Wu Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties figures and stories

Author: Huang Zhengcheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period, sometimes referred to as the Three Kingdoms, Western Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties in historical books. This period of history can be traced back to 220 AD when Cao Pi established the Wei Kingdom, or from 196 AD when the Wei Kingdom's power began to form, lasting until 581 AD when Yang Jian established the Sui Dynasty, spanning over three hundred years. During this time, China was largely in a state of division. In 184 AD, due to the corruption of the ruling class and the brutal exploitation of the peasants, a large-scale Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out. The Yellow Turban Rebellion was soon suppressed. The warlords who rose to power by suppressing the Yellow Turbans fought among themselves to expand their influence—sometimes fighting each other, and the country fell into a long period of warlord chaos. Cao Cao built his army and expanded his power during the suppression of the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the campaign against Dong Zhuo. In 196 AD, Cao Cao brought the 16-year-old Eastern Han Emperor to Xuchang. Although the Eastern Han Dynasty still existed nominally, real power had fallen into Cao Cao's hands. He acted as if he were the emperor, doing as he pleased under the guise of imperial authority. In 200 AD, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, the most powerful warlord in northern China at the time, at Guandu in Henan, largely unifying the north. In 208 AD, Cao Cao led a massive army southward, preparing to eliminate Sun Quan and Liu Bei and unify the country. Sun Quan and Liu Bei, adopting the strategy of resisting Cao Cao proposed by figures like Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, and Lu Su, defeated Cao Cao at Red Cliffs in Hubei, forcing him to retreat northward. In 220 AD, Cao Cao died, and his son Cao Pi quickly abolished the Eastern Han Emperor Liu Xie, officially establishing the Wei Dynasty. After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Liu Bei, with the help of Zhuge Liang, successively occupied Jing Province and Yi Province, and in 223 AD established the Shu Han Dynasty, with Chengdu as its capital. Sun Quan, inheriting the legacy of his father Sun Jian and his brother Sun Ce, with the help of Zhou Yu and Lu Su, established the Wu Dynasty in 229 AD. The Wei, Shu, and Wu dynasties, unable to simultaneously conquer the other two, led to a period in Chinese history where three states coexisted. Cao Pi reigned as emperor of the Wei Dynasty for six years before dying in 226 AD. After his death, power in the Wei court gradually fell into the hands of Sima Yi and his family. In 262 AD, Sima Yi's son, Sima Zhao, led an army of 180,000 to defeat the Shu Han forces, and Emperor Liu Shan surrendered. In 265 AD, Sima Zhao died, and his son Sima Yan overthrew Emperor Cao Huan of the Wei Dynasty, establishing the Jin Dynasty, known as the Western Jin in history. In 280 AD, Sima Yan sent troops to defeat the Wu Dynasty, ending the warlord chaos and the Three Kingdoms period that had followed the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty and ushering in a brief period of unification across the country. The corruption and infighting within the Western Jin ruling class, along with the brutal oppression and exploitation of ethnic minorities and the people, led to social unrest in the late Western Jin period, with peasant uprisings and ethnic minority rebellions occurring one after another. In 311 AD, the Xiongnu noble Liu Yuan's son, Liu Cong, captured the capital Luoyang, and in 316 AD, he captured Chang'an. The two emperors of the Western Jin Dynasty were captured, and the Western Jin Dynasty fell. In 317 AD, Sima Yi's great-grandson, Sima Rui, established the Eastern Jin Dynasty in Nanjing (modern-day Jiangsu), governing the southern region. The late Western Jin period and the Eastern Jin period spanned over a hundred years, during which northern ethnic minorities such as the Di, Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, and Qiang, along with Han landlords, successively established sixteen separatist regimes, known in history as the Sixteen Kingdoms. This meant that for over a hundred years, the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south and the Sixteen Kingdoms in the north were in a state of opposition. During the Eastern Jin period, officials like Zu Ti advocated for northern campaigns to reclaim the Central Plains and unify the country. Although the court supported the northern campaigns for a few years, the results were not significant. In 351 AD, the Di people's Fu Jian established the Former Qin regime among the Sixteen Kingdoms, with Chang'an as its capital. In 352 AD, Fu Jian became emperor and, through various effective measures, strengthened the state's power. In 376 AD, Fu Jian successively destroyed many separatist regimes, largely unifying the north. In 383 AD, Fu Jian led an army of over 800,000 eastward to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty, attempting to quickly conquer it and unify the country. The Eastern Jin Prime Minister Xie An sent Xie Shi and Xie Xuan with an army of 80,000 to defeat Fu Jian at the Battle of Fei River (now Fei River in Shou County, Anhui) and, capitalizing on the victory, launched a northern campaign to reclaim some territory. Due to increasing power struggles and political corruption within the Eastern Jin ruling class, in 420 AD, Eastern Jin general Liu Yu declared himself ready to become emperor and overthrew the Eastern Jin emperor, establishing the Song Dynasty and ending the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After the Battle of Fei River, the north fell into even greater chaos, with one separatist regime after another emerging, until 439 AD, when the Northern Wei unified the north, ending the chaotic period. For about 170 years after the fall of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the southern region saw the establishment of four regimes—the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen Dynasties, all with Nanjing as their capital. These four dynasties are collectively known in history as the Southern Dynasties. In the early years of establishing the Song Dynasty in Jiankang, there were still several separatist regimes in the north. In 439 AD, the Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu Toba Taiwu unified the north, ending the over hundred-year period of the Sixteen Kingdoms. About a hundred years later, the Northern Wei split into the Eastern Wei and Western Wei. Soon after, the Northern Qi replaced the Eastern Wei, and the Northern Zhou replaced the Western Wei. Because these regimes were all in the north, they were collectively called the Northern Dynasties. Historians refer to this period of coexistence as the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties spanned over three hundred years, including the Sixty Years of the Three Kingdoms, the over Fifty Years of the Western Jin, the over Hundred Years of the Eastern Jin and the Sixteen Kingdoms in the north, and the over Hundred Years of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. During this period, there were both unifications and divisions. Although the period of division was long, many outstanding historical figures worked to achieve unification during the period. Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan were examples of this, as were Zu Ti's northern campaigns during the Eastern Jin period and the reforms of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Unifying a country requires both the personal talents of historical figures and objective conditions of social development. Although the social economy suffered severe damage from wars and chaos during this period, there were also relatively stable periods, and some visionary rulers paid attention to developing social production. Therefore, overall, the social economy continued to develop. Literary, artistic, and calligraphic achievements were outstanding, and major advancements were also made in fields such as medicine and mathematics. In this book, we have compiled stories of 29 representative historical figures from this period. Among these 29 figures, there are outstanding statesmen and military strategists, as well as famous writers, artists, and scientists. There are both positive figures and negative figures. Through reading the stories of these 29 historical figures, we hope you will gain a general understanding of the over three hundred years of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period.