Eastern Jin dynasty: A Visual History

The Eastern Jin dynasty was established in 317 at Jiankang (Nanjing) by Sima Rui after the Xiongnu destroyed the Western Jin capitals. Dominated by great aristocratic families like the Wang, Yu, Huan and Xie, it repelled the Former Qin invasion at the Fei River in 383, mounted several failed expeditions to recover the north, and nurtured the culture of the southern gentry, including the calligrapher Wang Xizhi and the poet Tao Yuanming. The general Liu Yu deposed the last emperor and founded the Liu Song in 420.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Eastern Jin dynasty. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Estimated combatants at the Fei River, 383

Chinese sources exaggerate the Qin figure; even conservative estimates suggest a huge disparity.

Timeline of the Eastern Jin dynasty

1. 317
   Sima Rui proclaimed emperorAt Jiankang.
2. 322
   Wang Dun's rebellion
3. 347
   Huan Wen retakes Sichuan
4. 383
   Battle of the Fei River
5. 399
   Sun En rebellion
6. 403
   Huan Xuan usurpsOverthrown by Liu Yu 404.
7. 417
   Liu Yu recovers Chang'anBriefly.
8. 420
   Liu Yu founds the Liu Song

The Wang and the Sima

Sima Rui owed his throne to the northern refugee clan of Wang Dao and Wang Dun; a saying went 'the Wang and the Sima share the empire'. Wang Dun rebelled twice; later the Yu, Huan and Xie clans dominated in turn. Northern refugee aristocrats and southern gentry uneasily shared power in a state whose emperors were often figureheads.

Fei River

In 383 Fu Jian of Former Qin, having unified the north, marched south with an army claimed at 800,000. Xie An's nephew Xie Xuan with about 80,000 men met them at the Fei River, requested that the Qin pull back to let the Jin cross for battle, and the retreat turned into a rout as troops cried that Qin had lost. Fu Jian's empire disintegrated, and the south was safe for two centuries.

Liu Yu

Huan Xuan usurped the throne in 403 and was overthrown the next year by Liu Yu, a general of humble origin. Liu Yu crushed the Sun En Taoist rebellion, retook Sichuan, destroyed the Southern Yan and Later Qin, briefly recovering Luoyang and Chang'an, and then took the throne for himself in 420 as founder of the Liu Song dynasty.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Western Jin dynasty (266 to 316)
• Former Qin (351 to 394)
• Later Zhao (319 to 351)
• Former Zhao (Han Zhao) (304 to 329)
• Liu Song dynasty (420 to 479)
• Northern Wei (386 to 535)
• Eastern Wu (222 to 280)

Wars of the same era and region

• Three Kingdoms period (184 to 280)

8 surprising things about the Eastern Jin dynasty

1. The Chinese idiom 'every bush and tree looks like an enemy soldier' comes from Fu Jian's panic after the Fei River.
2. Xie An reportedly kept playing weiqi (Go) when news of the victory arrived and only afterwards let his elation show.
3. Wang Xizhi's Orchid Pavilion Preface of 353 is the most celebrated work of Chinese calligraphy; the original was reputedly buried with a Tang emperor.
4. The Eastern Jin's 'refugee' northern families kept their old northern place-names as commanderies in the south.
5. The poet Tao Yuanming resigned his post rather than 'bow for five pecks of rice' and became the model of the recluse.
6. The pilgrim Faxian left for India in 399 and returned by sea in 412 with Buddhist texts.
7. The dynasty had 11 emperors in 103 years, most of them children or puppets.
8. The Fei River is one of the classic examples in Chinese military writing of a small force beating a huge one.

Sources

• Jin dynasty (266-420) Wikipedia
• Battle of Fei River Wikipedia
• Jin dynasty Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Mark Edward Lewis, China Between Empires (2009) Harvard University Press

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