Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties Period

Japanese: 魏晋南北朝時代 - ぎしんなんぼくちょうじだい

The period in China from the fall of the Later Han Dynasty (220) to the unification of China by the Sui Dynasty (589). In the chaos at the end of the Later Han Dynasty, triggered by events such as the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Later Han Dynasty was destroyed by Wei, one of the many warlords that ruled over various regions. This led to the division of China into three kingdoms (the Three Kingdoms period): Wei (Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Luoyang), Shu (Liu Bei, Chengdu), and Wu (Sun Quan, Jianye). Wei eventually destroyed Shu, but its powerful vassal, Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), overthrew Wei and established the Jin Dynasty, and finally destroyed Wu and unified China (280). However, the Jin dynasty was weakened by the struggle for the throne and the invasion of northern tribes, and was destroyed when the capital Luoyang and then Chang'an were occupied by the invading Xiongnu (316). The following year, the royal family member Sima Rui ascended to the throne in Jiankang (Jianye was the capital of Wu, and is now Nanjing). This is called the Eastern Jin dynasty, and the Jin dynasty before the southern migration is also called the Western Jin dynasty. In northern China, foreign tribes from the north and northwest, such as the Xianbei, stimulated by the movements of the Xiongnu, invaded one after another. These Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Tei, and Qiang are called the Five Barbarians, and many of the countries founded by the Five Barbarians rose and fell, so they are called the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms. Eventually, from among these, the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), founded by the Xianbei Tuoba clan, unified northern China (439). The Northern Wei Dynasty split into the Eastern Wei and Western Wei Dynasties due to internal conflicts, and the Eastern Wei Dynasty was replaced by the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the Western Wei Dynasty by the Northern Zhou Dynasty. These five dynasties after the Northern Wei Dynasty are called the Northern Dynasties. Meanwhile, with the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, many Han Chinese aristocrats and powerful families in northern China, as well as farmers, migrated to Jiangnan to avoid war, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which had been underdeveloped, developed rapidly. The Eastern Jin Dynasty also collapsed after about 100 years (420), and four dynasties, Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen, rose and fell in a short period of time. These dynasties were called the Southern Dynasties, and since the Northern Dynasties and the Northern Dynasties divided China in two, they were also called the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It was an era of division and conflict since the division of the three kingdoms (the fall of the Later Han Dynasty) and was collectively called the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties. From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, local powerful clans gained power by controlling the land and people, and through the system of appointment of officials such as the Nine Ranks of Officials Law, which began in the Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms, they monopolized higher government positions, and as a result, the powerful clans formed an aristocratic class. Many small farmers who lost their land due to the land annexation by the powerful clans became wanderers or slaves to the powerful clans, and the land and people directly controlled by the state decreased. As a countermeasure, the Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms implemented the Tonden system, the Western Jin Dynasty implemented the land occupation and land tax system, and the Northern Wei Dynasty implemented the Equal Field System under Emperor Xiaowen, but these did not stop the progress of the powerful clans' ownership of large tracts of land. The Equal Field System was inherited by the Sui and Tang Dynasties and was completed as a system. During this period, the Northern Dynasties were governed by foreign warriors and had a simple and strong spirit, but in the Southern Dynasties, the government was controlled by aristocrats who formed clans. On the other hand, this meant that the cultural center of this period had shifted to Jiangnan, and since the Three Kingdoms of Wu, up to the Chen Dynasty, six dynasties had their capital in Jiankang (Jianye), and in cultural history this is particularly known as the Six Dynasties period or Six Dynasties culture, where elegant and magnificent Chinese aristocratic culture flourished in painting, poetry and prose. Buddhism also became popular from the second half of the 4th century, with monks coming to China from the Western Regions and playing an active role in translating Buddhist scriptures, and Taoism was first organized as a religious organization by Kou Qianzhi of the Northern Wei Dynasty. →Six Dynasties culture→Related topics People's Republic of China | Southern Learning | Northern and Southern Dynasties

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

中国で，後漢の滅亡（220年）から隋による統一（589年）までの時代。黄巾の乱などに触発された後漢末の混乱で，各地に割拠した群雄の一つ魏によって後漢が滅ぼされると，魏（曹操・曹丕(そうひ)，洛陽）・蜀（劉備，成都）・呉（孫権，建業）の三国が分立した（三国時代）。やがて魏が蜀を滅ぼしたが，魏をその権臣司馬炎（武帝）が倒して晋を樹立し，最後に呉を滅ぼして統一した（280年）。しかし晋も帝位をめぐる争いと北方民族の侵入で弱体化し，侵入してきた匈奴によって首都洛陽，ついで長安を占領されて滅亡（316年），翌年，王族司馬睿(しばえい)が建康（呉の首都としては建業。現在の南京）で即位した。これを東晋といい，南渡以前の晋を西晋ともいう。華北では，匈奴の動きによって刺激された鮮卑など，北方あるいは西北方の異民族が相次いで侵入してきた。この匈奴・鮮卑・羯(けつ)・【てい】・羌(きょう)を五胡といい，五胡の建てた国が多数興亡したので五胡十六国という。やがてこれらの中から鮮卑族の拓跋氏(たくばつし)の建てた北魏（386年―534年）が華北を統一した（439年）。北魏は内争から東魏・西魏に分裂，さらに東魏は北斉に，西魏は北周にかわられた。これら北魏以降の５王朝を北朝という。一方，東晋の成立で，華北の漢人の貴族・豪族や多くの農民が戦乱を避けて江南に移住してきており，開発途上にあった長江の中・下流域が急速に発達した。東晋も約100年余で倒れ（420年），その後は宋・斉・梁・陳の４王朝が短期間に興亡した。これを南朝といい，北朝と中国を２分したので南北朝とも呼び，三国の分立（後漢の滅亡）以来をあわせて魏晋南北朝ともいう分裂・抗争の時代であった。　後漢末から南北朝にかけて，各地の豪族が土地・人民を支配して勢力をはり，三国の魏で始まった九品官人法などの官吏任用制度を通じて上級官職を独占，結果的には豪族が貴族階級を形成していった。豪族の土地兼併によって土地を失った多くの小農民は，各地を流浪したり豪族の奴隷になったため，国家が直接支配する土地・人民が減少し，その対策として三国の魏では屯田制，西晋では占田・課田制，北魏では孝文帝のときに均田制が実施されたが，豪族による大土地所有の進行をとめるにはいたらなかった。均田制は隋・唐に受け継がれて制度としては完成する。この時代，北朝では異民族の武人政権で質実剛健の気風をうんだが，南朝では門閥を形成した貴族が政権を左右した。それは反面，この時代の文化の中心が江南に移ったことを意味し，三国の呉以来，陳まで６王朝が建康（建業）を都としたため，文化史上では特に六朝(りくちょう)時代・六朝文化と呼び，絵画や詩文などに優雅・華麗な中国的貴族文化が開花した。また４世紀後半から仏教が盛んとなり，西域から僧侶が来中して仏典の翻訳などに活躍し，さらに道教が北魏の寇謙之(こうけんし)によって初めて教団化された。→六朝文化
→関連項目中華人民共和国｜南学｜南北朝

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