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Northern Dynasties 北朝 (386-581)

The period of the Northern Dynasties began either with the founding of Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty 北魏 in 386, or the year of the reunification of north China by Northern Wei in 439. It ended with the founding of the Sui dynasty 隋 (581-618) that eventually reunited the whole of China.

Northern Wei 北魏 (386-535)

The Northern Wei dynasty was the most long-lived and most powerful of the northern dynasties ruled by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. Northern Wei dynasty is particularly noted for unifying northern China in 439, bringing an end to the chaotic Sixteen Kingdoms period, and strengthening imperial control over the rural landscape via reforms in 485. This was also a period of introduced foreign ideas, such as Buddhism, which became firmly established.

Chinese influence accelerated during the capital’s move to Luoyang in 494 and Emperor Xiaowen Tuoba Hong 拓跋宏 (r. 471-499) continued this by establishing a policy of systematic sinicisation that was continued by his successors. Xianbei traditions were largely abandoned. The royal family took the sinicization a step further by changing their family name to Yuan 元.

Its most important legacy was the sweeping reforms introduced under Empress Dowager Feng and continued under her successors. While the dynasty officially ended in 557, these reforms, especially the equal-field landholding system 均田制, lasted until the mid-eighth century. The reforms completely reshaped China’s political development as they reverted the trends associated with feudalism in earlier times (c. second to fifth centuries CE) such as the devolution of power to local strongmen and political fragmentation.

In 534 internal struggles among the imperial house of the Northern Wei led to the division into the Eastern and Western Wei empires. The real strongmen behind the two emperors were the Chinese Gao Huan 高歡 and the Xianbei noble Yuwen Tai 宇文泰. Both soon founded their own empires, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou. Historians generally credit the Northern Wei dynasty for laying the foundation for China’s eventual reunification under the Sui dynasty.

In 577 Northern Qi was conquered by Northern Zhou, and for a few years northern China was again reunited before Northern Zhou general Yang Jian 楊堅 founded the Sui dynasty 隋朝 in 581 that reunited the whole of China with the conquest of Chen dynasty 陳 (557-589) in 589.

Sui Dynasty 隋朝 (581-618)

Sui dynasty 隋 (581-618) reunited China after long centuries of division known as the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties 南北朝 (300~600). Emperor Wen 隋文帝 (r. 581-604), name Yang Jian 楊堅 (541-604) , controlled the imperial army. He was a relative of Emperor Jing 靜帝 Yuwen Chan 宇文闡 (573-581, r. 579-581), last emperor of the Northern Zhou empire 北周 (557-581). He forced the weak Northern Zhou ruler to abdicate and founded the Sui dynasty. Yang Jian went on to reunite northern China and then conquered Chen dynasty 陳 (557-589) in the south.

While Emperor Wen was praised as the great unifier, his son and successor, Emperor Yang 隋煬帝 Yang Guang 楊廣 (r. 604-617), was criticised for his extravagant spending for a third capital (Jiangdu 江都, i.e. Yangzhou 揚州) and the Grand Canal. Yet ironically with their administrative reforms and large-scale construction work, these actions prepared the ground for the glory of the Tang 唐 (618-907).

Tang Dynasty 唐朝 (618-907)

Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilisation, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. The founder of the Tang, Li Yuan 李淵 (known as Emperor Gaozu 唐高祖, r. 618-626) came from the Longxi Li lineage 隴西李氏, which also included the prominent Tang poet Li Bai. The House of Li had ethnic Han origins, and it belonged to the northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the Sui dynasty.

Tang dynasty is generally divided into three periods: Early Tang, High Tang, and Late Tang. The Early Tang period 初唐 (618-712) was marked by the dynasty’s consolidation and expansion, while the High Tang period 盛唐 (712-762) is considered its golden age, characterised by cultural flourishing and prosperity. The Late Tang period 晚唐 (762-907) saw a decline due to internal strife, rebellions, and weakening central authority, ultimately leading to the dynasty’s collapse.

Five Dynasties Ten Kingdoms 五代十國 (907-979)

In the late 9th century social unrest increased, and the rebellion of Huang Chao 黃巢 initiated the end of the Tang dynasty. The rebels were put down by military commissioners, whose merits in the victory allowed them to engage in widespread warlordism. In 907, Zhu Wen 朱溫 disposed the last emperor of Tang Emperor Ai 唐哀帝 (r. 904-907) and founded Later Liang 後梁 (907-923) . China was again divided into many small and short-lived empires, in a period known as Five Dynasties and Ten States 五代十國 (907-979).

The Five Dynasties 五代 (907-960) were short-lived empires that were founded in the north as successor states of the great Tang dynasty. The Ten States 十國 (902~979) were short-lived autonomous polities, some ruled by emperors, some by kings, founded in southern China as successor states of the great Tang dynasty 唐 (618-907). Most of them were by and by conquered by Zhao Kuangyin 趙匡胤.

The dynastic succession, as well as the internal politics of the Five Dynasties were deeply influenced by the khans of the steppe federation of the Kitans 契丹 in the north that founded the Liao empire 遼 (907-1125). In 960 a general of the Later Zhou dynasty 後周 (951-960), Zhao Kuangyin 趙匡胤, founded the Song dynasty 宋 (960-1279) and conquered southern China, thus partially reuniting China.

Song Dynasty 宋朝 (960-1279)

The Song 宋 (960-1279) was one of the great dynasties ruling over China. Although the Song only ruled over a relatively small area compared to the Han 漢 (206 BC-220 AD), the Tang 唐 (618-907) or the Qing 清 (1644-1911) dynasties, their age is seen as a time of economic, cultural and social prosperity and often coined the Chinese “renaissance”. This term refers mainly to two aspects, namely the large amount of technical inventions made and perfected during the Song period, like gunpowder, the compass, and book-printing, and to the “recovery” of what was defined as a Chinese culture, after many centuries of “barbarian” influence mainly by the nomad tribes of the steppes.

Western Xia 西夏 (1038-1227)

The Western Xia empire (Xixia 西夏, 1038-1227) was one of the three great barbarian empires ruling over northern China during the Song period 宋 (960-1279). It was founded by Li Yuanhao 李元昊 (Emperor Jing 西夏景宗, r. 1032-1048), ruler over the Tanguts, a people related to the Tibetans. The Tanguts controlled the trade routes between China proper and Central Asia known as the Silk Road. The Western Xia empire covered the modern region of Shaanxi and Gansu.

The ruling elite of the Western Xia did not adopt Chinese customs and culture as the Kitans had done in the Liao empire 遼 (907-1125) or later the Jurchens in the Jin empire 金 (1115-1234). The Tangutan way of life and their culture remained intact. For administrative purposes, but also for religious needs, the Tanguts invented an own way of writings, inspired by the forms of the Chinese script. The Western Xia empire was the first Chinese empire conquered by the armies of the federation of the Mongols.

Liao Dynasty 遼朝/契丹 (916-1125)

The Liao dynasty 遼 (907-1125) was the first great “barbarian” dynasty ruling over one part of China. It was founded by Yelü Abaoji 耶律阿保機 (Emperor Taizu of the Liao 遼太祖, r. 907-927), khan of the steppe federation of the Kitans 契丹, a conglomerate of proto-Mongolian tribes. The Kitans had learnt how to wage war against the militarily superior armies of the Chinese.

When the Tang empire 唐 (618-907) disintegrated, the Kitans took control over the states in Northern China and deeply influenced the courts politics of the Five Dynasties 五代 (907-960). In 946 the Kitans even shortly conquered the Song capital Kaifeng 開封 (today in the province of Henan). Tired of the ceaseless skirmishes with the nomad people, the Song government proposed a peace treaty in 1005 that promised quiet frontiers. Yet they had to pay huge amounts of tributes to the Liao in order to ensure a stable situation at the frontiers.

The Liao, weakened by economic ruptures and internal quarrels, fell victim to the Jurchen assaults. Founding the Jin empire 金 (1115-1234), the Jurchen khan Wanyan Aguda 完顏阿骨打 (Emperor Taizu of the Jin 金太祖, r. 1115-1122) conquered northern China.

Under the leadership of Prince Yelü Dashi 耶律大石 (Emperor Dezong 西遼德宗, r. 1124-1143) part of the Kitan people and elite migrated to the west where they founded the so-called Western Liao Empire (Xiliao 西遼, 1124-1211), or Kara Kitan in Türkic. In 1218, the Mongols conquered the empire of Western Liao.

The name of the Kitan lives on in the Russian term for China, Kitai, and in Marco Polo’s designation for China, Cathay.

Jurchen Jin 金朝/女真 (1115-1234)

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