Misplaced Pages

#279720

108-587: The Northern dynasties (北朝 běi cháo) describe a succession of Chinese empires that coexisted alongside a series of Southern dynasties . The era is generally described as the Northern and Southern dynasties , lasting from 420–589 AD after the Jin and before the Sui dynasty . The Northern dynasties were as follows: Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties ( Chinese : 南北朝 ; pinyin : Nán běi cháo )

216-608: A general amnesty and changed the reign era. He also appointed Emperor Huai as an official and demoted his title to Duke of Ping'a. Back in Luoyang, Liu Yao and Wang Mi attacked each other over disagreements during the course of the sacking, but soon reconciled. While Wang Mi suggested that they shift the capital to Luoyang, Liu Yao believed that the city was too surrounded by enemies and instead burnt it down before leaving. Not long after, Han capitalized on their victory by sending Liu Yao and Liu Can to conquer Chang'an from Jin, briefly bringing

324-469: A Jin defector who claimed that the city was weak and isolated, the Emperor of Han, Liu Yuan , sent his son, Liu Cong to attack Luoyang. Along the way, Liu Cong defeated several Jin generals before reaching Yiyang . However, he became complacent with his victories and did not set up any defense. A Jin general Yuan Yan (垣延) pretended to surrender to him and launched a surprise attack on his camp at night, forcing

432-455: A brief interlude from 552 to 555), they are sometimes grouped together with Eastern Wu and Eastern Jin under the historiographic term "the Six Dynasties ". The rulers of these short-lived dynasties were generals who seized and then held power for several decades but were unable to securely pass power of rule onto their heirs to continue their dynasty successfully. Emperor Wu of Liang (502–549)

540-445: A ceasefire and peace. However, Hou thought that peace was unsustainable, so he broke the ceasefire and captured the palace, leading to the slaughter of the nearby populace. Emperor Wu was starved to death and after the short puppet reigns of crown prince Xiao Gang and Xiao Dong, Hou seized power and established the Han dynasty. In spite of conquering Jiankang, Hou essentially only controlled

648-415: A decade before the last Jin remnants in the north were wiped out. Emperor Huai was executed in 313 after Liu Cong suspected of him of rebelling. Luoyang remained a hotly contested region among the competing states in the coming years, but it would not be until 495, during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei , that it regained its status as a capital. This article related to the history of China

756-504: A diplomatic faux pas, he incited the anger of Yuwen Tai, the leading general of Western Wei, which resulted in him being deposed and dying. Western Wei set up the puppet state of Western Liang with capital at Jiangling. Northern Qi also had designs on the Liang throne and sent an expedition under the banner of a cousin of Emperor Yuan. Chen Baxian and Wang Sengbian set up the last surviving son of Emperor Yuan, Xiao Fangzhi , as Liang ruler, but he

864-468: A fall in their social status, causing widespread desertion of troops. Faced with shortage of troops, Eastern Jin generals were often sent on campaigns to capture non-Han indigenous peoples in the south to draft them into the military. The Eastern Jin dynasty fell not because of external invasion, however, but because Liu Yu (Emperor Wu of Liu Song) seized the throne from the Emperor Gong of Jin and founded

972-682: A formidable general to the great delight of the Northern Wei. Thus, they were unable to capitalize when Northern Wei suffered the Wuqi Incident . Starting in 445, Northern Wei, taking advantage of Liu Song's weakness, made major incursions in the lands between the Yangtze and the Huai (modern Shandong, Hebei, and Henan) and devastating six provinces. Emperor Wen lamented that if Tan were still alive, he would have prevented Northern Wei advances. From then on, Liu Song

1080-419: A mistake when a former garrison officer organized another rebellion in the years 526–527. The underlying cause of these wars was the growing rift between the governing aristocracy which was increasingly adopting Han-style sedentary policies and lifestyles and their nomadic tribal armies who continued to preserve the old steppe way of life. The Northern Wei court was betrayed by one of their own generals, who had

1188-526: A monk, but each time he was persuaded to return by extravagant court donations to Buddhism. Furthermore, since Buddhists and Daoists were exempt from taxation, nearly half of the population fraudulently named themselves as such, badly damaging state finances. Imperial clansmen and officials were also greedy and wasteful. Emperor Wu was willing to accept generals who defected from Northern Wei. So when Northern Wei suffered major revolts in their northern garrison towns , he sent his general Chen Qingzhi to support

SECTION 10

#1732855512280

1296-407: A mound of corpses. He also had Jin imperial tombs dug up and burned down the palaces, ancestral temples, and government offices. Liu Yao sent Emperor Huai and his six imperial seals back to Pingyang, while claiming the former empress of the late Emperor Hui of Jin , Yang Xianrong as his wife. The fall of Luoyang and capture of Emperor Huai was a symbolic victory for the Han, as Liu Cong declared

1404-659: A new conception referring to the two as distinct 'Northern' and Southern' parallels, using unique local customs to distinguish themselves and compete for legitimacy. It was during the Northern and Southern dynasties period that the earliest recorded mass migration of ethnic Han to southern China (south of the Yangtze River ) took place. This sinicisation helped to develop the region from its previous state of being inhabited by isolated communities separated by vast uncolonized wilderness and other non-Han ethnic groups. During this period,

1512-402: A peace offering. Despite Emperor Wu's assurances, Hou decided to rebel in the name of Xiao Dong , the grandson of the former crown prince Xiao Tong who died in 531 and was removed from crown prince because of conflicts with his father. Hou surprised Emperor Liang by besieging the Liang capital at Jiankang. Attempts by Liang forces to break the siege failed, and Emperor Wu was forced to negotiate

1620-461: A policy of strict social distinction between them and their Han subjects. Ethnic Han were drafted into the bureaucracy, employed as officials to collect taxes, etc. However, the Han were kept out of many higher positions of power. They also represented the minority of the populace where centers of power were located. Widespread social and cultural transformation in northern China came with Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (reigned 471–499), whose father

1728-518: A relatively stable formation. After a 249 coup by Sima Yi , the Sima family essentially controlled Cao Wei and the conquest of Shu Han by Cao Wei rapidly followed. Following a failed coup by the ruling Cao family against the Sima family, the final Cao ruler abdicated. Sima Yan (Emperor Wu of Jin) then founded the Western Jin dynasty and the conquest of Eastern Wu by Western Jin occurred in 280, ending

1836-606: The Former Qin , the defeat of the Former Qin at the Battle of Fei River resulted in the collapse of the Former Qin. The grandson of the last prince of Dai Tuoba Shiyiqian , Tuoba Gui restored the fortunes of the Tuoba clan, renaming his state Wei (now known as Northern Wei) with its capital at Shengle (near modern Hohhot ). Under the rule of Emperors Daowu (Tuoba Gui), Mingyuan , and Taiwu ,

1944-660: The Liu Song dynasty , which officially began the Northern and Southern dynasties period. The Northern dynasties began in 439 when the Northern Wei conquered the Northern Liang to unite northern China and ended in 589 when the Sui dynasty extinguished the Chen dynasty . It can be divided into three time periods: Northern Wei ; Eastern and Western Weis ; Northern Qi and Northern Zhou . The Northern, Eastern, and Western Wei along with

2052-504: The Northern Zhou dynasty (557–580). The Northern Qi inherited the primary recruiting grounds of the Northern Wei army; previously, five out of six Northern Wei military officers came from the eastern territories, particularly the local armed forts of Han military families and steppe tribes who had settled in these areas. The members of these military families, both men and women, were often expert riders and archers. Like its predecessor

2160-562: The Rouran threat to his northern flank, he engaged in a war to unite northern China. With the fall of the Northern Liang in 439, Emperor Taiwu united northern China, ending the Sixteen Kingdoms period and beginning the Northern and Southern dynasties period with their southern rivals, the Liu Song. Even though it was a time of great military strength for the Northern Wei, Rouran harassment from

2268-496: The Rouran , Goguryeo , Tuyuhun and smaller local powers to defeat the Northern Wei, the North and South were forced into tacitly acknowledging their equal status, for example, by granting each other the highest positions as the most esteemed envoys. As the Wei Shu and Song Shu testify, there was a shift from imperial rhetoric denouncing the other side as illegitimate barbarians, towards

SECTION 20

#1732855512280

2376-503: The Three Disasters of Wu . At this late stage in his life, Emperor Taiwu meted out cruel punishments, which led to his death in 452 at the hands of the eunuch Zong Ai . His death sparked off turmoil that only ended with the ascension of Emperor Wencheng later that same year. Wang Yu  [ zh ] , an ethnic Qiang court eunuch and the favourite of Empress Dowager Wenming, patronized Buddhism lavishly. He constructed Cave 9–10,

2484-736: The Western Jin court, under the paramountcy of the Prince of Donghai, Sima Yue , must now deal with an assortment of rebellions throughout the empire. Most concerning was the Xiongnu in Bing province , who had established their own state of Han back in 304 and were attracting Han Chinese and tribal rebels on the North China Plain to their cause. Accompanying the constant warfare were deadly famines, with many people in northern China becoming refugees or bandits, along with rampant cases of cannibalism . In 308,

2592-542: The Chen dynasty. Chen Shubao relied on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and continued as always with his festive and licentious activities. The next year, Sui forces captured the Chen capital of Jiankang. Chen Shubao and his favorite concubine Zhang Lihua attempted to hide in a well but eventually were captured by Sui forces, thus ending the Chen dynasty. After the failure of the Liu Song's efforts to form an alliance with

2700-522: The Eastern Jin attempted to draft the dependents of the great families, the court was quickly overthrown. However, with the fall of the Eastern Jin in 420, the balance of power shifted in favour the central government. The subsequent Liu Song, Qi, Liang and Chen dynasties were ruled by military leaders from lowly social backgrounds. They gradually stripped the powerful clans of military power, authority and wealth. The emperors stationed regional armies around

2808-418: The Eastern Jin court. In order to gain popularity to take the throne he led expeditions against the Sixteen Kingdoms, capturing Shandong , Henan and, briefly, Guanzhong by 416. He gave up Guanzhong to try to take the throne. Because he believed in a prophecy saying there would be one more emperor after Emperor An , he deposed the former and, soon afterwards, his replacement, Emperor Gong in 420, ending

2916-435: The Eastern Jin dynasty. Even after crowning himself Emperor Wu, Liu Yu remained frugal. However, he did not care for education and trusted unsavory people. He felt that the nobility had too much power, so he tended to appoint the lower classes to government positions and gave military power to imperial kinsmen. Ironically, because the imperial kinsmen stabilized their military power and wished to gain political power, Emperor Wu

3024-518: The Han forces to retreat. In winter, Liu Cong attacked Luoyang again, this time accompanied by Wang Mi, his cousin Liu Yao , and others. He reached Yiyang in December, but was repeatedly defeated by Sima Yue, with many of his generals being killed. In the end, Liu Yuan ordered him to retreat that same month. For the rest of his reign, Liu Yuan did not encroach on Luoyang, although his generals continued to raid

3132-513: The Han language (if under the age of thirty), converting Xianbei family names to one-character Han surnames, and encouraging high-ranking Xianbei and Han families to intermarry. Emperor Xiaowen also moved the capital city from Pingcheng to one of China's old imperial sites, Luoyang , which had been the capital during the earlier Eastern Han and Western Jin dynasties. The new capital at Luoyang was revived and transformed, with roughly 150,000 Xianbei and other northern warriors moved from north to south by

3240-660: The Han shifted their capital to Pingyang Commandery , bringing themselves close to the Jin capital, Luoyang . Prior to 311, there were several attempts by Han to take Luoyang. In June 308, the Chinese rebel, Wang Mi , who at this point had only nominally submitted to Han, led his forces to attack Luoyang shortly after emptying the armory in Xuchang . Despite an early scare, the city defenders, with reinforcements from Liang province , managed to repel him that same month. In autumn 309, encouraged by

3348-453: The Huai River. Northern Zhou instead took advantage of Northern Qi's weakness and following their defeat of Northern Qi, in 577, they sent troops to the territories south of the Huai River, where they decisively defeated the Chen dynasty forces. The Chen dynasty was in imminent danger. In a stroke of fortune, Northern Zhou's Emperor Wu suddenly died and his general Yang Jian attempted to take

List of emperors of the Northern dynasties - Misplaced Pages Continue

3456-411: The Jin general, Pei Miao (裴邈) at Mianchi before breaking into the Luoyang region. Meanwhile, the situation for Jin within Luoyang had greatly deteriorated. Tensions were high between Sima Yue and Emperor Huai of Jin ; previously in 309, to strengthen his grip on the court, Yue had the emperor's favourite courtiers executed and replaced the veteran palace guards, who participated in various coups during

3564-627: The Later Yan capital of Pingcheng (modern-day Datong). That same year he declared himself Emperor Daowu. Due to Emperor Daowu's cruelty, he was killed by his son Tuoba Shao, but crown prince Tuoba Si managed to defeat Tuoba Shao and took the throne as Emperor Mingyuan. Though he managed to conquer Liu Song 's province of Henan, he died soon afterward. Emperor Mingyuan's son Tuoba Tao took the throne as Emperor Taiwu. Due to Emperor Taiwu's energetic efforts, Northern Wei's strength greatly increased, allowing them to repeatedly attack Liu Song. After dealing with

3672-610: The Ning of Qinzhou, the Li of Guizhou-Tengzhou and the Chen of Shuangzhou. These families functioned both as cheftains to the natives and bureaucrats to the court. Liu Song founder Liu Yu was originally a leader of the Army of the Northern Garrison ( Chinese : 北府軍 ) that notably won the Battle of Fei River in 383. In 404, he helped suppress Huan Xuan 's rebellion, leading to his dominance over

3780-668: The North China Plain and recruit more followers. He died in August 310 and was succeeded by his heir Liu He . A week into his reign, Liu He initiated a purge on his brothers, killing all but three before Liu Cong retaliated and killed him. Shortly after taking the throne, Liu Cong renewed effort to take Luoyang, sending his son Liu Can , Wang Mi and Liu Yao with 40,000 troops and the Jie general Shi Le to join them at Dayang (大陽; in present-day Yuncheng , Shanxi ) with 20,000 cavalries. They defeated

3888-604: The Northern Wei court launched the sinicization movement. Northern gentry were therefore highly militarized as compared to their refined southern counterparts, and this distinction persisted well into the Sui and Tang dynasties centuries later. In the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Tuoba family of the Xianbei were the rulers of the state of Dai (Sixteen Kingdoms) . Although it was conquered by

3996-479: The Northern Wei military forces dominated the Liu Song forces, they took heavy casualties. The Northern Wei forces plundered numerous households before returning north. At this point, followers of the Buddhist Gai Wu ( 蓋吳 ) rebelled. After pacifying this rebellion, Emperor Taiwu, under the advice of his Daoist prime minister Cui Hao , proscribed Buddhism — the first of the persecutions of Chinese Buddhism known as

4104-503: The Northern Wei progressively expanded. The establishment of the early Northern Wei state and the economy were also greatly indebted to the father-son pair of Cui Hong and Cui Hao . Tuoba Gui engaged in numerous conflicts with the Later Yan that ended favorably for the Northern Wei after they received help from Zhang Gun that allowed them to destroy the Later Yan army at the Battle of Canhe Slope . Following this victory, Tuoba Gui conquered

4212-487: The Northern Wei, content to protect his borders. This period of peace was known as Yongming Administration . He also used government secretaries appointed with provincial governors and members of the imperial clan to monitor them. The short reigns of Emperor Wu's grandsons, Xiao Zhaoye and Xiao Zhaowen (his first son predeceased him), were dominated by Xiao Luan, Emperor's Wu's first cousin. He killed them in turn and crowned himself as Emperor Ming of Southern Qi . Using

4320-661: The Northern Zhou were established by the Xianbei people while the Northern Qi was established by a Xianbei-influenced ethnic Han. In the north, local ethnic Han gentry clans responded to the chaos by constructing fortified villages. Clans would then carve de facto fiefs out of these highly cohesive family-based self-defense communities. Lesser peasant families would work for the dominant clan as tenants or serfs. The chaos also led these Han gentry families to avoid government service, before

4428-442: The Prince of Xiangdong, whom he called the "Prince of Pigs" for his obesity, eventually assassinated him and became Emperor Ming . Emperor Ming began his reign by killing all the descendants of Emperor Xiaowu, and his suspicious nature resulted in the loss of the provinces north of the Huai River, which were only briefly regained in the other Southern dynasties. Emperor Ming's young son became Emperor Houfei . The political situation

List of emperors of the Northern dynasties - Misplaced Pages Continue

4536-610: The Shouyang Princess was wedded to Emperor Wu of Liang 's son Xiao Zong  [ zh ] . According to the Book of Zhou , Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei 's sister was married to the ethnic Han Zhang Huan, son of Zhang Qiong. When the Eastern Jin dynasty ended, Northern Wei received the Jin prince Sima Chuzhi  [ zh ] as a refugee, and he married a Northern Wei Princess. Their son Sima Jinlong in turn married Northern Liang Xiongnu King Juqu Mujian 's daughter. In

4644-692: The Three Kingdoms period and reuniting China proper. The Western Jin dynasty was severely weakened due to the War of the Eight Princes from 291 to 306. During the reigns of Emperor Huai of Jin and Emperor Min of Jin , the empire was put into grave danger by the uprising of northern non-Han peoples collectively known as the Five Barbarians . Numerous nomadic tribal groups had been forcibly resettled in northern and northwestern China during previous centuries. When

4752-462: The War of the Eight Princes, with soldiers from his own fief. In early 310, a plague of locusts swept through most parts of northern China, including the Luoyang region, causing widespread famine. The severity of the famine is attested in one of Aurel Stein's "Ancient Letters", a letter written by a Sogdian merchant named Nanai-vandak, who claimed that every single one of the diaspora Sogdian and Indian in

4860-494: The Western Wei, the Northern Zhou reacted against sinicization by trying to revive Xianbei warrior culture: reviving Xianbei tunics, trousers and boots, reverting sinicized surnames into Xianbei names and even giving Han officers Xianbei surnames. This "tribalization" policy was intended to convert large numbers of Han Chinese army recruits into "Xianbei" who would pay for their own equipment in exchange for tax exemptions. The policy

4968-482: The Xianbei Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei married Han elites: the Liu Song royal Liu Hui ( 刘辉 ), married Princess Lanling ( 蘭陵公主 ) of the Northern Wei, Princess Huayang ( 華陽公主 ) to Sima Fei ( 司馬朏 ), a descendant of Jin royalty, Princess Jinan ( 濟南公主 ) to Lu Daoqian ( 盧道虔 ), Princess Nanyang ( 南阳长公主 ) to Xiao Baoyin , a member of Southern Qi royalty. Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei 's sister

5076-483: The Xiao ( 蕭 ) family from Lanling ( 蘭陵 , in modern Cangshan County , Shandong ). Because Emperor Gao had a low social standing, he earned the disdain of nobility. His style of governance was similar to the early style of the Liu Song dynasty and was very economical. He died in the fourth year of his reign and his heir, who was only 13 years younger than him, succeeded him as Emperor Wu of Southern Qi . Emperor Wu made peace with

5184-538: The aristocrats of the remnants of the Chin [Jin] ruling house fled to the Nanking [Nanjing] area early in the 4th century, the south contained perhaps a tenth of the population of China. There were centers of Chinese culture and administration, but around most of these lay vast uncolonized areas into which Chinese settlers were slow to move". Disaster of Yongjia Despite the War of the Eight Princes concluding in early 307,

5292-532: The arts would continue for centuries at Dunhuang and is now one of China's greatest tourist attractions. In the year 523, a revolt of several military garrisons broke out, the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons ( Liu Zhen ). The revolt was caused by a food shortage far north of Luoyang. After the rebels force was suppressed, the government had 200,000 surrendered garrison rebels deployed to Hebei, which proved later to be

5400-540: The banner of Xiao Baojuan's brother who was declared Emperor He of Southern Qi . Xiao Baojuan was killed by one of his generals during the siege of his capital at Jiankang, and after a short puppet reign by Emperor He, Xiao Yan overthrew the Southern Qi and established the Liang dynasty. Emperor Wu was economical, worked hard at governing, and cared for the common people. His early reign was known as Reign of Tianjian . The Liang dynasty's military strength gradually surpassed

5508-682: The boats to prevent the emperor from escaping. Wang Mi arrived at the Xuanyang Gate (宣陽門; on the southern wall next to the Pingchang Gate) on 7 July while Liu Yao arrived at the Ximing Gate (西明門; the southmost end of the western wall) on 8 July. On 13 July, Huyan Yan and Wang Mi captured the Xuanyang Gate. They entered the Southern Palace (南宮) and ascended through the front of Taiji Hall (太極殿), where they allowed their soldiers to sack it and capture

SECTION 50

#1732855512280

5616-453: The capital to his base in Cangyuan, sending his subordinate, Liu Hui (劉會) with several dozen boats, 500 guards and 1,000 hú (斛) of grain to welcome him. The emperor wanted to go, but many of his ministers and attendants were initially reluctant to leave, not wanting to leave behind their wealth and property, and so he decided to remain. Soon, however, the famine in Luoyang reached a point where

5724-598: The city had died of starvation. Sima Yue’s call for reinforcements went largely ignored, and reinforcements from Jing province in the south were blocked by rebelling refugees in Nanyang Commandery . Liu Can and Shi Le marched east out of Huanyuan Pass (轘轅關; approximately 3 kilometers northwest of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan) and Chenggao Pass (成皋關; in present-day Xingyang , Henan) respectively, launching raids on

5832-412: The city, but was harassed by thieves and forced back into his palace. Liu Cong sent his general Huyan Yan with 27,000 soldiers to attack Luoyang while ordering Liu Yao, Wang Mi and Shi Le to join him. Before reaching Henan , Huyan Yan defeated the Jin army twelve times and killed more than 30,000 soldiers. As the other generals were yet to arrive, he stored his supplies at the ramparts near Luoyang that

5940-457: The commanderies of Liang , Runan , Chenliu and Yingchuan . Shi Le attempted to take Cangyuan (倉垣, in present-day Kaifeng , Henan) in Chenliu, but was defeated by the Jin general, Wang Zan (王讚). After retreating to Wenshi Crossing (文石津; southwest of present-day Xun County , Henan), Shi Le invaded Nanyang, seizing the region and absorbing the local rebels. With the attacks and famine worsening by

6048-464: The country selling their services to the warring princes and plundering the populace. These upheavals devastated the south which eased the fall of the south to the Sui dynasty. Under the later waning leadership of the Chen dynasty, the southern Chinese were unable to resist the military power amassed in the north by Yang Jian, who declared himself Emperor Wen of Sui and invaded the south. Aboriginal chiefs played an important active role in adapting to

6156-523: The country under the command of their imperial relatives, recruited officers from humble backgrounds and appointed low-ranking officials to monitor the powerful elites occupying the top government posts. The southern aristocracy declined with the rise of the Indian Ocean trade in the mid 5th century, which led to the court revenues shifting to trade and the disappearance of the caste by the Chen dynasty. As landowning aristocrats were unable to convert cash from

6264-407: The day, Sima Yue wanted to bring the imperial army out on the field to campaign against Shi Le. Emperor Huai objected to this decision but was ignored. On 22 December 310, Yue marched out with the 40,000-strong imperial army along with many veteran generals and important ministers, initially camping at Xuchang before moving to nearby Xiang County (項縣; in present-day Shenqiu County , Henan). The emperor

6372-424: The death of Emperor Wen, his son, the weak-willed Chen Bozong, took power and became Emperor Fei of Chen . His uncle, Chen Xu, after essentially controlling the country through his short reign, eventually deposed him and took power as Emperor Xuan of Chen . At that time, the Northern Zhou intended to conquer Northern Qi and thus invited the Chen dynasty to help. Emperor Xuan agreed to help because he wanted to recover

6480-674: The dominant Chinese structure, rather than being forcibly subjugated. For instance, the aboriginal chief Lady Xian who married the Liang court's governor Feng Bao, helped to extend the dynasties' authority while preserving autonomy and local culture. Lady Xian and Feng Bao played a critical role in assisting Chen Baxian's rise, and in stabilising the region between the Liang, Chen, and Sui dynasties. The court acknowledged her authority by awarding her with official titles and emblems of power. There were many other local chieftains of mixed origins between Guangzhou and modern Vietnam that displayed mixed traits of both aboriginal and sinicized culture, such as

6588-523: The dynasty, known in historiography as the Eastern Jin dynasty . Cementing their power in the south, the Eastern Jin established Jiankang on the existing site of Jianye (now Nanjing ) as their new capital. In the north, the Five Barbarians established numerous short-lived dynasties, leading to the period known as the Sixteen Kingdoms in historiography. Eventually, the Northern Wei dynasty conquered

SECTION 60

#1732855512280

6696-430: The emperor sent him an imperial edict permitting him to campaign against the prince. However, Yue discovered their plot after intercepting their messenger and prepared to attack Gou Xi, but became overly-stressed by the situation to the point he was bedridden. He passed responsibility over to the minister, Wang Yan , before dying in 23 April 311. Wang Yan decided to lead the imperial army, which had grown to 100,000, towards

6804-497: The empress dowager and the young emperor thrown into the Yellow River while establishing his own puppet ruler to maintain authority. As conflict swelled in the north between successive leaders, Gao Huan took control of the east and Luoyang (holding Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei as a puppet ruler) by 534, while his rival Yuwen Tai took control of the west and the traditional Chinese capital of Chang'an by 535. The Western regime

6912-611: The fall of Chang'an, a group of Jin generals gathered at Anding Commandery and led a combined force to retake the city. Xun Fan's general, Yan Ding , brought Sima Ye over to join them, and after recapturing Chang'an in 312, Ye ascended the throne, posthumously known as Emperor Min of Jin. With his government, the Western Jin would survive before they were finally crushed by Han in 316. Several other parts of northern China continued to resist Han, such as Liu Kun in Bing province and Zhang Gui in Liang province, and it would take more than

7020-399: The founding elites of the Sui and Tang dynasties. Hence, they tended to have a flexible approach to steppe nomads, viewing them as possible partners rather than intrinsic enemies. The Jin were succeeded by a series of short-lived dynasties: Liu Song (420–479), Southern Qi (479–502), Liang (502–557) and Chen (557–589). As all of these dynasties had their capital at Jiankang (except for

7128-513: The government secretaries, he slaughtered all the sons of Emperors Gao and Wu. Emperor Ming soon became very ill and started following Daoism, changing his whole wardrobe to red. He also passed an edict making officials try to find whitebait (銀魚). He died in 498 and was succeeded by his son Xiao Baojuan , who killed high officials and governors at whim, sparking many revolts. The final revolt in 501 started after Xiao Baojuan killed his prime minister Xiao Yi, leading his brother Xiao Yan to revolt under

7236-506: The imperial clan, one of which saw him slaughter the inhabitants of Guangling . The following ballad gives an idea of those times: Emperor Xiaowu died naturally in 464 and was succeeded by his son, who became Emperor Qianfei . Emperor Qianfei proved to be similar to his father, engaging in both kin-slaughter and incest. In a scandalous move, because his sister complained about how it was unfair that men were allowed 10,000 concubines, he gave her 30 handsome young men as lovers. His uncle Liu Yu,

7344-480: The inhabitants started eating each other, and around eighty to ninety percent of the government officials abandoned the capital. Emperor Huai held a council with his remaining ministers, urging that they leave, but his guards and followers were unprepared, and there were no carts or carriages to transport them. He sent out Fu Zhi and a few other officials to gather more boats and oars from nearby Heyin (河陰, in modern Luoyang, Henan). Meanwhile, he also tried to walk though

7452-425: The lost territories south of the Huai River. In 573, he sent general Wu Mingche to assist the effort; in two years, he managed to recover he lost territories south of the Huai River. At the time, Northern Qi was in a precarious situation with little military strength and Emperor Xuan could have taken advantage of the opportunity to entirely defeat Northern Qi. However, he only wanted to protect his territories south of

7560-554: The most highly decorated of the Yungang Grottoes , and had a temple constructed in 488 at Lirun, Fengyi (modern day Chengcheng), which was his birthplace according to the Booke of Wei. Wang Yu may have been castrated during the suppression of a 446 Qiang rebellion since the Northern Wei would castrate rebel tribes' young elite. In the first half of the Northern Wei dynasty , the Xianbei steppe tribesmen who dominated northern China kept

7668-562: The nearby areas. The rest of the Liang dynasty lands were under the control of members of the imperial clan. Their squabbling amongst themselves weakened their efforts to defeat Hou. In the end, Xiao Yi with the aid of his generals Wang Sengbian and Chen Baxian defeated Hou, crowning himself Emperor Yuan of Liang . His brother Xiao Ji based in Sichuan was still a major threat. Emperor Yuan asked for assistance from Western Wei to defeat Xiao Ji, but after subduing Xiao Ji, they kept Sichuan. Due to

7776-432: The north forced them to divert their focus from their southern expeditions. After uniting the north, Emperor Taiwu also conquered the powerful Shanshan kingdom and subjugated the other kingdoms of Xiyu ( Western Regions ). In 450, Emperor Taiwu once again attacked the Liu Song and reached Guabu (瓜步, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), threatening to cross the river to attack Jiankang, the Liu Song capital. Though up to this point,

7884-643: The palace servants. Emperor Huai attempted to flee through the gates of Hualin Garden (華林園), hoping to escape to Chang'an , but he was subdued by Han troops and imprisoned at the Duan Gate (端門; the main southern gate of the palace). Liu Yao entered through the Ximing Gate and camped at the Arsenal. On 14 July, he massacred around 30,000 civilians, including the Crown Prince, Sima Quan (司馬詮), other princes and officials, and built

7992-653: The period include the mathematician and astronomer Zu Chongzhi (429–500), and astronomer Tao Hongjing . After the collapse of a unified China proper under the Eastern Han dynasty in 220 due in large part to the Yellow Turban and the Five Pecks of Rice rebellions, China eventually coalesced into the Three Kingdoms . Of these, Cao Wei was the strongest, followed by Eastern Wu and Shu Han , but they were initially in

8100-507: The period was called the Reign of Yuanjia ( Chinese : 元嘉之治 ). In 430, Emperor Wen started a number of northern expeditions against Northern Wei. These were ineffective because of insufficient preparations and excessive micromanagement of his generals, increasingly weakening the dynasty. Because of his jealousy of Tan Daoji , a noted leader of the Army of the Northern Garrison, he deprived himself of

8208-582: The pretender Yuan Hao . Despite the fact that Chen was only given 7,000 troops, he still managed to defeat army after army and even captured Luoyang, the capital of Northern Wei. Ultimately, Chen was insufficiently supplied and was defeated by troops ten times his size. After the Northern Wei split into Eastern and Western Wei, Emperor Wu granted asylum to rebel Eastern Wei commander Hou Jing , sending him on Northern Expeditions against Eastern Wei. After some initial successes, Liang forces were decisively defeated. Rumors abounded that Emperor Wu intended to give Hou as

8316-435: The primary power brokers in the Eastern Jin. With the greatly increased importance of proving one's pedigree to receive privileges, there was a rise in compiling of genealogy records, and the great families moved to legally outlaw intermarriage with common families. The lower class Northern migrants were forced to become "guests" (dependents) of the great families who established private guard forces with their new retainers. When

8424-557: The prince’s fief in Donghai to hold his funeral, but in May, Shi Le ambushed and annihilated the Jin army at the Battle of Ningping . With the main Jin force in the north destroyed, Luoyang was now without an army to defend it. After hearing of Sima Yue's death, He Lun, Li Yun and Yue's other followers fled the capital, but were defeated by Shi Le at Weicang (洧倉; northwest of present-day Yanling County, Henan ). Gou Xi proposed to Emperor Huai to move

8532-424: The produce of their estates, the resurgence of trade and the money-based economy forced them to break up and sell their lands to the burgeoning merchant class. Influential merchants increasingly occupied political offices, displacing the old aristocrats. On the other hand, the economic developments also drove peasants, unable to cope with inflation or to pay taxes in cash, to become mercenary soldiers, wandering through

8640-608: The region of Wu (a region near modern-day Shanghai). At that time, due to the Hou Jing rebellion, the Qiao and Wu clans were greatly weakened, and many independent regimes emerged. Emperor Wu could not pacify all the independent regimes, so he adopted conciliatory measures. After the sudden death of Emperor Wu, his nephew Chen Qian took power as Emperor Wen of Chen . After the fall of Liang, the general Wang Lin had established an independent kingdom based in modern-day Hunan and Hubei provinces and

8748-434: The rest of the northern states in 439 and unified northern China. Although the Eastern Jin and successive southern dynasties were well-defended from the northern dynasties by their placement of naval fleets along the Yangtze, they suffered various problems related to the creation and maintenance of military strength. The court's designation of specific households for military service through the tuntian system eventually led to

8856-453: The rise and usurpation of the Sima family who established the Jin dynasty; subsequent leaders were similarly unable to bring the other great families in line. The Jin dynasty's flight south greatly exacerbated the weakness of the central government, and the great families who accompanied the Emperor in his flight, along with the most wealthy clans of earlier settlers along the Zhejiang coast, were

8964-512: The south went from being nearly a frontier to being on a path to the thriving, urbanized, sinicized region that it became in later centuries. In his book Buddhism in Chinese History , Arthur F. Wright points out this fact by stating: "When we speak of the area of the Yangtze valley and below in the period of disunion, we must banish from our minds the picture of the densely populated, intensively cultivated South China of recent centuries. When

9072-453: The spread of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism . The period saw large-scale migration of Han people to lands south of the Yangtze . The period came to an end with the unification of China proper by Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty . During this period, the process of sinicization accelerated among the non-Han ethnicities in the north and among the indigenous peoples in the south. This process

9180-480: The strength of the Northern Wei, who suffered internal strife due to their policy of sinicization . In 503, the Northern Wei invaded but were defeated at Zhongli (modern Bengbu ). Emperor Wu supported the Northern Expeditions but did not aggressively take advantage of his victory in 516 at Shouyang due to heavy casualties. Given the excessive kin-slaughter in the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties, Emperor Wu

9288-441: The throne. This stopped the southern advance of the northern troops. The respite was short though, as after Yang Jian defeated his rival General Yuchi Jiong , he usurped the throne from Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou and established the Sui dynasty , crowning himself Emperor Wen of Sui . He proceeded to invade the south to reunify China. Emperor Xuan had just died and his incompetent son Chen Shubao (Houzhu of Chen) took power. He

9396-492: The two ancient capitals under their control. With Emperor Huai in captivity, several provisional governments were set up. A brother of Sima Quan, Sima Duan (司馬端) fled to Gou Xi, who acclaimed him the new Crown Prince and moved their base from Cangyuan to Mengcheng . However, Mengcheng suffered from famine and plague, and Shi Le soon captured the two men. Fu Zhi established a provisional government in Heyin, but had very little reach and

9504-513: The warring princes heavily drafted these tribes into the military, they mutinied and exploited the civil wars to seize power. Their armies almost destroyed the dynasty in the Disaster of Yongjia of 311, when the Five Barbarians sacked Luoyang . Chang'an met a similar fate in 316. However, a scion of the imperial house, Sima Rui (Emperor Yuan of Jin) fled south of the Huai River and reestablished

9612-534: The year 495 to serve in the capital. Within a couple of decades, the population rose to about half a million residents and was famed for being home to over a thousand Buddhist temples. Defectors from the south, such as Wang Su of the prestigious Langye Wang family, were largely accommodated and felt at home with the establishment of their own Wu quarter in Luoyang (this quarter of the city was home to over three thousand families). They were even served tea (by this time gaining popularity in southern China) at court instead of

9720-456: The year 523, Prince Dongyang of the Northern Wei was sent to Dunhuang to serve as its governor for a term of fifteen years. With Buddhism gaining mainstream acceptance in Chinese society, Prince Dongyang and local wealthy families set out to establish a monumental project in honor of Buddhism, carving and decorating Cave 285 of the Mogao Caves with beautiful statues and murals. Such promotion of

9828-481: The yogurt drinks commonly found in the north. Beginning in the 480s, the Northern Wei arranged for Han elites to marry daughters of the Xianbei Tuoba imperial family. More than fifty per cent of Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to southern Han men from the imperial families and aristocrats of the southern dynasties, who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei. Several daughters of

9936-463: Was a Xianbei, but whose mother was Han. Although of the Tuoba Clan from the Xianbei tribe, Emperor Xiaowen asserted his dual Xianbei-Han identity, renaming his own clan "Yuan" ( 元 ). In the year 493 Emperor Xiaowen instituted a new sinification program that had the Xianbei elites conform to many Han standards. These social reforms included donning Han clothing (banning Xianbei clothing at court), learning

10044-520: Was a decadent ruler who had lost the Mandate of Heaven , the Sui Dynasty was able to effectively conquer the south. After this conquest, the whole of China entered a new golden age of reunification under the centralization of the short-lived Sui dynasty and the succeeding Tang dynasty (618–907). The core elite of the Northern dynasties, mixed-culture, and mixed-ethnicity military clans, would later also form

10152-416: Was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty . It is sometimes considered as the latter part of a longer period known as the Six Dynasties (220–589). The period featured civil war and political chaos, but was also a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and

10260-473: Was afraid they would have thoughts of usurping the throne. Thus, he also frequently killed his kinsmen. After the death of Emperor Wu, his son Emperor Shao ruled briefly before being judged incompetent and killed by government officials led by Xu Xianzhi , replacing him with Emperor Wen , a different son, who soon killed the officials who supported him. Emperor Wen's reign was a period of relative political stability because of his frugality and good government;

10368-508: Was also accompanied by the increasing popularity of Buddhism in both northern and southern China and Daoism gaining influence as well, with two essential Daoist canons written during this period. Notable technological advances occurred during this period. The invention of the stirrup during the earlier Jin dynasty (266–420) helped spur the development of heavy cavalry as a combat standard. Historians also note advances in medicine, astronomy , mathematics , and cartography . Intellectuals of

10476-580: Was dominated by the sinicized nobles and their Han bureaucrats while the Eastern regime was controlled by the traditional steppe tribes. Eventually, Gao Huan's son Gao Yang forced the Eastern Wei emperor to abdicate in favor of his claim to the throne, establishing the Northern Qi dynasty (551–577). Afterward, Yuwen Tai's son Yuwen Jue seized the throne of power from Emperor Gong of Western Wei , establishing

10584-500: Was extinguished by Han in 312. The Jin Inspector of You Province , Wang Jun , also formed his own provisional government within his domain, acclaiming an unnamed candidate as the new Crown Prince. Days before the fall, a minister, Xun Fan fled the city, and following Emperor Huai's capture, he founded a provisional government at Mi County . Emperor Huai and Xun Fan's 11-year-old nephew, Sima Ye sought refuge with him. Meanwhile, after

10692-411: Was highly successful in boosting the state's military strength. The Northern Zhou dynasty was able to defeat and conquer Northern Qi in 577, reunifying the north. However, this success was short-lived, as the Northern Zhou was overthrown in 581 by Yang Jian, who became Emperor Wen of Sui . With greater military power and morale, along with convincing propaganda that the Chen dynasty ruler Chen Shubao

10800-451: Was in a weakened state. Emperor Wen was assassinated by Crown Prince Shao and Second Prince Jun in 453 after planning to punish them for witchcraft. However, they were both defeated by Third Prince Jun, who become Emperor Xiaowu . proved to be licentious and cruel, supposedly committing incest with the daughters of an uncle who had helped him gain the throne; his rivals also claimed he had incest with his mother. This led to two rebellions by

10908-461: Was left behind with a defenseless city under the watchful eyes of Yue’s confidants, Pan Tao , He Lun (何倫) and Li Yun (李惲), along with his son Sima Pi (司馬毗) and concubine Lady Pei . At this point, Emperor Huai could no longer tolerate Yue’s abuse of power and attempted to depose him. He secretly made regular contact Yue’s second-in-command, Gou Xi , who also had a falling out with the prince. Soon, Gou Xi began openly denouncing Yue for his crimes, and

11016-547: Was licentious and wasteful, resulting in chaos and corruption in the government; many officials heavily exploited the people, causing great suffering. In planning to defeat the Chen dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui took the suggestion of his general Gao Jiong and waited until the South were harvesting their crops to entirely burn the farmland, crippling the strength of the Chen dynasty. In 588, Emperor Wen of Sui sent his son Yang Guang (who would become Emperor Yang of Sui ) to finally vanquish

11124-493: Was not given the imperial title. After some defeats to the forces of Northern Qi, Wang Sengbian allowed their pretender, Xiao Yuanming to establish himself as Emperor Min of Liang. However, Chen Baxian was displeased with the arrangements, and in a surprise move killed Wang and deposed Emperor Min in favor of Xiao Fangzhi who became Emperor Jing of Liang. After a short reign, Chen deposed Emperor Jing and took power himself as Emperor Wu of Chen in 557. Emperor Wu of Chen came from

11232-475: Was now starting to cause trouble. Wang Lin allied with Northern Zhou and Northern Qi to conquer the Chen capital at Jiankang. Emperor Wen first defeated the combined forces of Northern Qi and Wang Lin before preventing the forces of Northern Zhou from entering the South at Yueyang . Furthermore, through Emperor Wen's extensive efforts at good governance, the economic situation of the South was greatly improved, restoring his kingdom's national strength. Following

11340-481: Was previously built by the Jin general, Zhang Fang in 303. On 29 June 311, he reached the city itself and attacked Pingchang Gate (平昌門; on the southern wall) the next day. He captured the gate on 2 July and proceeded to set fire to the Dongyang Gate (東陽門; on the eastern wall) and several government buildings. However, as his peers had still not yet arrived, he withdrew with his loot and captives on 3 July while burning

11448-456: Was the most notable ruler of his age, being a patron of the arts and of Buddhism. The Southern dynasties, except for the last Chen dynasty, were strongly dominated by the shijia , the great families, who monopolized political power until the mid-6th century. This class was created by Cao Cao during the late Han dynasty when he attempted to consolidate his power by building an endogenous military caste of professional soldiers. His policy led to

11556-522: Was very lenient to imperial clansmen, not even investigating them when they committed crimes. The Liang reached a cultural peak because he was very learned, supported scholars, and encouraged the flourishing education system. An avid poet, Emperor Wu was fond of gathering many literary talents at court, and even held poetry competitions with prizes of gold or silk for those considered the best. In his later years, however, sycophants surrounded him. Three times he dedicated his life to Buddhism and tried to become

11664-415: Was volatile. General Xiao Daocheng slowly gained power and eventually deposed Emperor Houfei in favor of his brother, who became Emperor Shun . After defeating the rival general Shen Youzhi , Xiao forced Emperor Shun to yield the throne and crowned himself Emperor Gao of Southern Qi , thus ending the Liu Song dynasty. Though distantly related, the Southern Qi and the following Liang dynasty were members of

#279720