Many people talk about the recipes used in the Sixteen Kingdoms: one Han, two Zhao, three Qin, four Yan, five liang, and Hu Xia, but they are not so practical. There is a main line to this history, three in three. That is to say, three regimes before and after have once hegemonized and unified in the north. But the game collapsed for its own reasons. Look at this main line and don't mess up.
From the Rebellion of the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty in 304 AD until 439 AD, when Northern Wei unified the north, the Southern and Northern Dynasties began, a total of 135 years. There are dozens of large and small regimes in these hundred years of chaos, and 16 are more important. Of these 16 countries, the Han established 3, and the remaining 13 were founded by the Hu people.
The chaos of the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty was full of separatist forces, and two Hu regimes openly rebelled and claimed to be emperors.
The first was in Chenghan in Sichuan, which was founded by the Qiang people. At first, it was called Cheng, taking Chengdu's Cheng, and later it was renamed Han, saying that it was to inherit the Shu Han. Cheng Han founded the state for 45 years, and was finally destroyed by the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It has been staying in Sichuan and has no big impact.
The other Xiongnu Khanate in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, was different. It is the first combination of three in three. Founder Liu Yuan. Liu Yuan was a Xiongnu, but a deeply Sinicized Xiongnu. He was so powerful that in his early years, Sima Yan even wanted to appoint him as the commander of the crusade against Eastern Wu. Liu Yuan himself was also ambitious, waiting for the Eight Kings to chaotic the country. Liu Yuan returned to the Xiongnu tribe in Shanxi, preparing to chase the Central Plains and dominate the world.
Liu Yuan claimed to be a clan relative of the Han Dynasty, with the name Kuang Fu Han Chamber. According to Liu Yuan's explanation, when Emperor Gao of Han married Princess Liu to be married, we are the descendants of Princess Dahan, and our surname is Liu early on. His trick is indeed useful and has the support of many Han people. Therefore, Liu Yuan's regime was called Han, and he also chased the two Han 24 emperors, plus Liu Bei and Liu Chan as the first emperors. Even Liu Yuan's own nickname was Emperor Guangwen of Han.
Liu Yuan's Han kingdom later actually destroyed the Western Jin Dynasty and occupied most of the north. When Liu Yuan was alive, he forcibly restrained his subordinates not to harm the people. When Liu Yuan died, the second emperor could not control the generals, and the murderous nature of the general Hu generals began to be exposed. This caused the subsequent Yongjia Rebellion. Of course, it also quickly lost the support of the Han people. As soon as the third term took the throne, the Xiongnu Han state was in civil strife and split into two pieces, both of which were called Zhao, Former Zhao in the west, and Later Zhao in the east. The former Zhao was still the Xiongnu regime, and he was the former Han state, but the name of the country was changed to Zhao. Later Zhao is of the Qiang clan. That's the first point of a three-in-three.
The two Zhao took 10 years, each unified the west and east, and finally the two Zhao came to a decisive battle in Luoyang, and the later Zhao won and annexed the former Zhao, which is the second combination of three points in three. Later Zhao was the only one in the north, leaving only a Western Liang in the northwest, which was the Han regime. There was a former Yan in the northeast that belonged to the Xianbei Murong Division, the Yan state that Murong Fu wanted to restore, and these two small countries were loyal to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Later Zhao, who can do such a big thing, is completely dependent on the founding emperor Shi Le. This man had great ambition, deep understanding of righteousness, outstanding talent, and a ruthless heart, and many of his legends were very similar to Cao Cao. Shi Le hated that others called him Hu Ren the most, and he didn't even let him say Hu characters. Originally, the cucumber was called Hugua, which Zhang Qian brought back from the Western Regions, and changed his surname to Huang from him.
As soon as Shi Le died, his nephew Shi Hu seized power, and Shi Hu was a perverted neuropathy. Shi Hu reigned for 15 years, and the people were not people who did not live well, but simply lived better than death. Even so, the people would rather die than return. Human nature is like this, when encountering a brutal and mediocre person, dare to rebel, and when encountering a brutal and shrewd person like Shi Hu, he really does not dare to rebel. As soon as Shi Hu died, Shi Hu's sons and grandsons fought among themselves in order to seize power, and Later Zhao quickly collapsed, and the north entered the second point of the three-in-three.
After that, the north fought chaotically, and in the end, there were two large ones left, one east and one west. Former Yan, who had always been in the northeast, occupied all of northern China. It is the most powerful regime in the whole world, also known as the emperor, turning its face with the Eastern Jin Dynasty and wanting to dominate the world. But a new emperor came up, young and mediocre, and the empress dowager who was in charge of the government could do it, and the national fortune of Former Yan came to this. Completing the three-in-three and third-in-three is the western Former Qin. The founder of Former Qin was the Fu clan of the Di clan, who was also an old general of Later Zhao. They gradually grew in Guanzhong, especially the third emperor Fu Jian. There are indeed people who are meteoric. Fu Jian has always regarded himself as a Chinese orthodoxy, often saying that others are Yi Di, and hates others the most to say that he is Yi Di. During his reign, Fu Jian destroyed Former Yan to the east, occupied Sichuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the south, attacked Former Liang to the west, annexed Daiguo to the north, and also sent troops to subdue the Western Regions. Former Qin unified the entire north of the Yangtze River, and Fu Jian was really swollen, and then launched the Battle of Shuishui, preparing to unify China. As a result, the defeat of Shuishui caused the hidden danger of Former Qin's rapid expansion to break out together, and the generals of the forces that had been annexed before rebelled. The North went into the third point of the three-in-three.
What's the beating? Xianbei Murong Chui established Houyan in northern China. Xianbei Tuoba established the Northern Wei Dynasty in the northern steppe. It was Later Qin who directly destroyed Former Qin, and Later Qin was the Qiang regime. To the west of Guanzhong, there is also a Western Qin that is the Xianbei regime. The Hexi corridor was even more chaotic, the former Qin generals established Hou Liang, Later Liang was also of the Di ethnic group, and the territory was quite large at first, but soon it could not be controlled and split, and the Xianbei regime Southern Liang, the Xiongnu regime Northern Liang, and the Han regime Western Liang emerged. After more than ten years of fighting, the final stable result was formed.
Unlike the chaotic times in the north, although the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south is rotten and infighting, it just doesn't split. The main reason for this is that the values of the entire society of the Eastern Jin Dynasty are Han culture, that is, traditional Chinese culture. Here in the Chinese, as long as you can coexist, don't fight and kill. All under the world is a royal land, and in the four seas are brothers. No one wants to risk the world's great opposition, violate loyalty and filial piety, and kill their father and king. So the Eastern Jin Dynasty maintained the ostensible unity.
From the Xiongnu Han state to the collapse of Former Qin, it has been nearly a hundred years of chaos. The North finally has the conditions for reunification. It was Northern Wei who completed this mission and ended the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, so why did Northern Wei win?
Because he has produced three generations of heroes in a row. During this period, Northern Wei defeated Later Yan and became the absolute hegemon of the north. Later Yan was divided into two parts, one part of the turtle retracted to the northeast, and Later Yan was destroyed by the Goguryeo clan Feng Ba, who established Northern Yan. There were also some remnants of Houyan transferred to Shandong, historically known as Southern Yan. In 409, Liu Yu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty expeditioned north, and Southern Yan perished.
The few remaining regimes of the Sixteen Nations were not idle, fending for themselves. Later Liang had long died in Later Qin. In 414, Southern Liang died again in Western Qin. In 417, Later Qin was again destroyed by Liu Yu. Hu Xia, founded by the Xiongnu Helian Bobo, took the opportunity to become bigger in northern Shaanxi. Helian was a famous tyrant, and after his death, Hu Xia was destroyed by Northern Wei. The remnants of Hu Xia ran westward with their breath, and actually destroyed Western Qin, who was also struggling to survive. At this time, Western Liang had been wiped out by Northern Liang. In this way, the great cause of unification of Northern Wei was only left in the northeast of Northern Yan and Northern Liang in the northwest. In 436, Northern Wei destroyed Northern Yan and annexed Northern Liang in 439, and the history of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms ended here. It's just that the remnants of Northern Liang ran to the west again, and finally died in Rouran in 460, and history also entered the Southern and Northern Dynasties.