Chapter 10 The Battle of Feishui

The Battle of Feishui, which took place in August 383 AD, was one of the famous battles in Chinese history in which fewer defeated more.[ 1] It was the decisive battle in a series of campaigns launched by the unified regime in the North against the southern Eastern Jin. The outcome of this campaign had a great impact on the political landscape at that time, delaying the confrontation between the Northern and Southern dynasties of China for more than half a century. This battle is also the source of three famous idioms and allusions, such as throwing a sword at a stream, being all arms, and being gun-shy. The former Qin was the active aggressor on one side, while the eastern Jin was the passive defense against aggression on the other.