This article reveals the bloody collapse of the Liu Song Dynasty. Plagued by parricide, fratricide, and tyrannical child emperors, the imperial family slaughtered each other for power. Cruelty and paranoia destroyed the realm, clearing the way for Xiao Daocheng to seize the throne and found the Southern Qi Dynasty.
This article recounts the heroic Siege of Xuyi. After Liu Song’s failed northern expedition, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei attacked the small fortress. Magistrate Shen Pu and General Zang Zhi defended it bravely, repelling the mighty Wei army. Humiliated, Taiwu returned north and was soon assassinated, ending his tyrannical reign.
This article traces Liu Yu’s rise from a common soldier to the founder of the Liu Song Dynasty. He suppressed Sun En’s rebellion, defeated Huan Xuan, restored Eastern Jin, then launched successful northern campaigns. Eventually, he usurped the throne, ending Jin’s rule and establishing a new era of reform and stability in the south.
Xie Lingyun (385–433 CE) was a celebrated poet of the Liu Song dynasty during the Southern Dynasties period. Born in Yangxia, Chen Commandery (modern-day Taikang, Henan), his family had long resided in Kuaiji (centered on present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang).
A historical text compiled by Fan Ye (398–445 CE) during the Liu Song dynasty of the Southern Dynasties period. The work originally comprised 100 scrolls of Annals (Benji) and Biographies (Liezhuan), but the present standard edition contains 120 scrolls: 10 Annals, 80 Biographies, and 30 Treatises (Zhi).