A River Too Far- Former Qin's Near Complete "Barbarian" Unification of China: 胜利在望：前秦几近实现胡族统一天下

1/6 Scale Former Qin Heavenly King Fu Jian action figure from 

Zhongyuan Battlefield series (model JZMW-015)

Music: Invocation of Souls

This article is an focused excerpt of a much larger article that covers the heavy cataphract armors of the post- Han 16 Kingdoms period and also the Northern & Southern Dynasties. The specific narrative will cover the rise of the most dynamic and capable state of the early 16 Kingdoms period that briefly united all of northern China under one dynasty and attempted an extremely ambitious southern lunge in removing the last (old) holdout from their way to unify all of China under *hu* control.

Panoply of a northern cataphract- Former Qin, (16 Kingdoms Period) -the heavy armor features a prominent throat guard over armored collar, and tall lamellar helmet. Long draping leg guards covers far and ends near the foot. Similarly his ride (seen below) is also encased in heavy barding. The "barbarian" led Northern conquest dynasties- having taken most of the plains and pastures of north and central China, boasted the best cavalry of the realm.

The chaos of inter- state warfare at the climax of the Sixteen Kingdoms period became more destructive than any seen in previous centuries across northern China for centuries- especially given the earlier Han's 4 centuries of mostly internal peace inside the empire and Cao Wei's ending of most violence by the time it consolidated the north. Although most of the tribes that had made for their grand bid for power at this time had well been insiders- who had assimilated to Han culture by this time (example, Xiongnus of this time, descended from vassalized and assimilated Southern Xiongnu tribes and were settled on the northern bend of the Yellow River founded a dynasty called "Xia" because Han origin stated that the mythical 1st dynasty's descendants last king was expelled north, and there they stated mingled with the women of the steppes and birthed the proto- progenitors of the Xiongnu,) 

The "Five Hu"- "Hu" is an archaic way to frame none- Han, often western peoples before they made for their bid in staking their own conquest dynasties in a war torn northern Jin China. If correlations is to be made, it is more aft to compare to the fall of northern China to the Hu- less to some sudden crisis between pressured groups of strangers, such as Adrianople, than various ambitious barbarian warlords that tried to seize their own Roman rump state for themselves at the twilight of the Western Roman Empire.

These warlord- state's ruthless competition often resulted in very violent reprisals against each other, at times leading to the wholesome genocide of royal houses and entire people groups. In this crucible of violence and chaos, then rose an ambitious power that proved itself the deadliest among them all, the Di- lead state of Former Qin.

Construction of heavy armor can be glimpsed from tomb figures of this time. A prominent new addition that gained prevalence in this period is the auxiliary throat guard that protected the neck and may be added over existing armored collars.

Reimagined armored figure of the warlord Cao Cao in armor that is more era authentic to the Jin and northern dynasties. The exact specific origin of these throat guards are not clear and may have been deployed as early as the final days of the Han dynasty. His lamellar helm- (a design type that would be seen ubiquitously for centuries across Eurasia by the likes of Huns, Avars, Lombards) is, however, quite era authentic, contemporary Eastern Wu (example in section below) demonstrated that such high domed lamellar helms with prominent finish of cap and plumes, already were fielded in China by the 3rd century.

Long draping leg armor- faulds are widely seen in figures from this period. With the invention of the stirrups, the new stability afforded by the seating and footlocks made cavalry charges far safer for the rider and inversely far deadlier to the enemy on the receiving end. Where as in previous centuries only certain well trained and provisioned empires were able to field them with (risky) success- such as those of the Parthians and corresponding Central Asian states, and even the Han in limited extent, stirrups enabled powerful states already highly formidable with mounted warfare to become exponentially deadlier in devastating massed heavy cavalry charges. 

THE NEAR- SUCCESS OF THE FORMER QIN

Former Qin- (it called itself "Qin" because the Di- people, after escaping from the chaos of major wars of the Central Plains, migrated to the nestled Guanzhong (lit. "Within the Pass") region in central Shaanxi province- ie the "Qin" 秦 region. To distinguish it from the 1st Emperor's Qin, and later new Qin states, this regime was called the "Former Qin") 

Long Ring- Pommel Sword: Chinese metallurgy leap-frogged as early as Western Han and with the introduction of blast furnace and production of high quality steel Chinese of this era (Jin example shown) were able to forge long swords of exceptional reach.

 In centuries past it was the heartland of the Zhou, Qin, and Western Han dynasties, and where the capital of Chang'An was located, Guanzhong region was both well protected and fielded an ancient aristocracy of warriors who remained prominent players all the way to the days of the kingdom of Qin, having taken this historical region the Di people- rather remarkably well adopted to local customs and intuitions and within only 1-2 generations, under the guidance of very talented native Han ministers, Former Qin became a well organized and dynamic conquering power.

 

After ably hobbling several nearby northern dynasties, and repelling a daring Jin northern march under the able revanchist general Huan Wen, Former Qin set its sights to rise above a regional power into the sole power of the north. Fittingly, like the Qin kingdom of old- the Former Qin also embarked on its own unification war under the most dynamic and ambitious of its young rulers, Fu Jian. 

Former Qin cataphract. 16 Kingdoms period.

Music: Glimpse of Fate

Fu Jian 苻堅 was a man of many talents, limitless ambition, and potential to become an interesting emperor of a unified China. Until the Han- led Sui dynasty centuries later, Fu Jian presided the critical period that came closest to breaking the back of the south and uniting all of China under (a foreign-led) dynasty. Proactive, athletic, and an eager learner, Fu Jian was known to be a capable warrior in his own right and a respectful and avid student to his teachers. He was also noted for having a just-minded streak as well, beside being a dynamic soldier at a young age. A noteworthy distinction for his title is that although multiple powerful players in northern China styled themselves as "Emperors" in the old Chinese fashion. Fu Jian instead chose to be styled as the "Heavenly King" 天王 instead. 

During his reign Former Qin aggressively and ably expanded in all directions, crushing all of its rivals in 3 cardinal directions, all of the west was taken, the north crushed and subjugated, and the east was taken as well until all of the north was united under the Former Qin in unison. For the first time since the chaos of the War of the Eight Princes, all of what was northern China only had 1 sovereign. And it was then that Fu Jian set his ambitious eye south, to the remnant of the Jin dynasty that still lingered in the south beyond the rivers after decades of seething at the northern barbarians. In 383 AD, t o take all of it in one shattering strike, Fu Jian reportedly amassed nearly a million soldiers (700,000- 800,000) across the north by reportedly implementing an immense conscription 人十丁遣一兵 by drafting out of every ten able-bodied adult males across the north.

Music: Heaven Overturned

Unfortunately for Fu Jian- the Jin dissected the true nature of his quantitative host. An captured Jin official named Zhu Xu- ostensibly having surrendered and pledged service to Former Qin was dispatched to exact a surrender from the Jin remnant. Instead of being loyal to the masters of the north he actually harbored lingering loyalty to his origin state. Instead- Zhu revealed to the Jin court of Former Qin's true strength. That despite is massive number, in reality it was consisted of he heterogeneous mix of forced conscripts from various recently conquered ethnic groups (including Han, Xianbei, and Qiang) with uncoordinated signal systems with his veterans. Instead of quantity, the Jin bet solely on quality. Dispatching only a small crack force across the river, it aggressively skirmished with the coming Former Qin columns and caused surprised delays that both gave caution to the invaders and also gave the Jin ample assessment of the enemy's capacity. Then the Jin dispatched its most elite forces- the 70,000- 80,000 Beifu Army 北府兵 "Northern Command" Army composed of fully professional troops from northern refugee families. Disciplined and highly motivated the 2 armies met by the bank of the Fei River.

When the two armies met, the Jin commander dispatched a strange proposal to the massive northern host on the opposite bank, whose battle line stretched so long it lied across a wide horizon. According to the Book of Jin, the Jin commander requested requested that the Qin army step back slightly to allow the Jin forces to cross the river and engage in a proper open-field battle. Amused- and fully intending to reneg and fall upon the Jin army after only half of them cross the river, the Qin army agreed to the proposal and began to pull back while the Jin crossed. However this- was exactly what the Jin counted on. Owing to the massive size of the Qin host, which consisted both of fresh- disgrungled levies and people of varied ethnicities, confusion soon swept across their ranks. Then right during this moment, the Jin double agent Zhu Xi and many other ministers with secret Jin loyalties, raced about and began to shout "The Qin army has been defeated!" Because the battle lines were so long, panic soon began to set in and the various companies began to panic. Then the Jin Beifu charged in a full merciless assault. Tens of thousands of Qin soldiers were cut down, and other units, already believing a defeat was already ongoing, began to break and route. Jin swiftly followed suit and the Qin army was shattered. 

Above: Fu Jian in Hu- Central Asian styled patterned robe. 

The lopsided slaughter at the Fei River turned what was the brink of Former Qin triumph and unification of China into a mortal cataclysm for the north. Many of the former subjugated northern tribes, which had surrendered to Former Qin as its vassals, swiftly rebelled and mutinied, Chang'An was swiftly taken, and Fu Jian, now eager to raise fresh troops from his own Di- tribesmen in Gansu, was ambushed along his ride and and executed. His race, the Di did not outlive long after him. The north was swiftly divided back into a patchwork of "barbarian" led states reverting to a landscape similar to his conquests and the Di were variously set upon by them all, the survivors would culturally be assimilated into the other tribes within generations after the catastrophe at the Fei River. Such battle demonstrate both that the south still had ability and resilience to save itself, but also how capriciously dangerous just one defeat like this is to a whole people who- from the brink of supremacy and mandate of Heaven for a new China- ceased to exist right afterwards.

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