Book contents
- The Cambridge History of China
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Maps
- Preface
- Six Dynasties Chronology
- Introduction
- Part 1 History
- Chapter 1 Wei
- Chapter 2 Wu
- Chapter 3 Shu-Han
- Chapter 4 Western Jin
- Chapter 5 Eastern Jin
- Chapter 6 The Sixteen Kingdoms
- Chapter 7 Cheng-Han State
- Chapter 8 Northern Wei
- Chapter 9 Eastern Wei–Northern Qi
- Chapter 10 Western Wei–Northern Zhou
- Chapter 11 The Southern Dynasties
- Part 2 Society and Realia
- Part 3 Culture, Religion, and Art
- Abbreviations of Frequently Cited Primary Sources
- Journal Titles: Acronyms (single-word titles do not use acronyms)
- List of Asian Journal Titles
- Primary Texts
- General Bibliography
- Glossary–Index
Chapter 6 - The Sixteen Kingdoms
from Part 1 - History
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2019
- The Cambridge History of China
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Maps
- Preface
- Six Dynasties Chronology
- Introduction
- Part 1 History
- Chapter 1 Wei
- Chapter 2 Wu
- Chapter 3 Shu-Han
- Chapter 4 Western Jin
- Chapter 5 Eastern Jin
- Chapter 6 The Sixteen Kingdoms
- Chapter 7 Cheng-Han State
- Chapter 8 Northern Wei
- Chapter 9 Eastern Wei–Northern Qi
- Chapter 10 Western Wei–Northern Zhou
- Chapter 11 The Southern Dynasties
- Part 2 Society and Realia
- Part 3 Culture, Religion, and Art
- Abbreviations of Frequently Cited Primary Sources
- Journal Titles: Acronyms (single-word titles do not use acronyms)
- List of Asian Journal Titles
- Primary Texts
- General Bibliography
- Glossary–Index
Summary
Following the disintegration of the briefly unified Western Jin dynasty in the early fourth century, the subsequent Sixteen Kingdoms era in north China became one of the most complicated periods in all of Chinese history. One hundred and thirty-six years elapsed between the establishment of the first “Sixteen Kingdoms” regime in 304 and the next reunification of the North in 439 by the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534). During that period, there were actually as many as twenty-two significant states in northern China (rather than literally sixteen), ranging from true empires (that is, relatively large multiethnic military-conquest polities ruled by monarchs bearing the Chinese title huangdi or “emperor”) to territories administered independently by so-called “governors” who maintained a pretense of loyalty to the still theoretically legitimate Jin dynasty.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of China , pp. 119 - 144Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019