In the wake of the Disaster of Yongjia, when the Western Jin capital at Luoyang was sacked, the Du clan generally did not embark on the southern migration to the Eastern Jin that was undertaken by many other prominent clans, instead choosing to remain in northern China and to serve the succeeding non-Chinese regimes. They retained their prominence even during the tumultuous period of the Five Barbarians, and are reported as filling important military and political posts after moving east into Later Zhao.
