Eastern Jin Dynasty 217-420

The northern tribes constantly invaded China throughout the third and fourth centuries A.D. In 304 Liu Yuan, a Xiongnu noble, established the Kingdom of Han in the southwestern part of present day Shanxi Province. Liu Yao succeeded him and renamed his state The Kingdom of Former Zhao, and rebelled against the Jin Dynasty. His forces overran Luoyang, the capital of Jin, and forced Emperor Jin Yuandi (317-322) to remove his capital to Jiankang (present day Nanjing): hence the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) began in Central and South China. Encouraged by the successful revolt of the Xiongnu, four other tribes, namely the Di, Jie, Xianbei, and the Qiang, also set up their own states. By the beginning of the fifth century, a total of 13 small states had been established in North China by the five northern tribes. In Chinese history, their occupation of North China was referred to as the Wuhu Luanhua (meaning Five Nomadic Tribes Throwing China Into Disorder).