Editing Six Dynasties

{{Short description|Period of Chinese history (220–589)}}
{{For|the Six states conquered by the Qin in the 3rd century BC|Seven Warring States}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Age of Fragmentation|Era of Fragmentation}}
{{History_of China|BC=1}}

'''Six Dynasties''' ({{zh|c=六朝|p=Liù Cháo}}; 220–589 or 222–589<ref name=wilkinson>{{cite book|last=Wilkinson|first=Endymion|title=Chinese history: A manual|year=2000|publisher=Harvard University, Asia Center for the Harvard-Yenching Institute|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-674-00249-4|page=11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERnrQq0bsPYC&pg=PA11|edition=Revised and enlarged}}</ref>) is a [[hyponymy and hypernymy|collective term]] for six [[Han Chinese|Han]]-ruled [[Dynasties of China|Chinese dynasties]] that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD, between the end of the [[Han dynasty#Eastern Han (25–220 AD)|Eastern Han dynasty]] and the beginning of the [[Sui dynasty]]. The Six Dynasties period overlapped with the era of the [[Sixteen Kingdoms]], a chaotic warring period in northern China after the collapse of the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)#Western Jin (266–316)|Western Jin dynasty]], as well as the [[Northern and Southern dynasties]] period. The terms "[[Cao Wei|Wei]], [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|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.

==Six Dynasties with capital in Jiankang==
The six dynasties based in [[Jiankang]] (modern-day [[Nanjing]]) were:

# [[Eastern Wu|Eastern Wu dynasty]] (222–280)
# [[Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin (317–420)|Eastern Jin dynasty]] (317–420)
# [[Liu Song dynasty]] (420–479)
# [[Southern Qi|Southern Qi dynasty]] (479–502)
# [[Liang dynasty]] (502–557)
# [[Chen dynasty]] (557–589)

The ''Veritable Records of Jiankang'' (建康實錄) by Xu Song (许嵩) of the [[Tang dynasty]] provides a historical account of Jiankang, which gave rise to this list.

===Northern Six Dynasties===
The list of dynasties above is sometimes referred to as the "southern Six Dynasties" to distinguish from the "northern Six dynasties", which were:<ref name=wilkinson/>

# [[Cao Wei|Cao Wei dynasty]] (220–266)
# [[Jin dynasty (266–420)#Western Jin (266–316)|Western Jin dynasty]] (266–316)
# [[Northern Wei|Northern Wei dynasty]] (386–535)
# [[Northern Qi|Northern Qi dynasty]] (550–577)
# [[Northern Zhou|Northern Zhou dynasty]] (557–581)
# [[Sui dynasty]] (581–619)

==Poetry in the Six Dynasties==
{{Main article|Six Dynasties poetry}}

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 anthology ''[[New Songs from the Jade Terrace]]'', compiled by Xu Ling (507–83), under the patronage of Crown Prince Xiao Gang (Later Emperor Jian Wen) of the [[Liang dynasty]].<ref>Watson, 92, and following</ref> Also significant, is the ''Zi Ye'', or "[[Midnight Songs poetry|Lady Midnight]]" style, supposedly originating with an eponymously named fourth-century [[Sing-song girls|professional singer]] of the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]].<ref>Watson, 60</ref>

==Culture==
{{Multiple image| align = right | direction = vertical | header = | header_align = left/right/center | footer = Murals from a tomb of [[Northern Qi|Northern Qi dynasty]] (550–577) in Jiuyuangang, [[Xinzhou]], showing a rural hunting scene on horseback | footer_align = left | image1 = Tomb of Northern Qi Dynasty in Jiuyuangang, Xinzhou, Mural 02.jpg | width1 = 500 | caption1  = | image2 = Tomb of Northern Qi Dynasty in Jiuyuangang, Xinzhou, Mural 01.jpg | width2 = 500| caption2  = }}
[[File:Ewer. Lidded tripod with handles, used for heating certain alcoholic drinks. Stoneware with pale green (celadon) glaze. Six Dynasties, 500-580 CE. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.jpg|thumb|Ewer, lidded tripod with handles, used for heating certain alcoholic drinks. Stoneware with pale green (celadon) glaze. Six Dynasties. Victoria and Albert Museum]]

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 from [[Tang dynasty]] onwards.

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, where well-documented male homosexuality occurred, Imperial China begun an era of further homosexual openness. Terms like “Nanfeng” that specifically describe male homosexuality emerged from the early days in the Six Dynasties.<ref>Hinsch, Bret. ''Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China''. University of California Press, 1990. p. 58, <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520912656</nowiki>.</ref> 

[[Buddhism]], which [[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism|first reached China]] via the [[Silk Road]] during the [[Han dynasty#Eastern Han|Eastern 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.{{sfnb|Tanigawa|1985| p = [http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft1k4003vg&chunk.id=d0e823&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e815&brand=ucpress 3]}}

==See also==
* [[Chinese sovereign]]
* [[Dynasties of China]]
* [[History of China]]
* [[Nanjing]] (Nanking)
* [[Three Kingdoms]]
* [[Jin dynasty (266–420)]]
* [[Sixteen Kingdoms]]
* [[Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties|Northern dynasties]]
* [[Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasties|Southern dynasties]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last = Dien |first = Albert E. |year = 2007 |title = Six Dynasties Civilization |publisher = Yale University Press |jstor = j.ctt5vm2b9 |isbn = 978-0-300-15795-6 |ref = none }}
* {{cite book |last = Tanigawa |first = Michio |translator = [[Joshua A. Fogel]] |year = 1985 |title = Medieval Chinese Society and the Local "Community" |publisher = University of California Press |location = Berkeley, CA |url = http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft1k4003vg |isbn = 0520053702 }}
* Watson, Burton (1971). '' Chinese Lyricism:  Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century''. New York: Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|0-231-03464-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dien |first=Albert E. |title=Six Dynasties Civilization |date=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=6, 7 and 12 |chapter-url=http://as.ff.uni-lj.si/datoteke/6.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105172525/http://as.ff.uni-lj.si/datoteke/6.pdf |archive-date=2016-11-05 |url-status=dead |via=as.ff.uni-lj.si}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* "[http://www.indiana.edu/~e232/11-Six.pdf Intellectual Trends Of The Early Six Dynasties Period]", Indiana University.  
* {{cite book |chapter-url=http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/excerpts/dien_sixdynasties.pdf |chapter=1: The Six Dynasties |title=Six Dynasties Civilization|publisher=yalepress.yale.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211060820/http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/excerpts/dien_sixdynasties.pdf |archive-date= 2015-12-11}}
* "[https://web.archive.org/web/20190709135252/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu:80/tps/300ce.htm 300 to 600 CE]", Asia for Educators Columbia University Weatherhead Institute. Documents, maps, links.

[[Category:Dynasties of China]]
[[Category:Former countries in Chinese history]]
[[Category:History of Nanjing]]
[[Category:Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties| ]]