The four dynasties of the Southern Dynasties are: Liu Song Dynasty, Xiao Qi Dynasty, Xiao Liang Dynasty, and Chen Dynasty.
1. Liu Song Dynasty:
The Liu Song Dynasty was established after Liu Yu overthrew the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It began in 420 AD and ended in 479 AD. It was one of the four dynasties in the Southern Dynasties. The one who has been in power for the longest time has 8 emperors in power.
With a total area of ??about 2.75 million square kilometers, it was the largest and most powerful dynasty among the four Southern Dynasties. The Liu Song Dynasty implemented a three-level system of prefectures, prefectures, and counties, and their corresponding top administrators were the governor, the prefect, and the county magistrate.
2. Xiao Qi Dynasty:
Xiao Daocheng served as a right-wing general during the Liu Song Dynasty, and later gradually took control of power, overthrew the deposed Emperor Liu Yu of the Song Dynasty, and established Liu Zhun As a puppet emperor. In 479 AD, Xiao Daocheng forced the puppet emperor to abdicate, proclaimed himself emperor, and changed the dynasty to Southern Qi. In 502 AD, general Xiao Yan forced Qi and Emperor Chan to surrender to him, and the Southern Qi Dynasty fell.
3. Xiaoliang Dynasty:
In 502 AD, Xiao Yan, the governor of Yongzhou in Southern Qi Dynasty, forced Emperor Qihe to surrender to him and established the Liang Dynasty. It remained until 557 AD when Chen Baxian abolished it. Emperor Liang established the Chen Dynasty, which lasted for 55 years. Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, was an enlightened monarch. During his reign, society gradually restored stability, the economy experienced great recovery, and Buddhist culture reached its peak in the Southern Dynasties. During this period, the Southern Liang Dynasty launched a large-scale Northern Expedition and once regained several important towns in Huaibei and parts of Hanzhong, expanding its territory to 2.6 million square kilometers.
4. Chen Dynasty:
Throughout Chinese history, the Chen Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties is probably the only one whose country name has the same surname as the founding emperor. In 557 AD, Chen Baxian deposed Emperor Jing of Liang and proclaimed himself emperor, establishing the Chen Dynasty and making its capital Jiankang. However, he died of illness three years later and was succeeded by his nephew Chen Qian. The Chen Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties lasted for 32 years until the death of Empress Chen, who had no interest in political affairs. During this period, the country experienced five emperors.
The territory of the Chen Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties was similar to that of Soochow during the Three Kingdoms period. It only controlled the southeastern region south of the Yangtze River, with a territory of about 1.3 million square kilometers. Among the four Southern Dynasties, its territory was the smallest.
The culture of the Southern Dynasties:
The Southern Dynasties was an important period in the history of Chinese poetry that was crucial to the fate of poetry. Shen Deqian of the Qing Dynasty said in the volume "Shuo Shi Xiu Yu": "As for the Song Dynasty, the temperament gradually faded, the voice and color opened up, and the destiny of poetry turned around." Different from the poets of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the poets of the Southern Dynasties advocated the voice and color more and pursued the perfection of artistic form. And gorgeous.
Liang Xiao Zixian said, "If there are no new changes, the heroes cannot be replaced" ("Book of Southern Qi Literary Biography"), which is a theoretical summary of this trend of pursuing new changes. The landscape poetry pioneered by Xie Lingyun introduced the beautiful scenery of nature into poetry, making landscapes an independent aesthetic object. His creation not only liberated poetry from the "bland and tasteless" mystery, but also strengthened the artistic skills and expressive power of poetry, and influenced the style of poetry of a generation.