SIX DYNASTIES

(AD 220589), in China, the period between the end of the Han dynasty (AD 220) and the foundation of the Sui (581; conquest of the South, 589). The name is derived from the six successive dynasties that had their capitals at the central Chinese city of Nanking during this time: the Wu (222280), the Eastern Chin (317420), the Liu-Sung (420479), the Southern Ch'i (479502), the Southern Liang (502557), and the Southern Ch'en (557589). At the same time, the North was ruled by a succession of kingdoms founded by invaders from Central Asia. Important among these were the Northern Wei, which ruled from 386 to 534/535 from Lo-yang; the Eastern Wei, between 534 and 550 at An-yang; the Western Wei, from 535 to 556/557 at Ch'ang-an; the Northern Ch'i, from 550 to 577 at An-yang; and the Northern Chou, from 557 to 581 at Ch'ang-an. That the age takes its name from the Nanking states reflects a gradual shift in Chinese civilization from its previous centre in the North to the relatively unpopulated southern area, whose capital was separated from the northern invaders by the Yangtze. As a result of the disintegration of the society and constant foreign incursions and alien reign throughout the North, many fundamental changes occurred in China during this period. The Confucian system that had ordered society was in ruins, and the growing influence of Taoism and the importation of Buddhism worked profound changes everywhere. Buddhism became a great popular religion, embraced by the northern invaders because its conception of kingship helped consolidate their authority; its emphasis on faith and good works had an effect not unlike that of the church on Europe of the early Middle Ages. Taoism also grew, spreading from its status as the religion of the few and finally becoming a great popular religion. Despite the general chaos, great advances were made in medicine, astronomy, botany, and chemistry. Wheelbarrows and kites were invented. Coal was first used as a fuel. It was also during the Six Dynasties that the great aristocratic families began to arise in Chinese society. By the end of the period, their control was so firmly established that they continued to dominate the society until the middle or end of the T'ang dynasty (618907). Inevitably, the changes and uncertainties of the age were reflected in the arts, which flowered abundantly, transcending the chaos that characterized its political record. Translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese focussed attention on literature and calligraphy. Poetry flourished, and love songs were popular everywhere; in the North, where war was always near, martial influences appeared in such poetry as the Ballad of Mu Lan, in which a girl disguises herself as a boy and wins glory at war. Literary poetrye.g., that of the lyrical Ts'ao Chieh (3rd century) and the great T'ao Ch'ien (4th5th century)was widely popular. Taoism influenced major writers to exhibit individuality of expression, rather than merely to emulate ancient masters. Conversation and intellectual discourse became fashionable. The intonations of Buddhist chants sharpened ears and heightened Chinese appreciation of the tonal qualities of their own speech. Art invaded the mundane: Yang Hsien-chih wrote Lo-yang Chia-lan chi (Record of Buddhist Temples in Lo-yang) as a record, but it was also a graceful and charming account of current affairs and folklore. Tensions between the Chinese and various northern invaders stimulated cultural rivalry and concern for the preservation of old literature and other artworks. In the North the trumpets, drums, and double-reed wind instruments used for signalling by the Tatar invaders were adapted to purely musical uses. Also in the North the Wei were quick to build Buddhist temples, and this not only won popular support but also stimulated development of the visual arts. That impetus came more slowly in the South, accelerated during the 4th century by refugees from the North and missionaries from Indochina, but Nanking evolved into the real centre of Chinese culture, with an abundance of great painters and calligraphers, as well as poetssome of whom turned to art criticism. A painter turned critic, Hsieh Ho, set forth the Six Principles of Chinese painting. The early painters of the period turned naturally to Buddhist and Taoist subjects. Tai K'uei and Ku K'ai-chih were versatile poets, musicians, painters, and sculptors who helped inspire the tradition of scholarly amateur painters. Architecture thrived with the erection of temples and monasteries, the great monuments of the 4th and 5th centuries. In the North the Wei dynasty moved its seat to Lo-yang in 495, and architects built a city of splendour for the new capital. Tiered pagodas of brick and stone were built both in the North and South, in the North with decorative touches reflecting Indian stupas, in the South with curved rooflines. Frescoes were painted and relief figures carved on temple walls and occasionally in caves; in the North some Buddhist frescoes from the period survive in caves. In sculpture, the massive bulk of figures from the Han tradition gave way to leaner winged lions and other monumental work. A new elegance of form pervaded all visual arts of the Six Dynasties, just as individuality and grace characterized the literature. Painting in the South in the early 6th century developed an ethereal style, modifying the courtly figure painting of the 5th century with flowing drapery and golden robes. As population increased in the South, there was impetus for the creation of pottery for funerary and other purposes in the lower Yangtze Valley (e.g., Yeh-ware jars and ewers). In Hopei and Hunan, northern celadon originated, with its exotic echoes of art styles imported by conquerors from the north and west. Ultimately, it was the cultural life of the period that paved the way for the eventual reunification of China under the Sui dynasty, for as successive conquerors of the North sought to consolidate their hold, they turned to Chinese idioms and imagery to validate their reign and, in the process, became absorbed and converted. In the case of the Northern Wei, the invaders were completely assimilated in less than a century, even to the point of outlawing their own original dress.