Huai of Jin

The War of the Eight Princes, at its conclusion in 306, devastates the Jin heartland in northern China, and is a major cause of the Wu Hu ravaging that brings the Western Jin to an end.

Technically, the term "War of the Eight Princes" is somewhat of a misnomer: rather than one continuous conflict, the War of the Eight Princes sees intervals of peace interposed with short and intense periods of internecine conflict.

At no point in the whole conflict are all of the eight princes on one side of the fighting (as opposed to, for example, the Rebellion of the Seven States).

The literal Chinese translation, “Disorder of the Eight Princes”, may be more appropriate in this regard.

A series of uprisings, occurring between 304 and 316, is carried out by five non-Chinese tribes or tribal confederacies against the Western Jin Dynasty.

The five tribes, namely the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Qiang and Di, successfully capture the Western Jin capital of Luoyang as well as Emperor Huai of Jin, destroying the Western Jin regime, after which a large series of regional states and regimes are set up, the most prominent of which are known as the Sixteen Kingdoms ('sixteen kingdoms of the five barbarians').

Many ethnic groups are involved, including ancestors of the Turks, Mongols, and Tibetans.

Most of these nomadic peoples had, to some extent, been sinicized long before their ascent to power.

Some of them, notably the Qiang and the Xiongnu, had already been allowed to live in the frontier regions within the Great Wall since late Han times.

Emperor Hui is poisoned in 307, and his brother, Emperor Huai, ascends the throne.

Sima Ying and Sima Yong are eventually captured and killed; Sima Yong dies on February 7, 307, which marks the official end of the struggle.

The resultant winner is the last surviving major prince, Sima Yue.

The struggle, which has depopulated northern China and greatly weakened the strength of the Jin Dynasty, has also triggered a large-scale uprising of the Wu Hu, a collective term for various non-Chinese steppe tribes, which had begun in 304.

The Han Zhao forces capture Luoyang in 311, and with it the Jin emperor Sima Chi (Emperor Huai).

The Wu Hu forces commit a massacre when entering the city, killing the Jin crown prince, a host of ministers, and over thirty thousand civilians.

They also burn down the palaces and dig up Jin mausoleums.