Southern Dynasties: Liu-Song 劉宋 420-479 Southern Qi 南齊 479-502 Liang 梁 502-557 Chen 陳 557-589 The Six Dynasties 六朝 are the four Southern Dynasties plus Wu 吳 (one of the Three Kingdoms 三國, 222-280) and Eastern Jin 東晉 (317-420). Southern and Northern Dynasties overview The government of the Jin Dynasty 晉 - heavily damaged by the sixteen years long war among the princes of the imperial Sima 司馬 family - had to escape to the south after various Non-Chinese chieftains and Chinese military leaders in north China had proclaimed their own dynasties and attacked the capitals Luoyang 洛陽 (modern Luoyang/Henan) and Chang'an 長安 (modern Xi'an 西安/Shaanxi). They established their new capital in Jiankang 建康 (modern Nanjing 南京/Jiangsu) as refugee rulers and hoped to be able to conquer back their lost territory in the north. The position of the Jin rulers as quasi foreign masters over a native population and land-owning aristocracy complicated the effective functioning of their central government. Together with the ruling Sima clan, many northern aristocrats had escaped to the south and newly found their powerful positions within the "exile" government in the south. This situation did not change when the Jin Dynasty was ended. The following four dynasties - called the Southern Dynasties (Nanchao 南朝) in contrast to the empires in the north - were all weakened by bloody conflicts among the ruling family and the weak position of the central government in Jiankang against the local magnate aristocracy. The only famous ruler of this period is Emperor Liang Wudi 梁武帝 who is rather known for his Buddhist faith and his poetry than by political success. Nontheless, in the cultural sphere the south stood in the tradition of the great Chinese sources. The life of the aristocracy and the scholarly officials developed highlights of literature and arts. Furthermore, as the field of foreign policy was quite a peaceful and tranquil matter - except some military campaigns against the north -, and because the court intrigues and murders among the imperial clan did not have a deeper impact on the population, there was the chance for the south to become the economical engine of China, a situation that is valid until today.

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