Song Dynasty (420-479 AD)

In 479, the founding emperor Xiao Daocheng destroyed the Song Dynasty and established the State of Qi. At this point, the Song Dynasty was declared dead.

Qi (AD 479-502)

Xiao Di, Gao Qi.

In 50 1 year, Xiao Yan, the secretariat of Yongzhou, attacked Jiankang, ending the rule of Qi.

Liang (502-557 AD)

Xiao Yan, the founder of Liang Dynasty.

In 557 AD, Liang was destroyed and Chen was established, which was developed in the war with the late Jin Dynasty. At this point, Liang declared his demise.

Chen (AD 557-589)

In 557 AD, Emperor Liang Jingdi was abolished, and he became emperor on his own and established Chen Wei.

In 589 AD, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty destroyed Chen, ending the division of China for nearly 300 years.

Northern dynasties (386-5 18)

Since the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, northern China has been in a chaotic situation of "five lakes and sixteen countries". It was not until 386 AD that the Tuoba Department of Xianbei nationality established the State of Wei in the north that the north broke away from the nominal rule of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the situation gradually settled down. In 47 1 year, Emperor Xiaowen of Wei ascended the throne and began the first great reform of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Tuoba Hong, Emperor Xiaowen, is an outstanding politician in the history of our country. He ascended the throne at the age of five, and succeeded the civilized empress dowager at the age of twenty-four. At the beginning of his administration, he began the policy of "civilian administration". In order to strengthen communication with the Han nationality and other ethnic minorities, Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital from Pingcheng (now Datong, Shanxi) to Luoyang, the old capital of Cao Wei, in the name of Nanzheng in 459 AD. Because Luoyang is far away from Pingcheng, where Xianbei nobles live in compact communities, the conservative forces are relatively weak. In this case, Emperor Xiaowen began his reform.

First of all, Emperor Xiaowen ordered Xianbei people to change into Hanfu and forbidden to speak Xianbei dialect, thus abolishing the privileges of Xianbei people. Later, Xianbei's surname was changed to Han, among which Tuoba was changed to Yuan, and some Xianbei's surnames were changed to Sun, Mu, Lu, He and other Han surnames. Emperor Xiaowen also strengthened the relationship between Xianbei and Han nationality through marriage, and at the same time, he vigorously reused Han officials politically and was ruled by Han customs. Through a series of reforms by Emperor Xiaowen, the advanced culture and political system of the Han nationality were completely integrated into the rule of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the northern part of China entered the stage of national integration.

In 449 AD, TaBaHong died in the journey to the south at the age of 33. After the death of Emperor Xiaowen, the Northern Wei Dynasty began to decline gradually. In the next thirty years, Emperor Wei Xuanwu, Emperor Xiao Ming and Emperor Xiao Zhuang successively came to power. They gradually abandoned the previous policy of national reconciliation and restored the privileges of Xianbei people, so new contradictions appeared. In 534 AD, Emperor Xiaowu of the Northern Wei Dynasty left the Yuwen family in Chang 'an because he was dissatisfied with the coercion of the powerful Gao Huan at that time, while Gao Huan made Yuan Shan emperor, so the Northern Wei Dynasty split in two. Since then, Gao Huan's sons, Gao Yang and Yu Wenxuan, have abolished the Eastern and Western Wei emperors and established the Qi and Zhou Dynasties, which are called "Northern Qi" and "Northern Zhou" in history. Among them, the Northern Qi Dynasty existed for twenty-seven years and the Northern Zhou Dynasty existed for twenty-four years.

The Northern Qi Dynasty was founded in 550 AD by Gao Huan's son Gao Yang for Emperor Wen of Qi. Because the Northern Qi Dynasty was established on the basis of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, it was relatively strong. During the reign of Emperor Wendi, a series of reforms were carried out, which made the national strength of Northern Qi superior to that of Northern Zhou. However, since Emperor Wen, Xiao Zhao and Wucheng Imperial Capital who ascended the throne successively were tyrants. During their reign, they wantonly killed Yuan (the royal family of the Northern Wei Dynasty) and Han officials, which made the Northern Qi lose the support of Xianbei and Han people. Later, in 577, the Northern Qi Dynasty was destroyed by the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

The Northern Zhou Dynasty, which coexisted with the Northern Qi Dynasty, was founded by Yu Wenjue on the basis of the Western Wei Dynasty in 557 AD. At the beginning of its establishment, its strength was obviously weaker than that of the Northern Qi Dynasty, but due to the governance of Yu Wenyong (reigned from 5665438 to 579), the Northern Zhou Dynasty gradually surpassed the Northern Qi Dynasty and became stronger. During this period, most slaves were pardoned as civilians, which reconciled the contradiction between the rulers and the people, while Emperor Wu himself lived a simple life, worked hard and loved the people, and was deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups. In this way, the Northern Zhou Dynasty began its heyday. In 578 AD, Emperor Wu of Zhou died and the emperor was transferred to Xuan Di. However, the military and political power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty gradually fell into the hands of Emperor Wendi, a consort. Later, in 58 1 year, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty abolished Emperor Zhou Jingdi, established the Sui Dynasty, and gradually unified the whole country, ending the long-term division of China.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, because the rulers of past dynasties took Buddhism as the state religion, many statues of temples and grottoes were handed down to the world, among which the Thousand Buddha Cave in Dunhuang, Yungang Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes and Maijishan Grottoes became treasures in the treasure house of sculpture art in China. In addition, literature and art in the Southern and Northern Dynasties developed. In the Southern Dynasties, Li Daoyuan's Notes on Shui Jing and Jia Sixie's Letters of Qi Yaomin became classics.

Since the demise of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Northern and Southern Dynasties have become one of the few periods of division between the North and the South in China's history. Although its formation has brought about the stagnation of economic development, the great ethnic integration in the Yellow River Basin caused by foreign domination of the Central Plains is unprecedented in the history of China. It is under this condition that all ethnic groups in northern China gradually assimilated into the Han nationality and eventually became the same nation. It is this role that has laid a good foundation for China to become a unified country in the future. Therefore, we say that the division of the Northern and Southern Dynasties has played an extremely important role in accelerating national reunification and is an indispensable link in the development of the Chinese nation.