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Six Dynasties (Chinese:六朝;pinyin:Liù Cháo; 220–589 or 222–589[1]) is acollective term for sixHan-ruledChinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD, between the end of theEastern Han dynasty and the beginning of theSui dynasty. The Six Dynasties period overlapped with the era of theSixteen Kingdoms, a chaotic warring period in northern China after the collapse of theWestern Jin dynasty, as well as theNorthern and Southern dynasties period. The terms "Wei,Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties" (魏晉南北朝) and "Three Kingdoms, Two Jins, Southern and Northern dynasties" (三國兩晉南北朝) are also used by Chinese historians to refer to the same historical era as the Six Dynasties, although the three terms do not refer to the same group of dynasties.
The six dynasties based inJiankang (modern-dayNanjing) were:
TheVeritable Records of Jiankang (建康實錄) by Xu Song (许嵩) of theTang dynasty provides a historical account of Jiankang, which gave rise to this list.
The list of dynasties above is sometimes referred to as the "southern Six Dynasties" to distinguish from the "northern Six dynasties", which were:[1]
The Six Dynasties was an important era in the history of Chinese poetry, especially remarkable for its frank (for Classical Chinese poetry) descriptions of love and beauty. Especially important, and frequently translated into English, is the anthologyNew Songs from the Jade Terrace, compiled by Xu Ling (507–83), under the patronage of Crown Prince Xiao Gang (Later Emperor Jian Wen) of theLiang dynasty.[2] Also significant, is theZi Ye, or "Lady Midnight" style, supposedly originating with an eponymously named fourth-centuryprofessional singer of theJin dynasty.[3]
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The Six Dynasties period was the first time in history that the political centre of China was located in the south, which spurred a surge in population as well as economic and cultural development. This transformed southern China from remote territories to the economic centre that came to rival the north fromTang dynasty onwards.
Buddhism, whichfirst reached China via theSilk Road during theEastern Han dynasty, flourished in the Six Dynasties (and simultaneously in the Northern Dynasties) and has been a major religion in China ever since.
The Japanese scholar Tanigawa Michio analysed the Six Dynasties period to test general theories of China's historical development. Some thinkers, Tanigawa writes, argue that China followed the set European pattern which Marxists and liberal thinkers thought to be universal, that is, from ancient slavery to medieval feudalism to modern capitalism, while others argue that "Chinese society was extraordinarily saturated with stagnancy, as compared to the West, and they assume that it existed in a qualitatively different historical world from Western society." In other words, there is an argument between those who see "uni-linear, monistic world history" and those who conceive of a "two-tracked or multitracked world history." Tanigawa's conclusion is that China did not have "feudalism" in the sense that Marxists use, but that the military governments did not develop a military aristocracy of the sort that developed in Europe. The period established social and political patterns which shaped China's history from that point on.[4]