Jin Dynasty (265-420)


Jin Dynasty was divided into two dynasties, the Western Jin (265 -316) and the Eastern Jin (317 - 420). The Western Jin was founded by Sima Yan with Luoyang as its capital city while the Eastern Jin was founded by Sima Rui with Jiankang (currently Nanjing) as its capital.
Facts of the Jin Dynasty
Time: 265 AD-420A.D. 
Capital: Luoyang ( Western Jin ); Nanjing ( Eastern Jin)
Emperors: 
Replaced by: Southern and Northern Dynasties
Western Jin Dynasty
In 265, as a chancellor of the Kingdom of Wei, Sima Yan forced the last emperor of Wei, Cao Huan, to turn over his throne. Soon after Sima Yan acceded to the throne, proclaimed himself Emperor Wu in Luoyang and established the Jin Dynasty. In 280, Sima Yan sent his troops to attack the Kingdom of Wu and eventually defeated the last kingdom of the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280). The dynasty had unified the whole nation.
Western Jin Dynasty started from 265 AD and ended in 316 AD, including five monarchs. Although the Western Jin unified the whole nation, it was still an unstable and decayed dynasty with little social development.
 
Eastern Jin Dynasty
Set up in 317 and ended in 420, the Eastern Jin Dynasty was successively reined by 11 emperors. Established by the last of the Western Jin and governing a limited area lying to the South of Yangtze River, this dynasty was recorded as a single dynasty in Chinese history.

However, the state of unification did not last long. With the increase of the military strength, some nomadic ethnic groups on the frontier began to wage war to contest the central plains with the Jin Court. After a period of fighting, these groups set up a series of regimes in northern areas, called 'sixteen kingdoms'.

On the positive side, the process of Han-Chinese assimilation with other minority groups was greatly progressed. Meanwhile, the propagation of Buddhism in southern and northern areas became more and more popular. In addition, technological progress in medicine, astronomy and drafting technique was also notable during that time.



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