Northern and Southern dynasties

Northern and Southern dynasties
Northern and Southern dynasties
	Approximate territories of the Northern Wei dynasty (blue) and Liu Song dynasty (red) in 440
	Approximate territories of the Northern Qi dynasty (dark blue), Northern Zhou dynasty (light blue), Chen dynasty (red), and Western Liang dynasty (pink) in 560
Chinese	南北朝
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Nán běi cháo
Bopomofo	ㄋㄢˊ ㄅㄟˇ ㄔㄠˊ
Wade–Giles	Nan2 pei3 ch'ao2
Tongyong Pinyin	Nán běi cháo
IPA	[nǎn pèɪ ʈʂʰǎʊ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	Naàhm Bāk Chìuh
Jyutping	naam4 bak1 ciu4
IPA	[naːm˩ pɐk̚˥ tsʰiːu˩]
Southern Min
Tâi-lô	Lâm-pak-tiâu

Northern and Southern dynasties (386–589)
Northern dynasties		Southern dynasties
Northern Wei 386–535		Liu Song 420–479
		Southern Qi 479–502
		Liang 502–557
Western Wei 535–557	Eastern Wei 534–550	Liang 502–557
Northern Zhou 557–581	Northern Qi 550–577	Chen 557–589	Western Liang 555–587

The Northern and Southern dynasties (Chinese: 南北朝; pinyin: Nán běi cháo) 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).^[1] Albeit an age of civil war and political chaos, it was also a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spread of Mahayana Buddhism and Daoism. The period saw large-scale migration of the Han people to the lands south of the Yangtze. The period came to an end with the unification of all 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 was also accompanied by the increasing popularity of Buddhism (introduced into China in the 1st century) 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 the period include the mathematician and astronomer Zu Chongzhi (429–500), and astronomer Tao Hongjing.

^ Gascoigne, Bamber (2003). The dynasties of China : a history (1st Carroll & Graf ed.). New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0786712199.

[Gascoigne-1] Gascoigne, Bamber (2003). The dynasties of China : a history (1st Carroll & Graf ed.). New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0786712199.

[1]

Northern and Southern dynasties

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia