| A universal guide for China studiesChinese History - The Sixteen Kingdoms 五胡十六國 (300~430) |
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The Sixteen Kingdoms |  period before (Jin Dynasty)-- Southern Dynasties -- Northern Wei next period (Sui)  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |   Once in the service of Later Qin (Houqin 後秦), the Xiongnu 匈奴 Helian Bobo 赫連勃勃 rebelled against this kingdom and made himself king and Great Chieftain (Da Shanyu 大單于) of Xia 夏. In the next decade, the kingdom of Northern Wei (Beiwei 北魏) advanced further to the south and finally took Chang'an 長安 (modern Xi'an) and killed Helian Ding 赫連定 when he wanted to cross the Yellow River east on his flight. The politics of Xia are often described as showing no initiation of any establishment of a civil administration, and Helian Bobo is said being a ruthless tyrant who destroyed any civilian institution. But in fact, we possess a coin casted by Helian Bobo so that we must assume that he was at least concerned about the basics of a civilian government. See also titles of rulers.Note: The rulers of the sideline dynasties are usually not called with their posthumous dynastic titles but with their personal names as they are not accepted as righteous rulers by official historiographies.
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