Sixteen Kingdoms
Sixteen Kingdoms ( Chinese十六 国/十六 国, Pinyin Shiliu guó ) is the name of a period of Chinese history. It began with the year 304 with the establishment of the Kingdom of Han Zhao and ended with the destruction of the State of Northern Liang by the Northern Wei Dynasty in 439 During this time prevailed in North and Central China in quick succession, the eponymous 16 kingdoms that fighting one another and ablösten. Most of these countries were of minority peoples, for example, founded as the Huns, so the period is also called the Sixteen Kingdoms of the five barbarians (五胡 十六 国). At the same time there was in southern China, the Eastern Jin Dynasty. With over 100 years of turmoil had the former central land of Chinese culture - the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River - heavily devastated. Many people fled to the south. The population migration and the relative calm in the south were the former border country on the course of the Yangtze River and culturally productive immediately ascend to a new center of Chinese culture. In northern China, it came through the immigration of peoples from the north and the west to enhanced mixing of peoples and the spread of new ideas and philosophies, such as Buddhism.
The 16 eponymous kingdoms are:
- Han Zhao
- Cheng- Han
- Later Zhao
- Earlier Liang
- Former Yan
- Former Qin
- Later Qin
- Later Yan
- Western Qin
- Later Liang
- Southern Liang
- Southern Yan
- Western Liang
- Northern Liang
- Xia
- Northern Yan
16 However, these empires were not all independent governments which have emerged during this period in North China. There were some other very short-lived governments whose rulers were proclaimed himself king or emperor. However, these are not listed in the official Chinese historiography as kingdoms. Be mentioned at this point that most of the rulers of these states, understood as Emperor and would therefore actually refer to their governments as empires. In Chinese history, however, only those governments be referred to as the Empire or Dynasty, the ( at least nominally ) controlled a substantial part of the country and wore a kind of stability in itself. Therefore, these 16 states were posthumously described as kingdoms.
Timeline
Xia | Shang | Zhou (Spring and Autumn & Warring ) | Qin | Han | Three Kingdoms | Jin | Southern and Northern Dynasties | Sui | Tang | Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms | Liao | Xi Xia | Jin | Song | yuan | Ming | Qing | Republic | people's Republic of
Han Zhao | Cheng Han | Later Zhao | Earlier Liang | Former Yan | Former Qin | Later Qin | Later Yan | Western Qin | Later Liang | Southern Liang | Southern Yan | Western Liang | Northern Liang | Xia | Northern Yan
- Sixteen Kingdoms