Editing Northern and Southern dynasties (section)

{{Short description|Period in Chinese history from 420 to 589}}
{{about|the Chinese historical period|other uses|Northern and Southern Courts period (disambiguation)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Copy edit|date=January 2024}}
{{Original research|date=January 2024}}
{{Rough translation|1=zh|date=January 2024}}
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{{use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{use British English|date=August 2017}}

{| class="wikitable floatright" style="margin: 0 0 0.8em 0.8em; font-size: 90%;"
|+Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589)
|-
! colspan="2" | Northern dynasties
! colspan="2" | Southern dynasties
|- style="height: 2ex"
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" align="center" | [[Northern Wei]] {{gray|386–535}}
|colspan="2"|[[Liu Song dynasty|Liu Song]] {{gray|420–479}}
|-style="height: 2ex"
| colspan="2" | [[Southern Qi]] {{gray|479–502}}
|- style="height: 2ex"
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | [[Liang dynasty|Liang]] {{gray|502–557}}
|-
| [[Western Wei]]<br/>{{gray|535–557}}
| [[Eastern Wei]]<br/>{{gray|534–550}}
|-
| [[Northern Zhou]]<br/>{{gray|557–581}}
| [[Northern Qi]]<br/>{{gray|550–577}}
| [[Chen dynasty|Chen]]<br/>{{gray|557–589}}
| [[Western Liang (555–587)|Western Liang]]<br/>{{gray|555–587}}
|}
{{Infobox Chinese
|pic=Southern and Northern Dynasties 440 CE.png
|piccap=Approximate territories of the Northern Wei dynasty (blue) and Liu Song dynasty (red) in 440
|picsize=250px
|pic2=Northern and Southern Dynasties 560 CE.png
|piccap2=Approximate territories of the Northern Qi dynasty (dark blue), Northern Zhou dynasty (light blue), Chen dynasty (red), and Western Liang dynasty (pink) in 560
|picsize2=250px
|c=南北朝
|w={{tone superscript|Nan2 pei3 ch'ao2}}
|p=Nán běi cháo
|tp=Nán běi cháo
|mi={{IPAc-cmn|n|an|2|-|b|ei|3|-|ch|ao|2}}
|bpmf=ㄋㄢˊ ㄅㄟˇ ㄔㄠˊ
|y=Naàhm Bāk Chìuh
|ci={{IPAc-yue|n|aam|4|-|b|ak|1|-|c|iu|4}}
|j=naam4 bak1 ciu4
|tl=Lâm-pak-tiâu
}}
{{History of China|BC=1}}

The '''Northern and Southern dynasties''' ({{zh|c=南北朝|p=Nán běi cháo}}) was a period of political division in the [[history of China]] that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the [[Sixteen Kingdoms]] and the [[Eastern Jin dynasty]]. It is sometimes considered as the latter part of a longer period known as the [[Six Dynasties]] (220–589).<ref name=Gascoigne>{{cite book|last1=Gascoigne|first1=Bamber|title=The Dynasties of China: A History|year=2003|publisher=Carroll & Graf|location=New York|isbn=978-0-786-71219-9|url=https://archive.org/details/dynastiesofchina00gasc}}</ref> The period featured civil war and political chaos, but was also a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spread of [[Mahayana Buddhism]] and [[Taoism]]. The period saw large-scale migration of [[Han Chinese|Han people]] to lands south of the [[Yangtze]]. The period came to an end with the unification of [[China proper]] by [[Emperor Wen of Sui|Emperor Wen]] of the [[Sui dynasty]].

During this period, the process of [[sinicization]] accelerated among the non-Han ethnicities in the north and among the indigenous peoples in the south. This process was also accompanied by the increasing popularity of Buddhism in both [[northern and southern China]] and Daoism gaining influence as well, with two essential Daoist canons written during this period. Notable technological advances occurred during this period. The invention of the [[stirrup]] during the earlier [[Jin dynasty (266–420)]] helped spur the development of [[heavy cavalry]] as a combat standard. Historians also note advances in medicine, [[astronomy]], [[mathematics]], and [[cartography]]. Intellectuals of the period include the mathematician and astronomer [[Zu Chongzhi]] (429–500), and astronomer [[Tao Hongjing]].