High Level Overview of Chinese History: Northern and Southern Dynasties II
By Ian Kiu - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2944503
In the south, there were four dynasties during the same time, beginning with the Liu Song dynasty in 420. They all continued to use the Eastern Jin capital of Jiankang. Until the Chen dynasty, the politics of the dynasties were dominated by the great families, the class that Cao Cao created at the end of the Han dynasty as he was consolidating his own power by creating professional soldiers. These great families tended to fight with each other, making it difficult for any one ruler to bring the other families in line. To help keep their power, these families began to compile genealogies and outlawed intermarriage with commoners. Northerners who migrated south 'were forced to become "guests" (dependents) of the great families who established private guard forces with their new retainers'. Despite this, the rulers of the four dynasties were 'military leaders from lowly social backgrounds', who would erode the power of the great families, transferring that power to the central government. This shift was aided by the rise of trade on the Indian Ocean, which further eroded their power so that the class was essentially gone by the end of this period and their position at the top was taken by merchants, who were able to move wealth more easily in an increasingly money-based economy. This shift also pushed peasants towards being mercenary soldiers to cope with inflation or paying taxes and pushed the land holding aristocracy to break up their holdings and sell them off.
Liu Yu began as a general in the Army of the Northern Garrison for the Eastern Jin dynasty and gained a reputation for himself by suppressing a Taoist rebel and then leading the efforts that restored Emperor An of Jin to his throne, which launched him to prominence in the imperial court. He then led two expeditions north against the Southern Yan and Later Qin dynasties, continued putting down popular uprisings, and purged his rivals, many of whom were his allies, to gain even more prominence. He then invoked a prophecy that 'there would only be one more emperor after Emperor An' and had Emperor An replaced with Emperor Gong and then deposed him in 420, taking the throne as Emperor Wu of Liu Song. After they were deposed, he then killed them and their families, an action that would set the tone for the rest of the era. He died in 422 and his son Emperor Shao would take his place for a short time before he was killed by governmental officials for incompetence, leading to one of his brothers, Emperor Wen, taking the throne. When he did, Emperor Wen killed those officials who had supported his rise. He was, like his father had been, and he was an adept administrator, so his reign was relatively stable. Despite this, his military expeditions into the north in 430 floundered because of micromanagement of the generals, insufficient preparations, which led to a weakening of the dynasty overall. His jealousy of Tan Daoji, a general holding the same position his father had, caused him to chose another, weaker general to lead the army, allowing the north to keep them from reclaiming lands between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. After these conflicts, Emperor Wen suffered a long illness and his brother, Liu Yikang, the prime minister, had Tan Daoji, his sons, and two of his generals killed on false charges of treason. Beginning in 445, the Northern Wei pushed the Liu Song further south, leading Emperor Wen to lament the loss of Tan Daoji.
In 453, Emperor Wen was assassinated by his sons Princes Shao and Jun before he could punish them for witchcraft. Their brother, also named Jun, would defeat them to become Emperor Xiaowu, though he was 'licentious and cruel, supposedly committing incest with the daughters of an uncle who helped him gain the throne; his rivals also claimed he had incest with his mother'. He died of natural causes in 464 and was followed by his son Emperor Qianfei who 'proved to be similar to his father, engaging in both kin-slaughter and incest'. To appease one of his sisters who 'complained about how it was unfair that men were allowed 10,000 concubines, he gave her 30 handsome young men as lovers'. He would be assassinated by his uncle Liu Yu, who became Emperor Ming.
After killing all of Emperor Xiaowu's descendants, Emperor Ming would lose the provinces north of the Huai River because of his paranoia. His son would become Emperor Houfei would become the next emperor during a time of great turmoil with General Xiao Daocheng gaining power. Xiao Daocheng could depose Emperor Houfei and install Emperor Houfei's brother as Emperor Shun. After gaining enough power by defeating another general, Xiao Daoicheng forced Emperor Shun to grant him the throne, ending the Liu Song in 479.
Xiao Daocheng would be known as Emperor Gao of the Southern Qi dynasty. His low social origins would draw the disdain of the nobility, though he did follow the pattern of the early rulers of the Liu Song, being very economical. He died after only four years on the throne, leading to his 13 year old son inheriting the throne. Emperor Wu was able to make peace with the Northern Wei to protect the borders, which led to a period of peace. His grandsons would inherit as his eldest son died before him. Their reigns were short as they were deposed and killed by their granduncle who became Emperor Ming. Emperor Ming would undertake the slaughter of all of Emperor Gao and Wu's sons. When he became ill, he turned to Daoism, changed his wardrobe to red, and had his officials try to find 'whitebait', immature fry of fish that are between 25-50 mm long. His death in 498 and being followed by his son Xio Baojuan, 'who killed high-ranking officials and governors on a whim', caused multiple revolts, including the one that killed him in 501. He was followed by Xiao Baorong, who would be a puppet to Xiao Yan, brother to Xiao Baojuan's prime minister and distant relation to the Southern Qi dynasty.
Xiao Yan would overthrow Emperor He in 502 and begin the Liang dynasty as Emperor Wu. He was 'economical, worked hard at governing, and cared for the common people' and grew the military strength so that it would surpass the Northern Wei, undertaking an invasion in 503. He was lenient towards his clansmen, avoiding investigating them even if they did commit crimes. He supported scholars, encouraged a flourishing education system, and rewarded literary talent. This was considered a cultural peak, but it wouldn't last as sycophants would surround him. He attempted to become a Buddhist monk three times, but those around him convinced him to return to court by making 'extravagant court donations to Buddhism'. He also failed to notice that 'nearly half the population fraudulently named themselves as such [Buddhist or Daoist]' to take advantage of a law that made them exempt from taxes, which, when combined with the imperial clan's greed and wastefulness, resulted in finances becoming shambles in his later reign. Emperor Wu gave refuge to generals from Northern Wei, including Hou Jing. Hou Jing was sent on a campaign against the Northern Wei, which ended with a decisive loss, leading some to suggest that Emperor Wu intended Hou Jing to be returned to and punished by the Norther Wei after deserting. Hou Jing believed this despite Emperor Wu assuring him it wasn't true. He rebelled and set siege to Jiankang with Emperor Wu trapped in the capitol. Emperor Wu was forced to try to negotiate, but Hou Jing was displeased with what was offered, so he captured the palace, which resulted in the slaughter of nearby populaces. Emperor Wu starved to death and Hou Jing used two princes as puppets before he seized power, though all he controlled was Jiankang. Xiao Yi, with the aid of two generals, defeated Hou Jing and became Emperor Yuan, though his brother, Xiao Ji, was still a threat to his crown. Emperor Yuan asked the Western Wei for aid, but a diplomatic mistake caused him to be deposed and killed by Yuwen Tai, a leading general of the Western Wei. The Northern Qi also wanted Liang land and fought against the Western Wei, claiming to do so at the behest of Emperor Yuan's cousin, setting up his last surviving son, Xiao Fangzhi, as ruler, though not with imperial titles. The Norther Qi were defeated and Xiao Yuanming took the throne as Emperor Min of Liang, but was deposed with Xiao Fangzhi becoming Emperor Jing. He was shortly deposed by Chen Baxian.
Chen Baxian would take the throne as Emperor Wu of Chen in 557. He would die suddenly in 559 and his nephew, Chen Qian, took the throne as Emperor Wen. Emperor Wen had to deal with the allied forces of the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi, who attacked Jiankang. He defeated the joined forces and was able to stabilize and improve the economic situation of the South. His son became Emperor Fei and was weak-willed and was controlled by his uncle, who eventually took the throne and became Emperor Xuan. By aiding the Northern Zhou, he ended up losing to the Northern Qi, which left his dynasty in danger. Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou died suddenly, which stopped the advance of the northern troops as there was a struggle for the throne. This reprieve didn't last long, though, as the winner of the struggle, Emperor Wen of Sui, would continue the push into the south. Emperor Xuan had died, leaving his son, Chen Shubao known as Houzhu of Chen, in control of the country. Houzhu was 'licentious and wasteful', leading to corruption and chaos in the government and people being exploited. Emperor Wen of Sui waited until the South was harvesting and burnt their fields. In 588, Emperor Wen of Sui would send his son to conquer Chen. Houzhu thought the natural barrier of the Yangtze to protect his empire and continued to on with 'festive and licentious activities'. The next year, Sui's forces conquered Jiangkang, ending the Chen dynasty and the Southern dynasties.
