The first time was in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Because of the yellow turban insurrectionary uprising, the war between governors. This makes the Central Plains region full of sorrow, coupled with famine. Causing northerners to move south. This also laid the foundation for the rise of Wu Dong.

The second time was in the Western Jin Dynasty. The "Eight Kings Rebellion" caused by the internal power struggle of the Western Jin Dynasty royal family led to the chaos in the Yellow River basin, and Xiongnu, Jie, Di, Qiang and Xianbei took the opportunity to make trouble. These foreigners had some resistance to the Han nationality in the Central Plains, and even massacred the Han nationality, and the Han nationality moved south one after another. This is the second time it has moved south. Moreover, this is the largest time in the history of China that the population of the north has moved south for three times.

The third time was at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In fact, it was the Northern and Southern Dynasties, because the Northern Wei regime moved to the Central Plains. However, the Han people in the Central Plains were dissatisfied with and rebelled against the alien regime. So that a large number of northern people moved south.