" The Rebellion of the Eight Kings " was the main reason for the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, and Chinese history entered the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty after the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty. In many people's minds, the "Eight Kings Rebellion" has no direct connection with the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, some people believe that the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty are actually a continuation of the factional struggle of the "Eight Kings Rebellion". What's going on? Next, I will talk about my own opinions, which is the opinion of the whole family.
In the later period of the "Eight Kings Rebellion", the Western Jin vassal kings and ministers who participated in the turmoil gradually formed two factions: one faction centered on Chengdu King Sima Ying; the other centered on East China Sea King Sima Yue. Because the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" had developed into a large-scale civil war in the north at this time, the " Wuhu " who moved to the Central Plains and lived on the border of the Western Jin Dynasty also participated in the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" and had to choose between the King of Chengdu and the King of East China Sea.
According to historical records, although Sima Ying's title was King of Chengdu, his fiefdom was Yecheng (today's Linzhang West , Handan City, Hebei Province), and his main sphere of influence was the current southern Hebei and southern Shanxi. This area is where the "Five Barbarians", such as the Xiongnu and Jie, have been inhabited since the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because of this, the founding emperors of Han Zhao Liu Yuan and the founding emperors of Hou Zhao Shi Le were both subordinates of Sima Ying.
In order to deal with Sima Ying, Sima Yue had two plans: the first was to send his main supporter, Langya King Sima Rui, to the south as the "Cunning Rabbit Three Cave"; the second was to win the support of Ning Northern General and Qingyou Second Prefecture Wang Jun, forming a strategic encirclement of Sima Ying. Because Wang Jun had a close relationship with the Xianbei tribes, the Xianbei tribes also joined Sima Yue's faction.
In addition, the local forces in the west (such as Zhang Gui, Di, Qiang) are relatively inclined to Sima Ying. So the "Five Barbarians" were divided into two factions during the "Eight Kings Rebellion": the Xiongnu, Jie, Di, and Qiang belonged to the Sima Ying faction; Xianbei belonged to the Sima Yue faction. Except for Li Chenghan, who had a relatively neutral stance, most of the local forces in the south supported Sima Yue. It can be said that the prototype of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty has been formed at this time.
In summary, Han Zhao, Hou Zhao, Qian Liang , Pre Qin can be regarded as the continuation of the Sima Ying faction, while Eastern Jin , Qian Yan , Duan Qi , Daiguo can be regarded as the continuation of the Sima Yue faction. The sixteen kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty continued the factional struggle of the "Eight Kings Rebellion".
