While the Eastern Jin existed in the south, northern China fell into disunifi-cation of warfare. The Yellow River valley became the battlefield for warlords from the five Hu nationalities—the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Jie, the Diand the Qiang. Each Hu (minority) state established its own government to front the Eastern Jin and there were a bunch of countries came into existence and vanished. These governments are known as “the Sixteen States”.
当东晋在江南建国的同时，中国的北方则陷人分裂混战，黄河流域成为匈奴、鲜卑、羯、氐、弟等五个主要游牧民族争杀的战场，并分别建立了自己的国家，相互争霸，不断有国家成立和灭亡，这些国家被称为北方的十六国。
In 304, the Xiongnu noble Liu Yuan set up the Han state which, in 316, vanquished the Western Jin. In 439, the Tuoba tribe of the Xianbei nationality united the north. For over a hundred years, frequent wars took place among different nationalities, resulting in the establishment of 15 states. They were the Former Zhao (Xiongnu), the Later Zhao (Jie), the Former Yan (Xianbei), the Former Liang (Han), the Former Qin (Di), the Later Qin (Qiang), the Later Yan (Xianbei), the Western Qin (Xianbei ),the Later Liang ( Di), the Southern Liang (Xianbei), the Western Liang (Han), the Northern Liang (Lushuihu), the Southern Yan (Xianbei), the Northern Yan (Han), and the Xia (Xiongnu). These fifteen states together with the Han state of Cheng established by the Di nationality in the southwest are historically called the Sixteen States.
从公元304年匈奴贵族刘渊建立汉国，316年灭掉西晋，到439年鲜卑拓拔部统一北方，这130多年里，北方各民族相互争战，先后建立了前赵（匈奴）、后赵（羯）、前燕 (鲜卑）、前凉（汉）、前秦（氐）、后秦（羌）、后燕（鲜卑）、西秦（鲜卑）、后凉（氐）、南 凉(鲜卑）、西凉（汉）、北凉（卢水胡）、南燕(鲜卑）、北燕（汉）、夏（匈奴）等15个政 权，连同西南氐族建立的成汉，共十六国，和东晋汉族政权长期对峙,史称五胡十六国。
Besides, there were five regimes：the Wei founded by Ran Min of the Han nationality； the Wei founded by the Zhai family in Dingling； the Chouchi founded by the Yang family in Wudu, a leader of the Di nationality； the Western Yan founded by the Murong family of the Xianbei nationality, and the Dai by the Tuoba family of the Xianbei nationality. There were altogether 21 states in this period.
除十六国之外，还有汉人冉闵建立的魏、丁灵翟氏建立的魏、武都氐帅杨氏建立的仇池国、鲜卑慕容氏建立的西燕、鲜卑拓跋氏建立的代五个政权，总计先后建立了21个政权。
Among them, the Later Zhao，the Former Yan and the Former Qin successively occupied most of the northern territories；especially, the Former Qin almost united the whole northern part of China.
上述政权中，后赵、前燕、前秦都曾占据过北方的大部分疆域。4世纪下半期，氐族贵族建立的前秦，基本上统一了北方。
After the Feishui Compaign，the Former Qin was shattered, thus over a century, warfare never stopped in the north.
淝水之战后，前秦统治瓦解,北方再度陷人四分五裂和军阀混战状态。
The wholescale migration to the hinterland brought many minorities into full contacts with the Huaxia (Chinese) culture. They acquired the same tastes and conventions with Han nationality and were assimilated and accommodated in Han culture.
由于少数民族人主中原，更多地接触到华夏文化,使之与汉民族逐渐发展为同一生活习惯的民族，进而被汉族融合。
Since then, China was a nation embracing various ethnic groups that imbued with similar customs due to the fact that the minorities live along with the majority Han side by side in the northern part of central plain.
自魏、晋、南北朝之后，中原北方大体已形成以汉族为主,其他少数民族混居的人口构成形式，使中国正式成为具有相似生活习惯的多民族国家。
The rulers of Eastern Jin were contented with their sovereign in the south and did not take serious of recovering of the Central Plain.
由于东晋统治者安于江南，不以恢复中原为意，门阀大族致力于南方的庄园经营。
Those landlord gentries and noble families concentrated their minds on economic developments in the south. Therefore It was possible for the nobles in the south to know the prestigious families and refugees migrated from the north in the war which enhanced the social development in the south.
北方大族及大量汉族人口迁徙江南，使得江南的名士与渡江的中原人士有了更多的交流机会，促进了社会文化的发展。
Since Wei there was a prosperous development of literature,especially in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
自曹魏以来，中国的文学发展一直处于大步前进的时期，其中以东晋年间的文人最为著名。
For example, Xie Lingyun, a landscape poem writer and Tao Yuanming , a pastoral poet grew out of the old style of poem writing and wrote the poems full of imagination and the flavor of rustic life. These new ideas and reforms laid foundation for later flourishing of poems and prose in Sui-Tang dynasties.
东晋出现了山水诗人谢灵运、 田园诗人陶渊明等人，他们对旧体诗作出改革，为将来隋、唐的诗文盛世创造了前提条件。
In social development, the handicraft industry was advanced in a wide margin compared to that of the Western Jin owing to the melting and communications of the north and the south.
在社会生产上，北方的手工业技术与南方的技术相互融合，使东晋的手工业水平比西晋有了大幅度的提高。
With the industrious working of the immigrated farmers from the north and the native farmers in the south, enormous wilds were cultivated and empoldered, which made the Yangtze River valley the center of e-conomy following the Yellow River valley in Chinese history.
南下的北方农民和土著农民辛勤劳动，开辟南方广大的山泽荒野，促进了江南的开发，使中国经济重心开始由黄河流域向长江流域转移。