Jurchens II

1115-1234 CE

From 1115 to 1234 CE, the Jurchens erupted from Manchuria's forests to overthrow their Khitan overlords and seize northern China in a single generation. Their Jin dynasty proved that tribal warriors could master Confucian statecraft — examining officials, collecting taxes, building a capital that rivaled Kaifeng. Then the Mongols came, and the hunters became the hunted, their last emperor dying as the walls of Caizhou fell.