Western Jin

State · 265–425 CE · at its largest around 283 CE

The Sima clan's Jin reunified China after the Three Kingdoms, but feuding princes tore it apart and northern peoples overran the old capitals. Refugee aristocrats rebuilt the court at Jiankang, where Wang Xizhi perfected calligraphy and Daoist and Buddhist thought flourished.

On its lands while it lasted

Ujjain (c. 600 BCE – c. 405 CE): Capital of Janapada of Avanti (600 BCE–405 BCE), Western Satraps (43–405).
Plain of Jars (c. 500 BCE – c. 500 CE): Thousands of large stone jars scattered across the Xiangkhoang Plateau in Laos, associated with Iron Age mortuary practices.
Goguryeo (c. 37 BCE – c. 668 CE): Kingdom traditionally founded by Jumong in 37 BCE that grew to rule northern Korea and Manchuria.
Bagan (200–1293 CE): Capital of Pagan Kingdom (850–1293).
Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE): After the end of the Han, China was divided among the states of Wei, Shu and Wu.
Wang Xizhi (303 CE – 361 CE): Calligrapher of the Eastern Jin, revered as the "Sage of Calligraphy".
Linfen (c. 306 CE): Capital of Former Zhao (306–329).
Gupta Empire (c. 320–550 CE): Empire founded by Chandragupta I around 320 CE whose period is often called a classical age of Indian art, literature, science and mathematics.
Guwahati (c. 353 CE): Capital of Kamarupa Kingdom (353–1138).
Mogao Caves (c. 366 CE): Buddhist cave temples near Dunhuang created from the 4th to 14th centuries, with thousands of square metres of murals.
Gwanggaeto the Great (374 CE – 413 CE): King of Goguryeo whose conquests greatly expanded the kingdom in Manchuria and Korea.
Lanzhou (c. 387 CE): Capital of Western Qin (387–431).
Admonitions Scroll (c. 400 CE): Painted handscroll illustrating a text on the conduct of court ladies, attributed to Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin capital at Nanjing; the surviving version, probably a later copy, is in the British Museum.
Works of Kalidasa (c. 400 CE): Kalidasa, the most celebrated classical Sanskrit poet and dramatist, wrote Abhijnanashakuntalam and Meghaduta, probably in the Gupta period.
Stirrup (Feng Sufu tomb) (415 CE): The tomb of the Northern Yan official Feng Sufu, dated 415, contains the oldest surviving pair of metal-covered stirrups.