The Period of Division (220-589)

 Introduction

• Between 220 and 589, there was no one dynasty that ruled all of China.
• The exception was a brief interval between 290-316.
• Between 220 and 280 the empire was divided into three kingdoms.
• 
  
• then the Western Jin reunited the country for a short time.
• But from 316 there was a prolong division between the north and the south.
• 
  
• In the south six dynasties established their capital at Jiankang (modern Nanjing).
• In the north, until 384,  there was a period of extreme fragmentation.
• This fragmentation is known as the Sixteen Kingdoms.
• After that, the Toba (Tuoba), a branch of the Xianbei established the Northern Wei Dynasty.
• It set its capital at Luoyang.

Outsiders, Generals, and Eccentrics

• Between 220 and 280 north China was divided into three states.
• With its capital at Luoyang, was the kingdom of Wei, ruled by Cao Pei.
• He was the son of  of the famous poet and general of the closing years of the Later Han.
• To the south-west, in present-day Sichuan was the kingdom of Shu Han.
• It was ruled by a descendant of the Han royal family.
• In the south was a partly sinicized kingdom of Wu.

• In 263, Wei absorbed Shu Han and then took control of Wu.
• Sima Yan established the Western Jin Dynasty.
• For a short time they ruled over a unified China.
• After his death in 290 the country fell into a civil war.
• In 311 the Xiongnu sacked the capital of of Luoyang.
• 
  

Social and Political Changes

• There was an important social change which began under the Later Han.
• It was to continue right through to the Tang.
• This was the re-emergence of an aristocratic society.
• After the collapse of the social and political structure of the Later Han, something changed.
• Families which in the past had obtained office at court and which gave them national prominence began to concentrate perpetuating that influence in their locality.

• in 220 the Wei Dynasty introduced the “nine-rank system.” 
• this allowed a member of the upper class, to classify all candidates for office into nine ranks, - this was according to character and ability
• the higher the rank, the higher the level at which one could enter the bureaucracy.
• within three generations “births, status, and office-holding” became inseparably bound.

• early in the 4th century, there appeared a danger
•  this was of allowing the Xiongnu to settle within China’s boundaries
• Liu Yuan, a sinicized Xiongnu king, captured Luoyang
• he declared the restoration of the Han dynasty
• this was the first alien dynasty in Chinese history.
• 
  
• the dynasty did not last long,
• it set a precedent for political division that was to continue for several centuries, 
• this was the north  ruled by non-Chinese dynasties; the south under Chinese control.
• the 1st of the southern dynasties, (Eastern Jin),was founded by a survivor of the Western Jin.
• it had its capital at Jiangkang

• in the south the dominant class consisted of Chinese aristocrats, 
• many had migrated southward as the fierce tribal leaders moved in
• these tribal groups took over their northern homeland
• the entire period from the 3rd to the 5th century, saw an increase in population
• those of Chinese descent, in the region south of the Yangzi, increased in numbers
• they  conquered and supplanted the aboriginal tribes.
• the great families that moved south were joined by large number of refugees
• some of whom became servants of the great families
• this caused tension between the old and new settlers and the rise of popular movements.

• the political situation was unstable
• in 420 one of the dynasty’s generals usurped the throne
• he established the Liu-Song Dynasty, which survived until 479.
• 
  
• this dynasty & those that followed made attempts to limit the power of the aristocracy
• this occurred on and off
• an effective counter to that power came in the form of increased traffic on the Yangzi
• this was the growth of the merchant class,
• it took place  in the reign of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (r.502-49).

• in the north, they had been subjected to a series of invasions by non-Chinese peoples. 
• the 1st incursion was by the Xiongnu, who seized control of Luoyang in 311. 
• they established the short-lived Earlier Zhao Dynasty (304-320).
• they floundered on an issue that would perplex all non-Chinese invaders
• it was whether they should adopt Chinese culture 
• this would be at the expense at the expense of preserving their own identity.

• the second major incursion came from the DI and Qiang, 
• the Qiang were a proto-Tibetan dynasty centred on Chang’an. 
• Fu Jian, their most famous leader, conquered much of north China
• in 382 he invaded the south,
• his army was defeated by the Western Jin at the battle of Feishui.
• 
  
• the third and most enduring incursion was that of the Toba (Tuoba) 
• this was a tribe, of which the leadership may have been of Turkish descent
• they came to incorporate many Xianbei who had been allowed to settle in northern Shanxi.

• in 386, the Tuoba established the Northern Wei Dynasty, based at Pingcheng (near Datong)
• the city was laid out according to the rules a capital city is created.
• this was an example of adoption of Chinese practices,
• in time this led the Tuoba to employ Chinese as officials
• they were to abandon the tribal system in favour of a bureaucratic system
• but first the Tuoba had to assert themselves as the paramount power in north China.

• they took advantage of the wars fought earlier by the Earlier Qin, 
• they  overcame the neighbouring kingdoms, 
• they drove back the Ruanruan, which was a new confederation of Mongol tribes
• they extended their influence into Central Asia.
• 
  
• the Tuoba were able to achieve these victories
• this was because they were able to put massive cavalry forces into the field
• by 440 the Toba had created the most powerful state in East Asia.

• the sinicization of the Tuoba empire proceeded under the Emperor Xiaowen
• he ruled from 471 to 499. 
• he issued a series of decrees in which he declared “to bring the country closer to the ideal of the Han-Chinese, Confucianized bureaucratic monarchy ruling an ordered aristocratic state.”
• these reforms included 
• a) the adoption of Chinese surnames, 
• b) the encouragement of intermarriage with Chinese,
• c) the use of Chinese language at court and for official business.
•  yet there were restrictions put on the Tuoba religious and social customs.

• In 477 an important but imperfectly understood land reform was introduced
• it was decreed that all land belonged to the state and that every free man and woman would receive a share which they could enjoy in their lifetime
• but it would be redistributed after their death.
• 
  
• the reform was similar to Wang Mang’s attempt at land equalization
• but it was more successful – it remained in force until about 750.

• the reason for this reform was to stop the increasing poverty of the Tuoba
• after having settled in China, could no longer plunder or graze their horses,
• their increasing poverty could be contrasted with the growing prosperity of Chinese gentry
• the gentry were settled in the region.
• 
  
• perhaps it was intended to increase grain production and
• and inhibit the influence of the Chinese landowners.

• in the 490’s the Tuoba court abandoned Pincheng and established its capital at Luoyang, 
• this was 500 miles further south
• this was an area with historical connotations
• it was at the heart of the most prosperous and populous region of north China.

• Luoyang quickly acquired a population of half a million people 
• it became one of the great cities of the world
• the city was set on a grid system and was furnished with many elegant buildings
• this included some 500 Buddhist monasteries and nunneries
• it was an important commercial centre & it housed a large community of foreign traders.

• these developments caused problems
• it alienated the more conservative aristocratic elements in Toba society
• the sinicization policy marginalized them politically
• a change in frontier policy deprived them of their military role. 
• tension grew after the move to Luoyang
• in 534 the Ruanruan crossed the frontier in force, the Tuoba border garrisons mutinied.

• this “revolt of the six garrisons” 
• it was followed by ten years of conflict 
• this conflict culminated in the abandonment and sack of Luoyang
• the Northern Wei empire split into 
• a) the sinicized Western Wei state with its capital at Chang’an
• b) the more traditional Eastern Wei in the north-east.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

•