Era of Disunity - (AD 220 to 618 -- 399 Years) - Page 2

The Han Empire began to fall apart as the large landholding families, taking advantage of the weakness of the imperial government, established their own private armies. Finally, in 220 the son of Tao Tao seized the throne and established the Wei Dynasty (220-265). Soon, however, leaders with dynastic aspirations sprang up in other parts of the country. The Shu Dynasty (221-263) was established in the southwestern China, and the Wu Dynasty (222-280) in the southeast.

Eastern Jin Dynasty

In 265 a powerful general of the Wei Dynasty, usurped the throne and established the Western Jin Dynasty (265-317) in North China. By 280 he had reunited the north and south under his rule. Soon after his death in 290, however, the empire began to crumble. The Jin could not long contain the invasions of the nomadic peoples. Invasions began in 304, and by 317 the tribes had wrested North China from the Jin Dynasty. In AD 317 the Jin court was forced to flee from Luoyang and reestablished itself at Nanjing to the south.

Southern and Northern Dynasties

For almost three centuries North China was ruled by one or more non-Chinese dynasties, while the south was ruled by a sequence of four Chinese dynasties (Song 60 years, Qi 23 years, Liang 55 years and Chen 32 years). None of the non-Chinese dynasties were able to extend their control over the entire North China plain until 420, when the Northern Wei Dynasty did so. During this period the process of sinofication accelerated among the non-Chinese arrivals in the north and among the aboriginal tribesmen in the south. In 534, the tribal chieftains, pushed beyond their endurance, rebelled and the dynasty toppled. For the next 50 years, North China was again ruled by non-Chinese.

Sui Dynasty

In 589, China was again reunited under the rule of the Sui Dynasty (589-618). The first Sui Emperor was a military servant who usurped the throne of the non-Chinese Northern Zhou in 581. During the next eight years he completed the conquest of South China and established his capital at Changan (now Xi'an). The brief reign of the Sui Dynasty was a time of great activity. The Great Wall was repaired at enormous cost in human life. A canal system, which later formed the Grand Canal, was constructed to carry the agriculture of the Yangtze to the north. Chinese control was reasserted over the tribes of the north and west. A prolonged campaign against the kingdom in southern Manchuria and northern Korea, however, ended in defeat. With its prestige tarnished and the population impoverished, the dynasty fell in 617 to rebels led by Li Yuan who began the Tang Dynasty. Despite the political disunity of the times, there were notable technological advances. The invention of gunpowder and the wheelbarrow is believed to date from the sixth or seventh century. Advances in medicine, astronomy, and cartography are also noted by historians.