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The Duan () was a tribe of Xianbei ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period in China. They were a powerful tribe in the Liaoxi region and played a key role during the fall of the Western Jin dynasty. Unlike the Xianbei tribes of the steppe, the Duan were unique in that they were established within the borders of China. They ruled over their dukedom of Liaoxi and later established the Duan Kan state, although neither were considered part of the Sixteen Kingdoms. The tribe was conquered by the Murong-led Former Yan in 338, but remained politically influential as maternal relatives of the Murong.
The founder of the Duan tribe was said to be Rilujuan (or Jiulujuan), a Xianbei slave of a Wuhuan family in Yuyang Commandery, the Kunuguan (庫辱官). When a famine broke out in Yuyang, the Kunuguan sent him to Liaoxi to scour for food, but he instead took the opportunity to escape. He gathered a group of exiles and rebels to establish a base at Lingzhi (令支, in present-day Qian'an, Hebei), a city that had been abandoned during the Han dynasty. They adopted the Han Chinese family name of "Duan" (段) as their tribe's name. Rilujuan was succeeded by his younger brother Qizhen, who was then succeeded by his son, Duan Wuwuchen. By the Western Jin dynasty, the tribe had grown to 30,000 families and had around 45,000 cavalry under their wing. The Duan under Wuwuchen were recognized as a vassal by the Jin court.
In 313, after some negotiations, Jilujuan agreed with Shi Le to break off relations with Wang Jun and withdraw from the conflict. Wang Jun was defeated by Shi Le in 314, but soon after, Jilujuan's brother, Duan Pidi, led a branch of the Duan loyal to Jin and seized control of Wang Jun's old capital in Jicheng. The Duan was effectively split into two, but civil war only broke out following the death of Jilujuan in 318. That year, Jilujuan's cousin, Duan Mopei, seized power from his uncle, Duan Shefuchen, and fought with Pidi over full control of the tribe.
In 321, Pidi was captured and later killed by Shi Le's state of Later Zhao, making Mopei the sole leader of the Duan. At this point, the Duan's state of Liaoxi stretched from Yuyang Commandery to the Liao River. After Mopei died in 325, his brother and successor, Duan Ya was quickly overthrown by his cousin, Duan Liao after he attempted to move the capital. Throughout his reign, Duan Liao fought with the rival Murong-Xianbei tribe in Liaodong, but suffered repeated losses. In 338, the Murong, who by now had established the Former Yan, allied with the Later Zhao to destroy the Duan. Duan Liao was defeated and surrendered to Former Yan, thus ending the Duan's independent state.
| Chinese convention: use family name and given name | |
| Unknown | |
| Unknown | |
| ?–310 or 311 | |
| 310 or 311–318 | |
| 318 | |
| 318–321 | |
| 318–325 | |
| 325 | |
| 325 or 326 – 338 | |
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