page_title: Military history of the Jin dynasty (266–420) and the Sixteen Kingdoms (304–439)
section_title: Equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of the Jin dynasty (266–420) and the Sixteen Kingdoms (304–439) / Equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: From the Xianbei Tomb Paintings (of Former Yan) excavated in 1982 at the Zhao-yang 袁台子朝陽 area, across the Daling River, Liao-xi. Painting of Murong Xianbei archer.
context_page_description: The military history of the Jin dynasty encompasses the period of Chinese military activity from 266 AD to 420 AD. The Jin dynasty is usually divided into the Western and Eastern Jin eras. Western Jin lasted from its usurpation of Cao Wei in 266 to 316 when the Uprising of the Five Barbarians split the empire and created a number of barbarian states in the north. The Jin court fled to Jiankang, starting the era of Eastern Jin, which ended in 420 when it was usurped by Liu Yu, who founded the Liu Song dynasty.
  The Sixteen Kingdoms were a series of barbarian states occupying northern China after the fall of Western Jin. They were eventually extinguished by Northern Wei in 439 AD.
context_section_description: Single mounting stirrups had already been in use since the Han dynasty, but full double stirrups did not appear until the early 4th century AD. A funerary figurine depicting a stirrup dated 302 AD was unearthed from a Western Jin tomb near Changsha. The stirrup depicted is a mounting stirrup, only placed on one side of the horse, and too short for riding. The earliest reliable representation of a full length double sided riding stirrup was also unearthed from a Jin tomb, this time near Nanjing, dated to the Eastern Jin period, 322 AD. The earliest extant double stirrups were discovered in the tomb of a Northern Yan noble, Feng Sufu, who died in 415 AD. Stirrups have also been found in Goguryeo tombs dating to the 4th and 5th centuries AD, but these do not contain any specific date. The stirrup appeared to be in widespread use across China by AD 477.
  The appearance of the stirrup in China coincided with the rise of armoured cavalry, probably as a result of Xianbei influence. Dated to 357 AD, the tomb of Dong Shou shows fully armoured riders as well as horses. By the end of the 4th century murals depicting horse armour covering the entire body were found in tombs as far as Yunnan. References to "iron cavalry" and "iron horse" began to appear at the same time and instances of captured horse armour in numbers as high as 5,000 and 10,000 are recorded. In addition to the stirrups, Feng Sufu's tomb also contained iron plates for lamellar armour. Sources mention the capture of thousands of "armored horses" in a single battle. Armoured heavy cavalry would dominate Chinese warfare from the 4th century AD to the early Tang dynasty when the military transitioned to light cavalry.
  The very earliest Chinese representation of a stirrup comes from a tomb figurine from South China dating to AD 302, but this is a single stirrup that must have been used only for mounting the horse. The earliest figurine with two stirrups probably dates from about 322, and the first actual specimens of stirrups that can be dated precisely and with confidence are from a southern Manchurian burial of 415. However, stirrups have also been found in several other tombs in North China and Manchuria that are most likely of fourth century date. Most of these early Northeast Asian stirrups were oval in shape and made from iron, sometimes solid and sometimes applied over a wooden core, and this form would remain in use for many centuries thereafter.
  — David Graff
caption: Former Yan horse archer
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