The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarian Peoples (Wuhu shiliuguo 五胡十六國: Di 氐, Jie 羯, Qiang 羌, Xianbei 鮮卑, Xiongnu 匈奴): Cheng-Han 成漢 (304-347) Former Zhao 前趙 (304-329), Later Zhao 後趙 (319-350) Former Yan 前燕 (337-370), Later Yan 後燕 (384-409), Northern Yan 北燕 (409-436), Southern Yan 南燕 (398-410) Former Liang 前涼 (314-376), Later Liang 後涼 (386-403), Northern Liang 北涼 (398-439), Southern Liang 南涼 (397-414), Western Liang 西涼 (400-421) Former Qin 前秦 (351-395), Later Qin 後秦 (384-417), Western Qin 西秦 (385-431) Xia 夏 (407-432) To the particular states, use the index of the Sixteen States. Southern and Northern Dynasties overview The weak central government of Eastern Han 東漢, the Cao-Wei 曹魏 and the Jin Dynasty 晉 allowed many Non-Chinese tribes to intrude on Chinese territory in the northwest. With the sixteen year long crisis of the Jin court during the Rebellions of the Eight Princes, military leaders of Chinese settlers and Non-Chinese tribes saw their chance to become independent from the Jin Dynasty. The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarian Peoples (Di 氐, Jie 羯, Qiang 羌, Xianbei 鮮卑, Xiongnu 匈奴) are not enlisted among the acknowledged dynasties. Although their rulers - most of them being of Non-Chinese origin - adopted Chinese customs and the Chinese administration system to govern their realms, they are not seen as righteous rulers of China. In fact, most of the short-lived empires were not able to develop a real working government. Their politics were all short-time oriented and in many cases determined by a simple surviving strategy. The hundred and thirty years of diverse foreign empires on Chinese soil were a period of suffering for the peasant population. The tenant farmers had not only to endure the permanent war campaigns, together with natural desasters and calamities, but also had to deliver tax and corvée labour for their landowners and the alien rulers. A typical measure to support the economical and fiscal needs of the government was to resettle peasants around the capital. This short-eyed policy of the "barbarian" rulers lead to the economical and cultural backwardness of China's north during the 4th and 5th centuries. At the same time, the ethnic constituents of the northern Chinese population changed - with time going by the former "barbarians" gradually mixed with the Chinese population. The period of the Sixteen Kingdoms (in fact, there were even a few more) can be divided into three stages: From 300 to 350, the Former Liang 前涼, the two Zhao 前後趙 and the Cheng-Han 成漢 empires rule the north and Sichuan. The dominating force from 350 to 380 is the Former Qin 前秦 empire. From 380 on the north is splintered up into many short-lived and ever-changing empires that are finally destroyed by the power of the Tuoba empire of Northern Wei 北魏 around 430.

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