Politically, the political situation is divided. During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were frequent wars, political turmoil and separatist disputes. The real reunification of this period is only thirty years. Even in this short period of thirty years, the territory of the Western Jin Dynasty did not return to the territory of the Eastern Han Dynasty. From the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty to the reunification of the Sui Dynasty, the Yangtze River Basin and the Yellow River Basin never achieved reunification. They have always belonged to different regimes, and most of the time they are in the north-south situation. However, there are always many regimes in the Yellow River Basin. The political pattern in the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties showed the situation of north-south division, east-west synchronization or regional separatism, and division was the main feature of this period.
From the perspective of ethnic relations, ethnic relations are complex and changeable. After the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Shi, Di and other ethnic minorities who originally lived around the Western Jin Dynasty began to move inward. These frontier nationalities either moved to the south and returned to the north, or moved to the east and west, and their migration was very frequent, which also caused the ethnic composition to be extremely complicated. With the migration of all ethnic groups, the friction between ethnic groups has also occurred constantly, and even developed into a national war, and the process of ethnic integration has also accelerated in the process of ethnic migration. On the premise that the Han nationality in the north moved southward and the ethnic minorities moved inward, the protagonists in the northern region in this period were the "five colors" who moved inward, namely Xianbei, Xiongnu, Jie, Shi, Xian and the Han nationality who stayed in China. Ethnic groups live together, and the Han nationality in the north began the process of "Hu Hua Hua", while the ethnic minorities who moved in began the difficult process of "Sinicization". In the southern region, the process of ethnic integration is manifested in the integration of the northern Han nationality and the southern Han nationality who retreated to the south, as well as the ethnic groups such as Yue and Man, which is also a process of "sinicization". The history of Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is actually composed of three regions: the northern frontier ethnic areas (Xianbei, Jiejie, Shi, Xian, etc. ), Central Plains (Western Jin Dynasty, Sixteen Countries and Northern Dynasties) and Southern Five Dynasties (Eastern Jin Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Qi Dynasty, Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty). During this period, the social phenomena such as the rise and fall of the country, social transformation, institutional conflict, and cultural integration caused by ethnic confrontation to regional confrontation were extremely intense and complicated.
From the perspective of population mobility, population migration is very frequent. This phenomenon mainly appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Sixteen Countries and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, when the scale, scope, time span and influence of population migration were unprecedented. Compared with the Sixteen Countries and the Northern Dynasties, the population migration and flow patterns in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties were quite different. Most of the overseas Chinese in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties migrated from the north, and most of them settled in the south. During the Six Thousand Countries and the Northern Dynasties, most of the population movements were forced by Hu rulers to move the Han nationality and ethnic minorities, and some of the floating population had a low status and were in a miserable situation. Most of them are forced to guard the border or engage in agricultural production. However, the regime change in the north is very frequent, so people who are forced to move will be moved many times by different regime rulers. Therefore, the immigrants from the Sixteen Countries and the Northern Dynasties rarely settled down, and most of them lived a wandering life, which also endowed the characteristics of frequent and changeable population migration during this period.
Divided political situation, complex and changeable ethnic relations, and large-scale population migration and mobility are the remarkable characteristics of the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In 589, the Sui Dynasty unified China, ending the division between the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, which reflected the historical development trend. This trend from division to unification is mainly reflected in two aspects: first, the development of economy and culture has strengthened the ties between regions; Second, the contrast between political and military forces has changed, giving one side the power to unify. This is also the reason why although there were many separatist regimes in this period, they eventually moved towards reunification. Frequent wars in Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties promoted large-scale migration of population, and the migration of refugees and immigrants promoted language and cultural exchanges. The continuous and in-depth exchanges between ethnic groups have broken the barriers between ethnic groups and regions. Do ethnic minorities realize it? With the "China", the Han nationality has continuously passed on its excellent culture to ethnic minorities, and the estrangement between ethnic groups has gradually disappeared in the communication, and ethnic concerns have become a prelude to political unity.