The Second Northern Expedition of the Eastern Jin General Huan Wen: Causes, Course and Consequences

The article briefly reviews the information about the second northern campaign (356 AD) of a prominent dignitary and general of the Eastern Jin Empire (317–420 AD) Huan Wen (312–373 AD) against the North Chinese Qiang rebellious general Yao Xiang. In the course of the study, specific historical methods of textual, historical-biographical and historical-geographical analysis of events and personalities associated with the second campaign and the corresponding theater of military operations were applied. The main factors for the success of this campaign have been identified. The source of basic information about the events related to the second campaign of Huan Wen to the North is the official dynastic history «History of the [Dynasty] Jin» («Jin shu»), namely the section «Zaiji» (juan 116) and the section «Liezhuan» (juan 98). As a result of the historical-biographical and historical-geographical analysis of the reviewed information on this campaign, the author reveals that the successful outcome of the second campaign of Huan Wen was due to the strategic mistakes of his enemy general Yao Xiang, who actually found himself in the position of waging a war on two fronts – against the Former Yan and against the Eastern Jin – with all the ensuing consequences. At the same time, the results of the campaign were not fixed due to the factional struggle between the capital (Yangzhou) and regional (Jingzhou) factions of the power elite of the Eastern Jin, as well as the general degradation of the central government system.