After the Western Jin was vanquished, the Han government withdrew to the east of the Yangtze River.
晋王朝灭亡后，汉族政权退守江东。
In 317, Sima Rui, a member of the Western Jin imperial family stationed in Jiankang (now Nanjing in Jiangsu), restablished the Jin government, which became known as the Eastern Jin.
公元317年，镇守建康（今江苏南 京）的晋宗室司马睿在江南重建晋室，史称东晋。
Content to retain sovereignty over just a part of the Western Jin territories, the Eastern Jin lasted 103 years and was overthrown in 420 by the Song Dynasty founded by Liu Yu. Altogether the Eastern Jin lasted four generations and had eleven emperors.
东晋政权维持了长期的偏安统治，到公元420年被南朝刘裕所建立的宋所取代，共享国103年，历四代十一帝。
In 316，after Liu Cong occupied Chang’an and captured the last Emperor of the Western Jin, Sima Ye, the Western Jin Dynasty ended. However，those former ministers of Western Jin were unwilling to yield and they endeavored hard to restore the Jin.
公元316年,刘聪攻占长安，西晋的末代皇帝司马邺被俘,宣告了西晋的灭亡，但一些晋朝的旧臣并不甘心亡国的命运，仍在全国各地积极活动，准备恢复晋朝的统治。
Sima Rui, the great grandson of Sima Yi, granted as the King of Langya from his father, was in charge of the defense in south of Yangzhou( now Jiangsu province) and moved his headquarters from Xiapi to Jianye( later called Jiankang, now Nanjing City).
晋元帝司马睿，司马懿曾孙，袭父封为琅蚜王，都督扬州江南诸军事，由下邳移镇建邺（后又改名建康，今江苏省南京市）。
After the downfall of the Western Jin, he was elected by his supporters and followers as new emperor in March,317 with Jiankang as capital.
西晋灭亡后，部下于公元317年3月拥奉他为晋王，改年号为“建武”，定都建康。
His regime was named Jianwu and his ruling periods were called the Eastern Jin in history given the facts that the remaining Sima families restricted their power in the eastern parts of the Yangtze River.
因其继西晋之后偏安于江南，故史家称之为东晋。
In the Eastern Jin period, the development of powerful family reached its peak as royal power was on the wane.
东晋是门阀政治发展的鼎盛时期，皇权衰落。
Without the support of the southern bureaucrats and gentry-officials, Sima Rui could not have become emperor. The early years of the Eastern Jin saw a stable period after the suppression of Wang Dun and Su Jun.
司马睿称帝有赖于南方官僚士族的拥戴，东晋政权建立之初，先后平息了王敦和苏峻之乱，统治趋于稳定。
Four powerful families—the Wang, the Xie, the Yu and the Huan—successively dominated the politics of the Eastern Jin court.
四大门阀大族王、谢、庾、桓先后支配着东晋王朝政局。
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