Han-Zhao in the context of "Sixteen Kingdoms"

The Xiongnu (Chinese: 匈奴, [ɕjʊ́ŋ.nǔ]) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 BC, founded the Xiongnu Empire.

After overthrowing their previous overlords, the Yuezhi, the Xiongnu became the dominant power on the steppes of East Asia, centred on the Mongolian Plateau. The Xiongnu were also active in areas now part of Siberia, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang. Their relations with the Chinese dynasties to the south-east were complex—alternating between various periods of peace, war, and subjugation. Ultimately, the Xiongnu were defeated by the Han dynasty in a centuries-long conflict, which led to the confederation splitting in two, and forcible resettlement of large numbers of Xiongnu within Han borders. During the Sixteen Kingdoms era, listed as one of the "Five Barbarians", their descendants founded the dynastic states of Han-Zhao, Northern Liang and Helian Xia and during the Northern and Southern dynasties founded Northern Zhou (founded by members of the Yuwen tribe of Xiongnu origin) in northern China.

Emperor Wen of Sui (隋文帝; 21 July 541 – 13 August 604), personal name Yang Jian (楊堅), childhood name Naluoyan (那羅延), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (普六茹堅), was the founding emperor of the Sui dynasty of China. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state.

He is credited with reunifying China proper in 589, bringing an end to nearly three centuries of political fragmentation that began with the breakaway of the Cheng-Han and Han-Zhao regimes from the Western Jin in 304. His reign also saw the initiation of the Grand Canal, a major infrastructure project that would later facilitate the integration of northern and southern China.

Zhao, briefly known officially as Wei (衛) in 350 AD, known in historiography as the Later Zhao (simplified Chinese: 后赵; traditional Chinese: 後趙; pinyin: Hòu Zhào; 319–351) or Shi Zhao (石趙), was a dynasty of China ruled by the Shi family of Jie ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Among the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Later Zhao was the second in territorial size to the Former Qin dynasty that once unified northern China under Fu Jian. In historiography, it is given the prefix of "Later" to distinguish it with the Han-Zhao or Former Zhao, which changed its name from "Han" to "Zhao" just before the Later Zhao was founded.

When the Later Zhao was founded by former Han-Zhao general Shi Le, the capital was at Xiangguo, but in 335 Shi Hu moved the capital to Yecheng, where it would remain for the rest of the state's history (except for Shi Zhi's brief attempt to revive the state at Xiangguo). After defeating the Han-Zhao in 329, the Later Zhao ruled a significant portion of northern China and vassalized the Former Liang and Dai; only the Former Yan in Liaoning remained fully out of their control. For roughly twenty years, it maintained a stalemate with the Eastern Jin dynasty in the south before its rapid collapse in 349 following the death of Shi Hu.

The Chuge (Chinese: 屠各; pinyin: Chúgè; Wade–Giles: Ch'u-ko), also known as Xiuchuge (Chinese: 休屠各; pinyin: Xiūchúgè; Wade–Giles: Hsiu-ch'u-ko) or Xiuchu (Chinese: 休屠; pinyin: Xiūchú; Wade–Giles: Hsiu-ch'u) were a Xiongnu tribe and later ethnic group that lived in ancient China. They were described as the most influential among the Xiongnu tribes that resettled within the Great Wall, and a branch of them, the Liu clan, founded the Han-Zhao dynasty in 304 AD during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Chuge's influence were as such that by the 4th century, they were seen as a distinct ethnic group from the rest of the Xiongnu, and continued to appear in history until the late Northern Wei period of the 6th century. Their name can also be transcribed as Tuge, Xiutuge, and Xiutu.

Liu Yuan (劉淵, died 29 August 310), courtesy name Yuanhai (元海), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Guangwen of Han (Zhao) (漢(趙)光文帝) was the founding emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han-Zhao dynasty of China during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Due to Tang dynasty naming taboo, he is referred to by his courtesy name as Liu Yuanhai (劉元海) in the Book of Jin.

Liu Yuan was born into the aristocracy of the Five Divisions and was sent to the Chinese capital, Luoyang as a hostage during his youth, where he became highly sinicized and later held several government offices under the Western Jin dynasty. As the War of the Eight Princes weakened Jin authority in northern China, Liu Yuan was called upon by the Five Divisions to lead their rebellion, and in 304, he declared independence from the Jin and founded the Han-Zhao dynasty, one of the first of the Sixteen Kingdoms. His declaration, along with the founding of the Cheng-Han dynasty in Sichuan that same year, marked the formal end of the Western Jin's brief unification of China following the Three Kingdoms period.

Liu Yao (died 329), courtesy name Yongming, was the final emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han-Zhao dynasty of China. He became emperor in 318 after most other members of the imperial Liu clan were massacred by Jin Zhun in a coup. However, the empire was soon divided in half, as the general Shi Le declared independence and established the Later Zhao dynasty. In a decisive battle in early 329, Shi captured and executed him, and while his sons Liu Xi the Crown Prince and Liu Yin the Prince of Nanyang continued to hold out for nearly a year, the Han-Zhao state fell later that year.

Shi Le (Chinese: 石勒; 274 –17 August 333), courtesy name Shilong, also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Ming of Later Zhao, was the founding emperor of the Jie-led Later Zhao dynasty of China. He was initially sold as a slave by Western Jin officials, but after attaining freedom, he helped start a rebellion and eventually became a powerful general for the Han-Zhao dynasty, conquering most of northern China in Han-Zhao's name but holding the territory under his own control. In 319, after a dispute with the Han-Zhao emperor Liu Yao, he broke away from Han and formed his own state, Later Zhao (named as such due to Liu Yao changing his state's name from Han to Zhao, which is distinguished as the Former Zhao). In 321, he defeated Duan Pidi, the last remaining Jin power in northern China besides Murong Hui, and in 329 he captured Liu Yao and conquered the Han-Zhao, adding western China to his empire as well. For the next 21 years, the Later Zhao would dominate northern China.

Shi Le is notably the only emperor in Chinese history to have risen from the status of slave. He was known as a brilliant general, but was criticized by historians for excessive cruelty during his campaigns. He also put too much power in the hands of his ambitious and even more ferocious nephew Shi Hu who, after Shi Le's death, seized power from Shi Le's son Shi Hong. Additionally, Shi Le was an important figure in the rise of Buddhism in 4th-century China, as he allowed the Kuchan monk, Fotudeng to wield considerable influence in his court.

The Disaster of Yongjia (simplified Chinese: 永嘉之乱; traditional Chinese: 永嘉之亂) occurred in July 311 CE, when forces of the Han-Zhao dynasty captured and sacked Luoyang, the capital of the Western Jin dynasty. The Han's army committed a massacre of the city's inhabitants, killing the Jin crown prince, a host of ministers, and over 30,000 civilians. They also burnt down the palaces and dug up the Jin dynasty's mausoleums. Though the Western Jin would survive for a few more years, this event is often seen as one of the worst disasters in Chinese history, as both the emperor and one of the ancient capitals fell to the hands of "barbarian" forces.