Sixteen Kingdoms
Gao Yun, considered by other historians to be the Northern Yan founder, was a member of the Goguryeo royal family who had been adopted by Xianbei nobility.
In 167 AD, Duan Jiong conducted an anti-Qiang campaign and massacred Qiang populations as well as settled them outside the frontier in northern China.
The Xiongnu abandoned nomadism and the elite were educated in Chinese-Confucian literate culture, but they retained their distinct identity and resented the discrimination they received.
The numerous tribal groups in the north and northwest who had been heavily drafted into the military then exploited the chaos to seize power.
For instance, when the Later Zhao sent a diplomatic mission to the south to establish equal relations, the Eastern Jin burnt the embassy's gifts and expelled the envoy.
Shi Le was an ethnic Jie who had worked as an indentured farm laborer before joining Liu Yuan's rebellion and becoming a powerful general in Hebei.
Shi Le instituted a dual-system of government that imposed separate rules for Chinese and non-Chinese, and managed to control much of northern China.
The Former Qin was founded in 351 by Fu Jian (317–355), a Di general, who had served under the Later Zhao and surrendered to the Jin before declaring independence in Shaanxi.
Wang Meng opposed this move, citing the need for the Former Qin to consolidate control over various ethnicities in northern China, while Qiang chieftain Yao Chang and Xianbei general Murong Chui both supported the idea.
In 383, after Wang Meng's death, Fu Jian launched a massive invasion of southern China, but was he was routed in a devastating defeat at the Battle of Feishui, in which Eastern Jin troops vanquished a much larger Former Qin force.
In 386, Lü Guang, a Di general of the Former Qin, founded the Later Liang in western Gansu while Tuoba Gui revived the Dai as the Northern Wei.
In 416, the Eastern Jin under General Liu Yu launched a northern expedition that captured Luoyang and Chang'an and extinguished the Later Qin.
The Northern Liang was founded by an ethnic Chinese, Duan Ye in Zhangye, Gansu with the support of Juqu Mengxun, a Xiongnu, who then seized control of the kingdom in 401.
During its century-long rule of southern China, the Eastern Jin dynasty, though beset by local rebellions and insurrections, made several attempts to recapture the North, and managed to make some inroads, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
Despite meager resources, Zu Ti managed to recapture a large swath of Henan south of the Yellow River and repeatedly defeated Shi Le's Later Zhao forces.
Eastern Jin Emperors were wary of generals acquiring power and prestige from successful northern expeditions and threatening the throne.
He then launched successive expeditions against northern kingdoms, briefly retaking Chang'an from the Former Qin in 354 and Luoyang from Qiang chieftain Yao Xiang in 356.
In 383, the Eastern Jin reclaimed Henan south of the Yellow River after turning back the Former Qin in the Battle of Feishui in 383, but lost that territory once the northern kingdoms strengthened.
In 338, Tuoba Shiyiqian formally declared Dai's independence and built the capital at Shengle (modern day Horinger County, Hohhot).
From near Hohhot, Tuoba Gui expanded southward, capturing Shanxi and Hebei from the Former Yan and Henan from the Liu Song dynasty.
Under his leadership, the Northern Wei subdued the Rouran nomads to the north and began the conquest of Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu.
The Xia under Helian Ding moved to Pingliang, Gansu and conquered the Western Qin at Jincheng (modern day Lanzhou) in 431.
Under the powerful and dynamic leadership of feudal kings, Goguryeo during the reign of Gwanggaeto the Great successfully invaded the kingdoms of Baekje, Silla, and Dongbuyeo.
King Murong Xi of Later Yan twice launched retaliatory attacks to reclaim the Liao River watershed territory, but was only partially successful.
Thus, the Northern Wei (essentially the Tuoba Xianbei), held de facto rule over the entire Mongolian Plateau and the Liao River region.
In the Western Regions (modern Xinjiang) of the former Han Empire lay the kingdoms of Shanshan, Qiuzi, Yutian, Dongshi, and Shule.
Day-to-day administration was run out of several forts: Western Regions Chief Clerk, Wu and Ji Colonel, and Jade Gate Commissioner of the Army.
The Later Zhao was one of the earliest to provide Buddhism with state recognition, with the Kuchean monk, Fotu Cheng occupying a high and privileged position within the imperial court.
In 382, Fu Jian sent general Lü Guang to conquer the Western Regions (Tarim Basin) and bring Kumārajīva to Chang'an.
In 401, the Later Qin ruler, Yao Xing conquered the Former Liang and Kumārajīva was able to settle in Chang'an and become one of the most influential translators of Buddhist sutras into Chinese.
