Southern Dynasties

  • The Backyard Flower of Jade Trees

    by Chen Shubao Fair pavilions and fragrant woods stand by the lofty towers,Her newly dressed beauty outshines the whole city’s charms.Her tender grace glints by the gate, she lingers at first,Then steps from the curtain, smiling with graceful airs.Her lovely face like flowers draped in dewdrops glows,Jade trees’ bright radiance fills the rear courtyard.Flowers…

  • The Lament of the Jade Tree [Jin & Southern-Northern Dynasties]

    Brief: This article recounts the fall of the Chen Dynasty. Emperor Wen of Sui rose after Northern Zhou’s decline, while Chen Houzhu indulged in wine, women, and decadent songs like Jade Tree Behind the Palace Garden. Ignoring warnings, he was captured in a well. In 589, Sui conquered Chen, reunifying China after centuries of division.

  • The Scourge from the North: Hou Jing’s Rebellion [Jin & Southern-Northern Dynasties]

    Brief: This article recounts Hou Jing’s Rebellion, which devastated the Liang Dynasty. After being rejected by Eastern and Western Wei, Hou Jing defected to Liang. Betrayed by Emperor Wu, he captured Jiankang, starved the emperor to death, and seized power. His tyranny destroyed southern China, paving the way for the rise of the Chen…

  • The Hou Jing Rebellion

    The Hou Jing Rebellion was a devastating uprising that erupted in the final years of Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty (r. 502–549 CE), led by Hou Jing, a former general who had defected from Eastern Wei.

  • Fan Zhen

    Fan Zhen (c. 450–c. 510 CE) was a prominent materialist philosopher of the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties during the Southern Dynasties period. His courtesy name was Zizhen, and he was a native of Wuyin, Nanxiang Commandery (in present-day northwestern Biyang County, Henan).

  • Zu Chongzhi

    Zu Chongzhi (429–500 CE) was a preeminent scientist of the Southern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. His courtesy name was Wenyuan, and his ancestral home was Qiu County, Fanyang Commandery (in present-day Laishui, Hebei).

  • Xie Lingyun

    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).

  • Book of the Later Han – Hou Hanshu

    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).

  • Spring in the South of the Yangtze [Tang Poems]

    — Du Mu Orioles sing for miles amid red blooms and green trees; By hills and rills wine shop streamers wave in the breeze. Four hundred eighty splendid temples still remain Of Southern Dynasties in the mist and rain.