History of the Jin dynasty (266–420)

However, during this period many social problems developed as well, the most pressing of which was the migration of non-Han tribes into Jin territory, to the point where they outnumbered the Han people in some regions.

The Eastern Jin's government was dominated to a large extent by powerful generals such as Wang Dun and Huan Wen.

However, internal division in the government and military, coupled with the weakness of the Southern economy, meant that these expeditions were mostly unsuccessful.

In 280 CE, 200,000 Jin troops in six columns, travelling by river and land, invaded Wu from both Sichuan and the North.

The Jin encouraged recovery by lowering taxes and subsidizing the construction of dikes and other works to benefit agriculture.

One official reportedly entertained Emperor Wu with pork that had been fed on human milk, while another spent over 20,000 strings of cash each day on food alone.

Although Jin forces fought hard to contain Wu Hu uprising, they suffered a major defeat in 310 CE that wiped out an army of over 100,000 troops, and afterwards could not hold north China.

Special "commanderies of immigrants" and "white registers" were created for the massive amount of northern origin Han Chinese who moved south during the Eastern Jin dynasty.

[17] After this victory, Chancellor Xie An, taking advantage of Former Qin's collapse, reclaimed much of the territory north of the Huai River for Jin.

[18] Usually regarded as the best general of the Southern and Northern dynasties, Liu Yu defeated the regime of Huan Xuan in 406 CE.

These victories allowed the Chinese to retake the heartland of China and fixed their northern border at the Yellow River.

Following these victories, Liu Yu's prestige rose, to the point where he usurped the Jin throne in 420 CE, ending the dynasty.