Refers to culture, style, and period of the Chinese dynasty dating 317 to 420 CE, the second of the so-called Six Dynasties that succeeded each other in southern China. When Luoyang and Chang-an were destroyed in 317, the Chinese fled south to establish a new southern state. Emperors of the Sima family were not able to reconquer the north which remained under the rule of various groups known collectively as the Sixteen Kingdoms; an exception was the area of modern Sichuan province which was annexed in 347, opening up a route to central Asia. Although not a politically strong period in Chinese history, it was a brilliant time for literature and the arts. The capital of Jiankang flourished as a cultural center visited by Buddhist missionaries and merchants from Southeast Asia and India. One of the earliest known Buddhist gilt-bronze images was cast in 338 in imitation of a Gandharan model. Wang Xizhi, the most influential calligrapher in Chinese history, was active during the this period. Eastern Jin ceramic forms are more innovative than those of the Western Jin. Some tombs of the period have been excavated at Mt. Fugui in Nanjing which was, according to literary sources, the imperial burial ground of Eastern Jin imperial families.
