lishi (now Lishi County, Shanxi) in the name of helping Sima Ying, king of Chengdu, and soon moved to Zuoguo City (north of today's Lishi County), and called him King of Han . In 308 (the second year of Jin Yongjia) captured Pingyang (now southwest of Linfen City, Shanxi), and moved the capital to Puzi (now Xi County, Shanxi).In October of the same year, Liu Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, the country was named Han, and the capital was moved to Pingyang the following year. In 311, the Han army invaded Luoyang, and Emperor Huai of Jin was captured. In 316 (the fourth year of Jin Jianxing), soldiers came to Chang'an, Emperor Min of Jin surrendered, and the Western Jin Dynasty fell.Han General Liu Yao captured Guanzhong, and Shi Le captured Guandong. Around 317, the territory of the Han Dynasty stretched from Yinshan Mountain, present-day Sanggan River and Yanshan Mountain in the north, to Huaihe River and Qinling Mountains in the south, and to the Yellow River and Longdong in the west. In 318 (the first year of Jin Daxing), Liu Can, the ruler of the Han Dynasty, was killed by the power minister Jin Zhun. Liu Yao proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an, and started a crusade with Shi Le.In the following year, Liu Yao changed the name of the country to Zhao, established the capital in Chang'an, and was known as the former Zhao in history.Shi Le also claimed to be the King of Zhao, split from the former Zhao, and was called the Later Zhao in history.The territory of the former Zhao Dynasty started from Luoyang in the east, the Yellow River in Longxi in the west, the Weibei Plateau in the north and the southwest of Shanxi in the north.After being attacked by Shi Le, he retreated to Guanzhong. In 328 (the third year of Xianhe in Jin Dynasty), Shi Le defeated the former Zhao army, and Liu Yao was captured. In 329, the later Zhao general Shi Sheng captured Guanzhong, and the former Zhao died.

In 319, Shi Le (Jieren) was called Queen Zhao, and his capital was Xiangguo (now Xingtai City, Hebei); in 330 (the fifth year of Jin Xianhe), he took the throne.After the extermination of the former Zhao, the later Zhao already possessed the largest territory of the Han and the former Zhao, and once crossed the Huaihe River and the Nanyang Basin, threatening the northern part of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.After Shi Hu ascended the throne, he moved his capital to Ye.In the last years of Zhao Dynasty, civil strife broke out. After Shi Hu's death in 349 (the fifth year of Jin Yonghe), his adopted grandson Ran Min (Han) killed the Lord Zhao and massacred all the Jie people and Hu people in Yehe.

In 350, Ran Min restored his original surname to Ran, proclaimed himself emperor, and changed his country name to Wei.Later Zhao's Shizhi also proclaimed himself emperor in Xiangguo, but was killed the following year, and Later Zhao died.At that time, there was great chaos in the territory of Hou Zhao, and various places became self-reliant, and the area actually controlled by Ran Wei was limited. In 352, Ran Min was defeated and captured by Qianyan in Liantai (now Wuji County, Hebei). He was killed soon after and Ran Wei died. As early as the second year of Jin Yongkang (301 A.D.), Zhang Gui saw that the world would be in chaos, so he sought the post of governor of Liangzhou and occupied Hexi.After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Zhang family still occupied Liangzhou for generations, and it was called Qianliang in history since 317.The former Liangdu Guzang (now Wuwei City, Gansu), its territory is dominated by the Hexi Corridor, starting from the Yellow River in the east, reaching Yumen Pass (now the western boundary of Gansu) in the west, starting from Qilian Mountain in the south, and ending in Juyanze (in today's Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia) in the north. .In the later period of Qianliang, he also controlled the Western Regions and set up a long history of the Western Regions. In 376 (the first year of Taiyuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty), it was destroyed in the former Qin Dynasty.

At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the leader of the Murong tribe of Xianbei, Murongxu (Wei Wei), occupied the present Daling River Basin.His son Murong Hao [huang Huang] continued to expand, occupied the Liaodong Peninsula, and pushed westward to the Luan River Basin. In 337 (the third year of Xiankang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty), Murong Hao was called the king of Yan, and his capital was in Changli County (now Yixian, Liaoning). Later, the capital was moved to Longcheng (now Chaoyang City, Liaoning), and he was called Qianyan in history.After Shihu's death, Qianyan marched into the Yellow River Basin, destroyed Ranwei, moved its capital to Jicheng (now Beijing), and soon moved to Ye.The largest territory of Qianyan extends to the Liaodong Peninsula in the east, Sanggan River, Yanshan Mountain, and Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia in the north, Huai River in the south, and north of Shanxi and the east of the Qinshui River in the west. In 370 (the fifth year of Jin Taihe) it was destroyed in the former Qin Dynasty.

After Shihu's death, the Di people who had been forcibly moved to the Guandong, under the leadership of Fu Hong, revolted and returned to Guanzhong. In 350 (the sixth year of Jin Yonghe), his son Fu Jian entered Guanzhong and occupied Chang'an.The next year, he claimed to be the King of Heaven, the country was named Daqin, and the history was called Qianqin.In the early days of the former Qin Dynasty, the scope was very small, and the Jin Huanwen Northern Expedition once approached Chang'an. In 357 (the first year of Jinshengping), Fu Jian ascended the throne and pacified Guanzhong, and successively destroyed Qianliang, Qianyan and Dai. In 373 (the first year of Jinningkang), Fu Jian captured Jinliang and Yizhou, and occupied the Sichuan Basin . In 382 (the seventh year of Jin Taiyuan), Fu Jian sent Lv Guang to march into the Western Regions. Two years later, Lv Guang controlled the entire territory under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate of the Western Regions in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The captain of the Western Regions was set up.Before the Battle of Feishui in 383, the former Qin Dynasty completely unified the north, stretching from the Huaihe River in the south to the Yangtze River west of Wanxian, Sichuan today, the Mongolian Plateau in the north, and the eastern part of the Turpan Basin, Qilian Mountains, Huangshui River Basin, Minshan Mountains, and western Sichuan in the west. The eastern part of the plateau, east to the Liaodong Peninsula, is the most extensive of the sixteen countries.After the defeat in the Battle of Feishui, the former Qin Dynasty disintegrated, and the regimes of Later Yan, Later Qin, Western Yan, Western Qin, and Later Liang established themselves one after another. In 385, Fu Jian was captured and killed by Later Qin after he withdrew from Chang'an.The remnants of the former Qin Dynasty maintained in the west of Guanzhong and Longdong until 394, and were destroyed by the Later Qin Dynasty.

In 384 (the ninth year of Taiyuan in Jin Dynasty), Yao Chang, the leader of the Qiang people, set up an army in the pastureland in Weibei. In 386, Yao Chang entered Chang'an and proclaimed himself emperor, and the country was named Daqin.After the extermination of the former Qin Dynasty, the territory of the later Qin Dynasty roughly included the south of Hetao, the north of the Qinling Mountains in present-day Shaanxi, the southwestern part of Shanxi, most of Ningxia and the east of Tianshui in Gansu. In 403, Southern Liang and Northern Liang attacked Houliang, and Houliang surrendered to Houqin, but Houliang's territory was divided up by Zhuliang soon after, and Houqin only captured part of the territory of Western Qin. After 407, the north of the Weibei Plateau was occupied by Xia Helianbo, but the Later Qin captured most of the present-day Henan in the south of the Yellow River from the Later Yan and Eastern Jin. In 417 (the thirteenth year of Jin Yixi), the soldiers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty came to Chang'an, Yao Hong, the leader of the Later Qin Dynasty, left the city and surrendered, and the Later Qin Dynasty died.

Murong Chui was originally the clan of the former Yan Dynasty, and the former Yanmo was transferred to the former Qin Dynasty due to suspicion, and was reused by Fu Jian.After Fu Jian's defeat, Murong Chui proclaimed himself King of Yan in 384, known as Hou Yan in history.Two years later, he became emperor and his capital was Zhongshan (now Dingzhou City, Hebei Province).Later Yan regained the old land of Liaodong, and wiped out Xiyan in 394 (the nineteenth year of Jin Taiyuan), and occupied Shandong in the same year.By the second year, the east, west, and north of Houyan's territory roughly restored the former Yan's old boundaries, and the south only reached the southeast boundary of today's Shandong, and the area from Luoyang to Shangqiu in Henan. In 397 (the first year of Long'an in Jin Dynasty), the Wei army conquered Zhongshan, and the Lord of Later Yan moved to Ye.The following year, Murong De built Nanyan, and the territory of Shandong is no longer owned by Houyan.The capital of Later Yan was moved back to Longcheng, and the territory was reduced to that of the early Yan, but the eastern part had been captured by Goguryeo, and only the area west of the Liaohe River to the lower reaches of the Luanhe River was left. In 407 (the third year of Jin Yixi), it was replaced by Beiyan.

In 384, Muronghong, the former clan of Yanyuan, occupied Huayin and was called the king of Jibei. He was killed soon after.Invaded Chang'an the following year, according to relevant parts.But civil strife broke out in 386, and finally Murong Yong won and moved to Wenxi (now Wenxi County, Shanxi). Chang'an and Guanzhong were occupied by the Later Qin Dynasty.Murong Yong captured the eldest son (now southwest of Changzi County, Shanxi Province), that is, he made the eldest son his capital and proclaimed himself emperor.The territory of Xiyan is only in the southwestern part of today's Shanxi, and it is very unstable. Its western part was soon occupied by the Later Qin Dynasty. It was destroyed by Houyan in 394.

In 398, most of Houyan's territory was captured by the Northern Wei Dynasty. The clan Murongde moved from Ye to Huatai (now Dongjiu County, Huaxian County, Henan Province), and was called the King of Yan, and was called Nanyan in history.It soon developed to the southeast, occupying most of Shandong today, and made Guanggu (northwest of Qingzhou City, Shandong) its capital the following year. In 409, Jin Liuyu made a northern expedition, captured Guanggu at the beginning of the next year, and Nanyan died. In 407, General Feng Ba (Han) of Hou Yan and others supported Murong Yun as the master, and killed Murong Xi, the master of Hou Yan.Murong Yun's original surname is Gao (a native of Goguryeo), known as the King of Heaven, and known as Beiyan in history. Gao Yun was killed in 409 and Feng Ba succeeded to the throne.Northern Yan only owns the territory of the late Later Yan. It was destroyed in the Northern Wei Dynasty in 436 (the second year of Taiyan in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the thirteenth year in Song Yuanjia). In 385 (the tenth year of Taiyuan in Jin Dynasty), Qifu Guoren, the leader of Xianbei in Longxi, called himself the Great Chanyu, and built the city of warriors (now northeast of Yuzhong County, Gansu) as his capital, which was called Western Qin in history. In 388, Guoren died, his younger brother Gan returned to Li, and the capital was moved to Jincheng (now northwest of Lanzhou City, Gansu).The territory of the Western Qin Dynasty was small. Although there were twelve counties, it was actually only the area between Lanzhou and Longxi in Gansu Province.Later, he defeated Yang Ding, the leader of the Di tribe, and occupied the Wudu and Chengxian areas of Gannan today.Later, the capital was moved to Yuanchuan (now northeast of Yuzhong County, Gansu). In 400 years (the fourth year of Jin Long'an), it was broken by the Later Qin Dynasty and became a vassal. In 409 (the fifth year of Jin Yixi), after the decline of the Qin Dynasty, Gangui regained the title of Qin King in Fanghan (now southwest of Linxia County, Gansu Province), and then moved back to Yuanchuan. In 414, the Western Qin Dynasty destroyed Nanliang, occupying the area east of Qinghai Lake in today's Qinghai. In 430 (the seventh year of Song Yuanjia), the ruler of the Western Qin Dynasty begged for Mu Mo to be forced by Northern Liang, and moved east to join the Northern Wei Dynasty. He was blocked by Xia Bing in Nan'an (southeast of Longxi County, Gansu today), and his hometown was completely occupied by Tugu (yuyu) .The first month of the following year fell to Xia, and the Western Qin Dynasty died. 384 years ago, Qin general Lu Guang (a man from Di) conquered the Western Regions and returned to Liangzhou. In 386, he was called Liangzhou Mu and Jiuquan Duke in Guzang, and he was called Houliang in history.The territory of Houliang includes the former Qin from the west of the Hexi Corridor to the entire Western Region.Since 397, Nanliang, Beiliang and Xiliang have been established in the territory successively, and the control area of ​​Houliang has become smaller and smaller. In 403 (the second year of Yuanxing in Jin Dynasty), under the attack of Nanliang and Beiliang, the master of Houliang could not survive by himself, so he surrendered to Houqin, and Houliang died. The bald-haired Wugu was the leader of the Hexi Xianbei branch, and was once attached to Houliang. In 397 (the first year of Jin Long'an), Wu Gu claimed to be the Great Chanyu and the King of Xiping, captured Jincheng and other places, and was called Nanliang in history. In 399, the capital was moved to Ledu (now Ledu County, Qinghai), and it occupied the eastern part of Qinghai today.In the same year, it moved to Xiping (now Xining City, Qinghai), and moved back to Ledu in 402 (the first year of Jin Yuan Xing). In 406 (the second year of Jin Yixi), he captured Guzang from Beiliang, and expanded his territory to the eastern section of the Hexi Corridor. In 410, it was defeated by Beiliang and withdrew from the Hexi Corridor. It was destroyed in the Western Qin Dynasty in 414. In 397, Juqu Mengxun, the leader of Lushuihu in Hexi, raised his troops and embraced Duanye, the prefect of Houliang Jiankang (now south of Gaotai County, Gansu Province) as Duke Jiankang, known as Beiliang in history. In 401, Mengxun killed Duanye, proclaimed himself Lord Zhangye, established Zhangye as his capital, and occupied the Zhangye area in the middle of the Hexi Corridor. In 410, it occupied the eastern section of the Hexi Corridor, and in 412 it moved its capital to Guzang. In 420 (the first year of Song Yongchu), he defeated Xiliang and occupied Jiuquan; the next year he captured Dunhuang and destroyed Xiliang.So far, the territory has reached its peak, which is comparable to that of Houliang. It was destroyed in the Northern Wei Dynasty in 439 (the 16th year of Yuanjia in the Song Dynasty, and the fifth year of Taiyan in the Northern Wei Dynasty), but the remnants of Northern Liang continued to resist in Saquan. It was not until the first year of Heping in the Northern Wei Dynasty that it was annexed by Rouran. In 400 (the fourth year of Long'an in Jin Dynasty), Duan Ye made Li Dun the prefect of Dunhuang. Soon after, Li Hao was called Duke Liang, and his capital was Dunhuang (now west of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province), which was called Xiliang in history.Xiliang occupies the west of Jiuquan in the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions, and moved its capital to Jiuquan in 405 (the first year of Jin Yixi). In 420, Li Xin, the lord of Xiliang, attacked Beiliang in the east, died after being defeated, and Jiuquan fell. In 421, Beiliang broke Dunhuang and Xiliang died. Liu Bobo, the leader of the Tiefu tribe of the Xiongnu, was once a general of the Yaoxing tribe of the Later Qin Dynasty, stationed in Hetao. In 407 (the third year of Jin Yixi), he occupied Dacheng (now southeast of Hangjin Banner, Inner Mongolia), and claimed to be the King of Daxia, which was called Xia in history.Bobo later changed his surname to Helian.Xia occupied Hetao to Longdong and northern Shaanxi, and continued to attack Weibei, threatening the later Qin Dynasty. In 413, Wancheng (now Beibaichengzi, Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province) was established as the capital. In 418, Helian vigorously attacked Guanzhong, and the Jin army was defeated. Xia took Chang'an as the southern platform (accompanying capital).So far, Xia's territory has expanded to Guanzhong. In 426 (the third year of Song Yuanjia and the third year of Shiguang in the Northern Wei Dynasty), the Northern Wei Dynasty encircled Tongwan and captured Chang'an; the next year it captured Tongwan.Xia's remnants competed with the Northern Wei Dynasty in Guanzhong and Longdong. In 431, they took the opportunity to destroy the Western Qin Dynasty, but they were finally unable to resist. During this period, the separatist regimes were not limited to these 16. For example, the Yang family, the leader of the Di tribe, once occupied the Qiuchi area (now between Xihe, Huixian, and Wenxian counties in Gansu Province), and the Zhai family, the leader of Dingling, used Huatai and Liyang (now Northeast of Junxian County, Henan Province) is the stronghold of the King of Wei. The predecessor regime of the Northern Wei Dynasty also existed as early as the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, but traditionally it was not included in the Sixteen Kingdoms.