Southern dynasties

The Southern Dynasties (Chinese南朝, Pinyin Nanchao ) are a section in the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. They include: the Liu - Song Dynasty, the Southern Qi Dynasty, the Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty, whose capitals mostly all lay in Jiankang (although the capital of the Southern Qi short in Jiangling (江陵, the modern Jingzhou, Hubei) was, during the reign of Emperor He of Southern Qi and the Emperor yuan of the Liang Dynasty and in the late emperors of the Western Liang ( Emperor Xuan, Emperor Xiaoming and Emperor Xiaojing ) was also chosen as the capital Jiangling, and Xiao Zhuang which is considered by some historians to be an emperor of the Liang dynasty, had his capital at Yingcheng (郢 城, the modern Wuhan, Hubei) ).

Political situation among the Southern Dynasties

After the conquest of the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an by (only partially sinisierte ) nomad prince 311 and 316, the political and cultural center of gravity shifted to the south of China. In the north the time of the Sixteen Kingdoms began, while in the South Jiankang (ie Nanking ) was the capital of the Eastern Jin dynasties and their successor.

The Court History is full of gang fighting and intrigue, and the emperors were weak, even if their farm always has been an important economic factor. The political power was in the hands of the aristocrats. They defended their large estates from the tax claims and the limitation tests of the imperial officials, so that the emperor could not build a power base and sometimes at the mercy of the great families. Landlordism meant for the state, a decrease of taxpayers and labor service provider, because only the owner of the land could be required, not the tenants or slaves. The aristocrats paid no taxes, they had many addicts and semi-private Garden and were in the genealogical registers ( Jiapu ) detected. Access to offices and privileges depended on the age and the fame of the families and it is clear that officials who were themselves landowners, not vorgingen against this. In the late 5th century, the aristocracy was then far advanced that even marriages between nobles ( Mingjia ) and non- nobles ( Hanmen ) were banned.

Conversely, did the Emperor of the South only a few, scattered efforts to break the power of the aristocracy. Especially the Qi Dynasty ( 479-502 ) is worth mentioning because it was happening with the highest-level positions by non- nobles, with the punishment of counterfeiting and control register with executions against the aristocracy. According quickly came it then to the fall of the dynasty by Xiao Wen aka Emperor Liang Wu Di (reigned 502-549 ). At the time, the aristocracy then got competition of a different kind: the rise of long-distance trade ended the autonomous position of the large landowners in the provinces and undermined their economic supremacy. Although the time Liang Wu Dis is still considered the golden age of aristocratic culture, but immediately it came to just under ten years of civil wars, which could bleed the nobility. The last Southern Dynasty, the Chen Dynasty ( 557-589 ), however, was foreign policy too weak to once again establish a stable state.

Social situation among the Southern Dynasties

The colonization of the South

The South China wore at the time of ( and the Eastern Jin ) Southern Dynasties still a largely colonial character. The Chinese populated initially only the levels of the Yangtze River basin, the southern part of Hangzhou Bay and the area around Canton, the rest was from the " vorchinesischen " population inhabited. Even the Chinese colonization was not very tight. But you was enough to decimate the other groups ( Yue, Thai, Yao, Tibeto - Burmans ) and push back, pressing them into service relationships, and finally gradually assimilate.

After the seizure of power (only partially Sinicized ) Nomads princes in North China (ca. 311/316 ) fled countless Chinese people from the upper class in the South. The reason for this was that they had little chance to come in the new rulers in the north to reputation and influence as these appreciated the Chinese culture is limited and adapt to the whole financial and monetary system to their own ideas wanted (eg horse breeding ).

In southern China, but already lived Chinese who had immigrated in earlier times, especially at the time of the Three Kingdoms at the beginning of the 3rd century. In addition, everywhere there was still the incumbent, " vorchinesische " people of the Yao (mountain settlers with fire economy and hunting ), Thai ( Talsiedler, mainly rice industry) and Yue ( on the Yangtze River and on the coast, fishing and shipping ) which also mingled with each other. The " vorchinesische " population fit their lifestyle but at least in the core areas increasingly. In addition, her shift was reinforced by impoverished Chinese farmers, so that the differences with the Chinese gradually disappeared. The State census recorded a steady increase of the Chinese element.

The new arrivals came in the 4th century in sharp contrast to the already established Chinese settlers. The latter were (given the not very densely populated Yangtze River Valley ) on large estates, the (mostly Yue / Thai / Yao, but also impoverished Chinese peasants ) were handled by their tenants or led trading company, while the newcomers often agricultural and without capital military were and aspired posts in the administration. Each of the two groups was now trying to exclude others from political power and to seize as much property as possible in itself. Continued to have the newcomers partly familial contact in the north, ran over or harbored plans recapture what the indigenous elite of the South did not support.

The contrast between the two factions of the Chinese thus had to be balanced in the 4th and early 5th century. They laid for this purpose on different control lists, and was forced to create their own commandants for immigrants. At the time of the ancients Song ( 420-479 ), the problem seems to have been solved, however, mainly because the tax collection of the ordinary population could be unified.

Cultural

It can be observed (eg, Liang Wu Di ), which Confucianism not repressed, but much of its effect took a strong rise of Buddhism. This was related to the loosening of social ties in the unstable China. Values ​​such as state and family lost importance and was sought through all the layers through a replacement. The spread of Buddhism was carried out from the power centers and big cities, in which he was already well represented by 300. The monasteries along the trade routes granted also traveling merchants and their goods and property could be one of any business and this symbiosis multiplied their wealth and importance.

Furthermore, cultural matters are emphasized, because the ways of life between the North and South Chinese differed significantly: Typical of the south were in this period country houses with gardens and various amenities (fish ponds, etc. ), of course only for the upper class and built on tax-free municipal land. With the establishment of this " country houses" ( pieh -yeh ) the common land dwindled. Man held in the south lot of art - poetry and concubinage, or in the mercantile rather brothels. There were also differences in music taste, as their music found its way over the " native " concubines. Furthermore, differences developed in the eating habits: in southern China triggered the rice between about 300 and about 600 the wheat as the main food from and they ate more vegetables and less meat than before.

Among the poets is to mention Tao Qian ( 365-427 ), but the remote was the then usual art - poetry, with its allusions and learned phrases and therefore was regarded as second-rate. Among the calligrapher Wang Xizhi it is ( 307-365 ), he is still regarded as a model. In painting, landscape painting arose when reproduction of the universe in miniature. A great painter was Gu Kaizhi ( 344-405 ).