The main line of the history of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms is the two main dynasties of the Western Jin Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the auxiliary line is more than 20 separatist regimes established by the people of various ethnic groups.
Of the more than 20 separatist regimes, 16 are the main ones, namely:
Former Zhao, Huxia, and Northern Liang were founded by the Xiongnu.
The Qiang people founded the Later Qin.
Former Yan, Later Yan, Southern Yan, Northern Yan, Southern Liang, and Western Qin established by the Xianbei people.
The Chenghan, Former Qin, and Later Liang were founded by the Qi people.
Hou Zhao founded by the Qi people.
The Former Liang and Xi Liang established by the Han People.
In addition, there were the Ran Wei regime established by the Han people, the Qiuchi regime established by the Xianbei people, the Western Yan regime established by the Xianbei people, the Northern Wei regime established by the Xianbei people, and so on.
In general, the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms had 5 Great Liang Kingdoms, 4 Great Yan Kingdoms, 3 Great Qin States, 2 Great Zhao Kingdoms, Cheng Han and Hu Xia. Because there are too many separatist regimes and the repetition rate of names is too high, many people are confused about this history, and we can simply use the timeline to see the order in which these five hu and sixteen kingdoms were established and destroyed.
First, Qian Zhao and Cheng Han are the starters, followed by Qian Liang.
The year 304 AD is also the 40th year of the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty and the 25th year of the Western Jin Dynasty. In this year, at the peak of the Rebellion of the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Yue, the king of the Eastern Sea, and his brother Ma Teng of the Eastern Ying Company jointly defeated Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu.
So how did they defeat the King of Chengdu? Mainly because Sima Teng united with the powerful military forces of the Hu people such as Karasuma and The Qiang. This also laid the groundwork for the subsequent turmoil in the Central Plains.
First, the rise of Han Zhao.
This year, Liu Yuan, a Xiongnu who had been a hostage in Luoyang for more than 20 years, finally survived. He succeeded his father as the commander of the left department, and then became the leader of the Xiongnu tribe, gained the approval of the surrounding tribes, and established the "Han" regime in the left state city in Shanxi.
Yes, Liu Yuan thought that he was a descendant of the princess of Theodun Shan Yu and the Han Dynasty, so he wanted to inherit the inheritance of the Han Dynasty, thus gaining the support of the Han people in the Central Plains.
Second, the rise of Chenghan.
Also in this year, Li Te, a displaced man in Shu, was defeated and killed after a failed attack on Chengdu. Li Te's younger brother Li Liu took over his position as commander and continued to fight, but soon fell ill and died.
At this time, the leader of the exiled shuai became Li Xiong, the son of Li Te. Li Xiong was fierce, led his troops to capture Chengdu, and established himself as the king of Chengdu. Two years later, in 306 AD, Li Te established the "Cheng" regime.
Many people can't understand, one is Han, the other is Cheng, why don't they have a boundary with the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms? It's not over yet.
Third, the demise of Han Zhao.
In 310, Liu Yuan died. After his son Liu Cong succeeded to the throne, in 316 AD, he destroyed the Western Jin Dynasty, which had existed for 52 years. Liu Cong also died of illness 2 years later.
At this time, civil unrest broke out in the "Han" regime, and Jin Zhun killed Liu Cong's son Liu Cang. Liu Yuan's subordinate Liu Yao (劉曜), the King of Zhongshan, led an army to destroy Jin Zhun and then proclaimed himself emperor in 318 CE, while changing the name of the state to "Zhao". Therefore, Liu Yuan's regime can be called either Han Zhao or Former Zhao, because in this year, Shi Le, a member of the Qi people, split from the "Han" regime and established Later Zhao.
This was followed by many major battles between Zhao and Later Zhao, and finally in 329 AD, Former Zhao Emperor Liu Yao was defeated and killed, and Later Zhao destroyed Former Zhao.
Fourth, the demise of Chenghan.
In 334 AD, Li Xiong was emperor for 31 years, and did not let his son succeed to the throne, but let his nephew Li Ban succeed to the throne. As a result, Li Xiong's son Li Qi, was not convinced, and led troops to slaughter Li Ban, and civil unrest also occurred in the "Cheng" regime.
In 338, Li Te's younger brother Li Jun had a very bullish son named Li Shou. In this year, Li Shou led his troops to kill Li Qi and established himself as emperor. By the way, the name of the country was changed to "Han", so this regime was also called the Chenghan regime.
After Li Shou did this for a few years, he passed the throne to his son Li Shi. As a result, in 347 AD, under the powerful attack of the famous Eastern Jin general Huan Wen, Li Shi could not resist and had to surrender. The Chenghan regime, which had been established for 43 years, has since perished.
Fifth, the rise and fall of the former cool.
In 318 AD, that is, the year when Liu Yao was proclaimed emperor and changed the name of the country to Zhao, the Western Jin Dynasty Liangzhou stabbed Shi Zhang Rail, and also established a separatist regime in the Liangzhou area, known in history as Former Liang.
Qian Liang belonged to the survival in the cracks, and did not dare to offend the Former Zhao who was close at hand, nor did he dare to offend the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which was far away in the sky. In this case, the previous monarchs of the former Liang all called themselves kings, but did not dare to call themselves emperors.
It was not until 353 AD that Zhang Qi's great-grandson Zhang Zuo succeeded to the throne, openly claiming to be emperor and abandoning friendship with the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Thereafter, former Liang's power declined, and finally in 376 AD, it was destroyed by Former Qin.
Second, after the fall of Later Zhao, the north was once again plunged into war.
In 319, because Liu Yao established himself as emperor, Shi Le, who was also a famous former Zhao general, was not convinced at all, so he also called himself the King of Zhao and established the Later Zhao regime.
The two sides first engaged in a 10-year arms race, with Later Zhao capturing Qingyou and Ji prefectures, while Former Zhao struggled to capture Guanzhong.
During this period, the two of them were the most cattle in the north, and after the 10-year period, the two sides fought a war. In 329 AD, Shi Le attacked Former Zhao and ascended the throne as emperor.
In 333 AD, Shi Le died, and the rhythm of civil unrest began in their family:
First of all, Shi Le's son Shi Honggang succeeded to the throne for a year before he was forced to kill Shi Le's nephew Shi Hu. After that, Shi Hu killed all of Shi Le's wives and concubines and children, and incidentally inherited the throne and became the head of Later Zhao.
Second, Shi Hu succeeded to the throne in 334 AD and died in 349 AD. The years of his reign were the darkest period of Later Zhao. After Shi Hu's death, their family once again fell into civil unrest.
In addition, Shi Hu's son Shi Shi had just succeeded to the throne, but he was deposed and killed by his brother Shi Zun the Prince of Pengcheng. After Shi Zun succeeded to the throne, Shi Hu's adopted grandson Ran Min felt that he had no faith in his words (ran Min was made crown prince after saying that good things were accomplished), so he simply supported Shi Hu's other son Shi Jian to succeed to the throne, and killed Shi Zun by the way.
Finally, in 350 AD, Ran Min killed Shi Jian again, established himself as emperor, and established the Ran Wei regime. Another of Shi Hu's sons, Shi Qi, simply established himself as emperor in Xiangguo. Unfortunately, in 351 AD, Shi Qi was killed by his subordinate Liu Xian. Later Zhao perished.
Later Zhao was originally very strong, but unfortunately for the throne, there was constant chaos in the clan room. Shi Hu took the lead, causing his sons to fight for power and profit one by one, and finally cheapened Ran Min.
However, at this time, the world also ushered in a period of great chaos:
First, the rise of Former Yan.
In 337, just as the Central Plains were under the rule of Later Zhao Shihu, Murong Hao of the Xianbei Murong clan also established himself as the King of Yan in Liaodong, with the capital Longcheng and the establishment of Former Yan.
In 342, Former Yan and Later Zhao fought a battle, and Former Yan defeated Later Zhao's 200,000 troops, and has been able to sit back and relax ever since. At the same time, it also caused Murong Xianbei to set his sights on the Central Plains: Later Zhao was able to rule the Central Plains, so why couldn't I, Former Yan?
In 348, Murong Hao died and was succeeded by his son Murong Juan. At this time, Hou Zhao was already in civil strife, so Murong Juan took the opportunity to seize the land of Youzhou and moved the capital to Ji.
In 350, Ran Min established himself as emperor and established the Ran Wei regime. Murong Juan, on the other hand, sent his younger brother Murong Ke (慕容恪) to engage Ran Min, who was defeated several times by Ran Min.
In 352, Ran Min was outnumbered and was finally defeated by Murong Ke. The Ran Wei regime existed for only 3 years before it was destroyed. Murong Juan formally marched into the Central Plains, took the land of Hebei, then declared himself emperor, moved the capital to Yecheng, and sat on an equal footing with the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Second, Ran Wei's ephemeral blip.
What replaced Later Zhao itself was the Ran Wei regime. Unfortunately, from 350 AD to the end of 352 AD, Ran Min devoted himself to the work of killing hu people for a long time, ignoring the importance of taking over the Later Zhao regime.
As a result, this gave Former Yan a good opportunity to develop and grow and enter the Central Plains. The Ran Wei regime only existed for 3 years, so it did not enter the sequence of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms.
Third, the growth of Former Qin.
After the collapse of Later Zhao, also in 350 AD, the year that Ran Min established Ran Wei, the prefectural tribesman Jian Jian established Former Qin in Guanzhong, with the capital chang'an.
Due to the severance of diplomatic relations between Jian Jian and the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty sent Yin Hao and Huan Wen to the Northern Expedition. Fortunately, Jian Jian was fierce enough to block the other side's powerful attack and stabilize the situation in Former Qin since then.
In 355 AD, Jian Jian died. His son Zhisheng succeeded to the throne, but 2 years later, due to Zhisheng's indiscriminate killing of innocents, he was eventually killed by Gong Jian, the son of Zhi Xiong, the younger brother of Zhi Xiong.
In 357 AD, Jian Jian succeeded to the throne as the Great Qin Heavenly King, which began his life. With the efforts of Jian Jian and Wang Meng, Former Qin successively destroyed the states of Former Yan, Daiguo, Qiuchi, and Former Liang, and conquered tuguhuns, the western regions, and the bashu states, successfully completing the unification of the north and becoming the strongest king in the north.
The Battle of Shuishui led to the division of the north into six.
Former Qin Niu, with the joint efforts of Jian Jian and Wang Meng, completed the unification of the north. Before Wang Meng died, he had instructed Jian Jian not to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, 8 years later, Jian Jian forgot about this matter and resolutely planned to destroy the Eastern Jin Dynasty and unify the Jiangshan. Therefore, in 383 AD, the Battle of Shuishui began.
In the Battle of Shuishui, former Qin Tianwang Jian, with more than 800,000 troops, competed against the 80,000 Northern Fu soldiers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. As a result, due to the efforts of Zhu Xu, a double-material spy, the Former Qin army was in constant civil strife, resulting in a stampede, which led to Former Qin being defeated by the Eastern Jin Dynasty in one fell swoop.
That's right, Former Qin just collapsed! Due to the collapse of Former Qin, such a series of separatist regimes appeared in the northern land.
First, Hou Yan.
Murong Chui was Murong Hui's son, but he was suppressed by Murong Chuan, Empress Kezuhun, and Murong Wei at home, so he had no choice but to flee to Former Qin.
After Former Qin destroyed Former Yan, Murong Chui was quite unhappy in his heart and always wanted to restore the country. Therefore, he always encouraged Jian Jian to launch a southern expedition, as long as there was a great war between the north and the south, then Murong Chui would have a chance to restore the country!
In 384, Murong Chui escorted Jian Jian back to the north, and after returning 30,000 troops to Jian Jian, he took his own people north to start a business and established Hou Yan.
Second, Western Yan.
Murong Juan's son Murong Wei was the last emperor of Former Yan, and Murong Hong, another of Murong Juan's sons, was very upset when he found out that his uncle Murong Chui had established Later Yan, and he felt that he was the orthodox.
Therefore, he and his younger brother Murong Chong immediately agreed, and in 384 AD, they ran to Shanxi and established the Western Yan regime. The strength of Western Yan was too weak, and it was destroyed by Later Yan in only 10 years.
Third, Later Qin.
After the Qiang leader Yao Xiang was destroyed by Former Qin, his younger brother Yao Cang surrendered to Qiangjian. In order to restore his brother's inheritance, Yao Cang also vigorously encouraged Jian Jian to march south.
As a result, after the Battle of Shuishui, Former Qin did collapse. In 384, Yao Cang also took the opportunity to establish Later Qin. Yao Cang was not authentic, he started his own business, and also killed his former leader Jian Jian. Therefore, Former Qin and Later Qin were in a state of war for a long time.
Fourth, after cooling.
Jian Jian once sent the general Lü Guang to attack the countries of the Western Regions, and when Lü Guang returned, he found that Former Qin had collapsed, and his master Gong Jian was also killed by Yao Cang. It's over, the job is lost! In 386, Lü Guangsuo took his own ironclad corps and occupied Liangzhou and established the Later Liang regime.
Fifth, Western Qin.
In 385, because Ofqin collapsed, the Xianbei chieftain Qifu Guoren proclaimed himself DaDan Yu in Longxi. Although superficially attached to Former Qin after the fiasco, it was actually in a state of independence. However, Western Qin's strength was too weak, and it was destroyed once in the middle. So there is no sense of existence in history.
It can be seen that after the collapse of Former Qin, at least 6 separatist regimes, including Former Qin, appeared on the northern land. The Battle of Shuishui contributed a lot of data to the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms.
Fourth, the Northern Wei Dynasty divided the Later Yan, and the Later Liang was divided into three.
After Murong Chui established Later Yan, the Xianbei Tuoba clan in the north also thought of restoring the country. In the past, their ancestors established a dynasty state, but unfortunately they were destroyed by Former Qin.
Murong Chui's younger sister was Tuoba Jue's grandmother, and after this relationship, Murong Chui planned to help Tuoba Jue restore the country. Escorted by the Later Yan army, Tuoba Jue did indeed annex the surrounding major tribes, and in 386 AD, restored the foundation of the daiguo, and in 398, established the Northern Wei regime.
Tuoba Jue, who had wanted to become stronger, did not give Hou Yan any face, and even began to encroach on Hou Yan's territory. This made Murong Chui angry, so Murong Chui sent his crown prince Murong Bao to lead an army of 80,000 to attack Northern Wei.
In 395, at the Battle of Shanhepi, Murong Bao was defeated by Tuoba Jue, and the Later Yan army was almost completely destroyed. Murong Chui had to go out on horseback himself, but unfortunately he was 70 years old at the time, and he fell ill and died on the road.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tuoba Jue decisively moved south and divided the Later Yan Empire into two:
First, Murong Bao fled with his remnants to the ancient capital Longcheng, where he was soon killed by his men. After the Later Yan civil unrest, Murong Bao's adopted son Murong Yun, with the support of the powerful minister Feng Bao, established Northern Yan in 407. Murong Yun was a Goguryeo man, not a child of the Murong family.
Second, Murong Chui's younger brother Murong De held the city for several days and found that Murong Bao had run away, so he had to run south. Murong De established southern Yan at Shuitai in 398. Southern Yan was destroyed by Liu Yu.
At the same time, the Later Liang regime, under the tyrannical rule of the Lü clan, also began to riot:
First of all, in 397 AD, the Xiongnu frustrated Qu Mengxun avenged his uncle, supported Duan Ye as the mainstay, rebelled against Hou Liang, and established the Northern Liang regime. After that, The Depressed Canal Mengxun destroyed Duan Ye and established himself in 412 AD.
Secondly, in 397 AD, the leader of the Xianbei Bald Hair Department, Bald WuGu, led his own people to ma, rebelled against Liang, and established the Nanliang regime. Due to the continuous famine in Southern Liang, it was eventually destroyed by Western Qin.
In addition, in 400 AD, Li Huan, a Han Chinese who occupied Jiuquan and Dunhuang, established the Xiliang regime in the local area. Li Xuan claimed to be a descendant of the Hanfei general Li Guang, and was also regarded as his ancestor by Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu.
Ending: Hu Xialao's partial gate, Northern Wei unified the north.
In fact, there was also a Huxia regime, the founder of which Helian Bobo, was originally a rich second generation of the Xiongnu. Unfortunately, the family was given a pot by the Northern Wei, so Helian Bobo had to defect to Later Qin.
After pitting his own father-in-law, Helian Bobo openly raised an army to fight with Later Qin, and in 407 AD, established the Bactrian regime, also known as the Huxia regime.
After the fall of Liu Yu's Northern Expedition in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Helian Bobo took advantage of Liu Yu's return to the south and civil unrest in Chang'an City to seize the land of Guanzhong and stole the fruits of Liu Yu's victory in the Northern Expedition.
But it didn't matter, because after the rise of Emperor Tuoba Tao of the Northern Wei Dynasty,Emperor Tuoba Tao, these little princes all changed their smell. Because Tuoba Tao successively swept away Hu Xia, Northern Yan, and Northern Liang, and completed the unification of the north, in 439 AD, completely ended the era of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms.
References: Book of Jin, Zizhi Tongjian