China's Northern and Southern Dynasties
Once ruled as a whole, China in the 3rd Century broke into two halves, each ruled by a separate group of leaders. The Northern and Southern Dynasties, as the names suggest, were geography-based. The Northern Dynasties comprised, in order of beginning, the North Wei, East Wei, West Wei, North Qi, and North Zhou. Making up the Southern Dynasties were the Southern Qi, the Liang, and the Chen, again in order of beginning. The Southern Dynasties were sequential; the Northern Dynasties overlapped a bit. Northern DynastiesBeginning the Northern Dynasties was the North Wei, formed in 386 by Tuoba Gui. This was in the Sixteen Kingdom Period, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. A subsequent set of rulers, including Empress Dou, ruled from first Pingcheng and then Luoyang, modeling some customs on the earlier Han Dynasty. North Wei rulers had military success against their northern neighbors but not against rulers of the southern lands. Severe disagreements among the nobles resulted in a split into the East Wei and West Wei in 534. The two powers fought each other a few times, resulting in a great number of casualties and little resolution of differences. Gao Yang in 550 proclaimed the North Qi Dynasty, naming himself Emperor Wenxuan and laying claim to the legacy of the East Wei. In the same way, Yu Wenjue in 557 proclaimed the North Zhou Dynasty, succeeding the West Wei. One of his successors conquered the North Qi, and the North Zhou ruled until 581, when it fell to the Sui. 
Southern Dynasties Rising out of the demise of the Eastern Jin was the Liu Song, formed in 420 by the Jin general Liu Yu, who named himself Emperor Wu. His time on the throne was relatively short. One of his successors, Emperor Wen, targeted the North Wei, without success. A few subsequent emperors found their reigns cut short by assassination. The second-to-last Liu Song ruler, Liu Huai, took power by the grace and military success of the general Xiao Daocheng, who ultimately took power for himself, proclaiming in 479 the end of the Liu Song and the beginning of the Southern Qi, with himself, newly named Emperor Gao, at its head. A revolt in 501 by the brother of a usurped emperor resulted in the demise of the Southern Qi. Xiao Yan, avenging the death of his brother, Xiao Yi, deposed Xiao Baojuan and proclaimed himself (yet another) Emperor Wu, leader of the Liang Dynasty. That dynasty's forces struggled militarily against the North Wei but overall kept the peace during a time of cultural growth. Such peace did not last, and Emperor Wu lost this throne and his life to Xiao Yi, who became Emperor Yuan. A subsequent series of struggles with various neighbors weakened the Liang forces, and Chen Baxian ended the Liang Dynasty in 557, proclaiming himself the new Emperor Wu, at the head of the Chen Dynasty. This last southern dynasty fell to the Sui in 589, as Sui forces captured not only Jiankang but the Chen emperor himself. Other achievements of note during the reign of the Southern Dynasties included the publication of Gu hua pin lu (Classified Record of Ancient Painters), a treatment of the standards of painting by the artist Xie He. |
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Social Studies for Kids
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David White
