Jin Dynasty (266-420)

The Jin dynasty ruled China from 266 to 420, founded by Sima Yan, who took the throne as Emperor Wu of Jin on 4 February 266 after serving as regent under the preceding Cao Wei state and then displacing it. The dynasty is divided into the Western Jin period, 266 to 316, and the Eastern Jin period, 317 to 420; at its height around 280 the Western Jin controlled about 3.1 million square kilometers after conquering Eastern Wu and reuniting China for the first time since the fall of the Han dynasty, while the Eastern Jin held roughly 2.8 million square kilometers in the south around 347. The Western Jin collapsed amid the internal civil wars known as the War of the Eight Princes, fought from 291 to 306, and invasions by non-Han peoples that opened the Sixteen Kingdoms period in the north. The dynasty ended in 420 when the general Liu Yu forced the last Jin emperor, Sima Dewen, to abdicate in his favor and founded the Liu Song dynasty in his place.