Great Lecture on Chinese History: A Brief History of the Northern and Southern Dynasties

Author: Liu Jingcheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Jin Dynasty refers to the Western Jin and Eastern Jin periods. After the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu, in 265 AD, the Sima clan seized power from the Wei Dynasty and established the Western Jin Dynasty. The Western Jin conquered Wu in 280 AD and unified China. However, the unification of the Western Jin was short-lived, as it fell in 316 AD to invasions by northern ethnic minority nobles. After the fall of the Western Jin, the northern region entered the chaotic period of the "Five Barbarian Dynasties and Sixteen Kingdoms," while the south established the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The sixteen kingdoms in the north were later unified by the Northern Wei. After the Northern Wei split, it divided into the Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Western Wei, and Northern Zhou, which were in opposition, known as the Northern Dynasties. In the south, following the Eastern Jin, four dynasties—Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen—emerged, known as the Southern Dynasties. The Northern and Southern Dynasties engaged in prolonged confrontation and frequent warfare. Later, the Northern Zhou conquered the Northern Qi, and the Northern Zhou was then replaced by the Sui Dynasty. In 589 AD, the Sui conquered Chen, and China was reunified again. The Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties period lasted for 324 years (265–589).