The Wu Hu Uprising
The accession of the Jin Emperor Hui in 290 marked the beginning of the crumbling of the Jin Dynasty. Possibly retarded at birth, he was a puppet of powerful parties which sought to control the Jin court. During the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, all parties in power attempted to wipe out the former rulers by murder, mass executions or battles. Each struggle grew more violent and bloodier than the one before. Not surprisingly, Wu Hu mercenaries were often called upon. Wu Hu chieftains and herdsmen clearly comprehended the selfishness of the nobility and the destruction of the country through their struggle for power and wealth. Coupled with famine, epidemic and floods, cannibalism was observed in some parts of the country only a few years after Emperor Hui's accession. Wu Hu herdsmen saw no reason to obey orders from the Jin court and widespread uprisings soon followed.
The revolt by Qi Wannian (齊萬年), a Di chieftain residing in the border region of today's Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces, marked the first such uprising. His group of insurgents, which was mainly made up of Di and Qiang tribesmen, numbered around fifty thousand. Although his revolt was suppressed after six years of destructive battles, waves of refugees and remnants wreaked havoc in neighboring territories. The first of the Sixteen Kingdoms was founded by a group of Di refugees who fled into Sichuan.
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“An uprising would punish only the country, and that is out of the question. But there is yet another approach, the most effective form of resistance: contemptuous compliance.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)