Conquest of Chouchi by Former Qin
4th-century military campaign in China
The Conquest of Chouchi by Former Qin, also known as the Conquest of Chouchi by Qin, was a military campaign launched by the Former Qin dynasty against the polity of Chouchi in March or May 371 during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of China. The campaign concluded in the fall of Chouchi, discontinuing the state for fifteen years before its restoration in 385.
Background
Chouchi was a minor Di polity that encompassed parts of modern-day Longnan, Gansu. Despite its small size, the mountainous terrain and their willingness to submit as a vassal prevented them from being subjugated by their larger, more powerful neighbours. However, in 370, the new ruler, Yang Cuan was immediately thrown into a civil war with his uncle, Yang Tong. Cuan had also severed ties with the Former Qin, submitting to the Eastern Jin in the south instead.
That same year, Qin conquered the Former Yan, establishing dominance over northern China in spite of the Former Liang, Dai and Chouchi. Encouraged by his success, the Heavenly King of Qin, Fu Jian, sought to unify the whole of China under his banner.
The campaign
In March or April 371, Fu Jian sent the Marquis of Xi, Fu Ya with his generals, Yang An, Wang Tong, Xu Cheng, Zhu Yong and Yao Chang to lead 70,000 soldiers in invading Chouchi. In April or May, the Qin army reached Jiuxia (鷲峽; in present-day Xihe County, Gansu), and Yang Cuan went out with 50,000 troops to resist.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Conquest of Chouchi by Former Qin” is 4th-century military campaign in China. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Conquest, Chouchi and Former, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “4th-century military campaign in China” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q138936947. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Conquest of Chouchi by Former Qin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Conquest of Chouchi by Former Qin primary sources, Conquest of Chouchi by Former Qin archive and Conquest research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Conquest of Chouchi by Former Qin”?
- Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
- Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Conquest of Chouchi by Former Qin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.