Northern and Southern dynasties

The Northern and Southern dynasties, spanning from 420 to 589 AD, was an era of fractured rule in China that followed the instability of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin. Sometimes grouped into the longer Six Dynasties period (220–589 AD), this time was marked by civil conflict and political upheaval. Yet it also saw vibrant artistic and cultural growth, technological progress, and the expansion of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. Large numbers of Han Chinese moved south of the Yangtze River during this period. The era concluded in 589 AD when Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty reunited China proper.

The sinicization of non-Han groups in the north and indigenous peoples in the south sped up during these centuries. Buddhism became increasingly popular across both regions, while Taoism also gained ground, with two key Taoist texts written at this time. Several notable technological innovations emerged as well. The stirrup, invented earlier during the Jin dynasty (266–420 AD), boosted the development of heavy cavalry and changed warfare. Historians also point to advances in medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and cartography. Notable intellectuals include the mathematician and astronomer Zu Chongzhi (429–500 AD) and the astronomer Tao Hongjing (456–536 AD).

**Background**

After the Eastern Han dynasty collapsed in 220 AD, China entered the Three Kingdoms period, with Cao Wei, Eastern Wu, and Shu Han as the main states. Cao Wei was the strongest, and after a coup by Sima Yi in 249, the Sima family took control of it. Cao Wei conquered Shu Han in late 263. Following a failed coup by the Cao family in June 260, the last Cao ruler stepped down in February 266. Sima Yan, known as Emperor Wu of Jin, then founded the Western Jin dynasty. Western Jin conquered Eastern Wu in 280, ending the Three Kingdoms and briefly reuniting China.

This reunification did not last. The developmentally disabled Emperor Hui of Jin came to power, sparking the War of the Eight Princes (291–306), a period of rampant corruption and infighting among princes. For centuries, nomadic groups—often called the Five Barbarians—had been resettled in northern and northwestern China as soldiers or laborers. The civil wars weakened the Jin military, and famines and uprisings spread across the north, allowing these groups to seize power. In 311, the Han-Zhao dynasty, founded by Xiongnu descendants, sacked Luoyang and captured the Jin emperor in the Disaster of Yongjia. Chang’an fell in 316, and the last Western Jin emperor was soon killed.

Amid this chaos, Sima Rui (Emperor Yuan of Jin), a member of the imperial family, was stationed south of the Huai River, where conditions were more stable. Many northern officials fled to his domain. In 318, after the last emperor’s death, Sima Rui reestablished the dynasty at Jiankang, known as the Eastern Jin. While the Eastern Jin held the south, the north remained turbulent, giving rise to many short-lived states called the Sixteen Kingdoms. Most were founded by the Five Barbarians, though some were Han Chinese. Few of these kingdoms came close to unifying the north; the Former Qin dynasty managed to do so in 376 but fell apart after its defeat at the Battle of Feishui in 383. The Eastern Jin launched campaigns to reclaim lost territory but failed due to internal strife and elite conflicts. Eventually, the commander Liu Yu (Emperor Wu of Liu Song) overthrew Emperor Gong of Jin in 420, founding the Liu Song dynasty and officially starting the Northern and Southern dynasties period. The Sixteen Kingdoms era ended in 439, when the Northern Wei dynasty, founded by the Tuoba tribe of the Xianbei, conquered the last of those kingdoms and ruled a unified northern China for about a century.

**Northern dynasties**

The Northern dynasties began in 439 when the Northern Wei united the north by conquering the Northern Liang, and ended in 589 when the Sui dynasty took over the Chen dynasty. This period is divided into three phases: the Northern Wei, the Eastern and Western Weis, and the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou. The Northern, Eastern, and Western Weis, along with the Northern Zhou, were established by the Xianbei people, while the Northern Qi was founded by an ethnic Han influenced by the Xianbei.

In the north, local Han gentry clans responded to the chaos by building fortified villages. These clans turned these tight-knit, family-based self-defense communities into de facto fiefs. Poorer peasant families worked for the dominant clan as tenants or serfs. The turmoil also allowed these Han gentry families to avoid government service until the Northern Wei court launched its sinicization movement. As a result, northern gentry were far more militarized than their refined southern counterparts, a distinction that lasted into the Sui and Tang dynasties.

**Northern Wei (386–535)**

**Rise to power**

During...