Who ruled
- First Göktürk Khaganate Mukan Khan 553–572
- Northern Qi Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi 561–565
- Northern Zhou Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou 560–578
- Sasanian Persia Khosrow I 531–579
- Western Göktürk Khaganate Istemi 552–576
And beyond the steppe
- China Northern Zhou Emperor Wu 560–578 · Northern Qi Emperor Wucheng 561–565
- Iran Sasanian Khosrow I 531–579
- Korea Goguryeo Pyeongwon 559–590
- Byzantium Justinian Justinian I 527–565
Eastern steppe
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Environment · Late Antique Little Ice Age: the cold phase the Altai tree rings define from 536 to about 660 (536–660)
Climate and the steppe empires · First Göktürk Khaganate · Avars
The coldest decade in the Altai is the 540s
Western steppe
China
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Technology · Yang Zhong reports to the Zhou emperor that the Göktürks have bad armour, light rewards, many chiefs and no laws
Hegemony Wars in Northern China · Yang Zhong · Jinyang campaign, 563–564
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twelfth month · Yuwen Hu's offensive on Luoyang collapses; Mukan, who had come at the appointed time, withdraws
The Woye and Luoyang Campaign (564) · Northern Zhou · Yuwen Hu
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spring · The assault on Jinyang fails in the first month; Mukan plunders the country and goes home, and in the spring the Qi force the allies back
Mukan Khan · Northern Qi · The Zhou–Qi war, 557–577 · Jinyang campaign, 563–564 · Jinyang · Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi · Hegemony Wars in Northern China
