It was led by the Xianbei chieftain Tufa Shujineng, who was joined by several tribal ethnic groups such as the Qiang and Di living in northwestern China.
He proposed that the Inspector of Qin province, Hu Lie be tasked in quelling a future revolt due to his reputation in the west.
Although Shujineng was a Xianbei, historical records indicate that the rebellion consisted of several different tribal people, with the rebels being collectively referred to as "Qiang" or "Di".
[5][6] Hu Lie led his troops and camped at Wanhu Mound (萬斛堆; located in Gaolan County, Gansu) to campaign against Shujineng.
[7][8] The Prince of Fufeng, Sima Liang, was supposed to send reinforcements to help Hu Lie through his subordinates Liu Qi (劉旂) and Jing Yan (敬琰), but the two refused to move their troops.
Emperor Wu of Jin wanted to punish Liu Qi, but Sima Liang defended him and lost his post in the process.
[9] Later, the Inspector of Liang, Su Yu, led forces who were also routed by Shujineng at Mount Jin (金山; located in Shandan county, Gansu).
[10][11] With the removal of Sima Liang, Emperor Wu sent the General Who Maintains the West, Shi Jian (石鑒) and Protector-General of Vehement Might, Tian Zheng (田章) to put down the revolt.
However, Du Yu remonstrated with him, stating that the enemies were still in high spirits after their recent victories, as opposed to the demoralized Jin troops.
However, an Officer of Merit, Song Zhi (宋質), deposed Liang Cheng and replaced him with the Consultant, Linghu Feng (令狐豐).
In 271, two of his ministers, Ren Kai (任愷) and Yu Chun (庾純), attempted to undermine their political enemy, Jia Chong, by recommending to Emperor Wu that he be sent to lead the fight against Shujineng.
[18] When the general, Yang Hu, submitted his petition advocating for the invasion of Jin's rival state, Eastern Wu, he was strongly opposed by many other ministers, who argued that quelling the rebellion in Qin and Liang should be of greater priority.
In September or October 274, rebels from Liang attacked Jincheng again, but Sima Jun defeated them and killed one of their leaders, Qiwenni (乞文泥).
[21] Later that year, when Sima Jun was ordered to lead 7,000 soldiers to strengthen the garrison in Liang, Shujineng, Houdanbo (侯彈勃) and their followers planned to raid the military-agricultural colonies in Guanzhong in his absence.
[33][34] The emperor's advisers initially considered sending the Jin general of Xiongnu ethnicity, Liu Yuan, to recapture the province, but decided not to out of fear that he would also rebel.
After the Jin troops crossed the Wen River (溫水; east of present-day Jingyuan County, Gansu), Shujineng responded by having tens of thousands of his rebels occupy the passes to block Ma Long's front, while the others set up ambushes to intercept his rear.
[40] After reaching Wuwei, Shujineng's allied chieftains, Cubahan (猝跋韓) and Zuwanneng (且萬能), surrendered to him along with ten thousand troops under them.
After the conquest, the minister, Guo Qin (郭欽) sent a petition to the court calling for the tribes to be relocated outside the border, but was rejected.
However, in 296 (during the reign of Emperor Hui), due to poor governance, the tribes, led by the Di chieftain, Qi Wannian, once again rebelled in Guanzhong, this time with more dire consequences that contributed towards the upheaval of the Five Barbarians.
Jia Nanfeng and Sima Zhong's marriage, prompted by Shujineng's rebellion, also laid the seeds for the War of the Eight Princes.