The Jin Dynasty
2 min readAt the end of the Three Kingdoms Period,Sima family became prominent in the Wei(220-265).In 265,Sima Yan(236-290),a descendant of the great historian Sima Qian,usurped the power and founded a new dynasty Jin.They also conquered the Wu(222一280),thus ending the period of the Three Kingdoms.Jin(265-420)was historically divided into two periods:the Western Jin(265-316)with Luoyang as its capital city and Eastern Jin(317-420)with Jiankang(present-day Nanjing)as the capital city.
After the death of Sima Yan,there was never again a strong leader.The leaders and princes were often assassinated in the struggles for power.During this time,the Chinese people surrounding the capital suffered due to the fighting and began a migration out from the center ofthe empire to the more peaceful frontier regions.Although providing a brief period of unity after conquering the Wu,the Jin could not contain the invasion and uprising of nomadic peoples after the devastating War of the Eight Princes(291-306).
The Jin was eventually defeated by the Huns,who claimed they were descendents of the Han Dynasty because of the Han princesses given to them in marriage.However,they never succeeded in forming a true dynasty and uniting China.Rather,the disunity continued with the Southern and Northern Dynasties(420-589).The defeated Jin fled and ruled in Nanjing as the Eastern Jin.The Eastern Jin was the first of a few dynasties that developed a culture different from that of northern China.As an economic center of the whole China,the south would be of great importance for the whole of China until today.