Foolish dreams: the Southern Dynasties and the Northern Dynasties

About Chapter 89 Story Introduction: After the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao unified the north, he fought several battles with the Liu Song Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River, and gained the strategic initiative, Tuoba Tao immediately led a large army to the south, trying to destroy Liu Song in one fell swoop, Liu Song Emperor Liu Yilong also announced to the world, recruited soldiers to resist desperately, and finally the Northern Wei and Liu Song were both defeated, and each other was unable to fight again, Liu Song and the Northern Wei Dynasty The confrontation between the north and the south was formed, and Tuoba Tao also became tyrannical and impermanent because the ideal of unifying the world was not achieved, and was finally killed by the eunuch Zong Ai, The ministers of the Northern Wei Dynasty supported Tuoba Jun to succeed to the throne, Tuoba Jun killed Zongai, recovered the power of the court, and implemented a series of reforms, which gradually stabilized the Northern Wei Dynasty. The failure of Tuoba Jun's reform and his untimely death led to the confusion of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

In this story, the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao was resolutely resisted by the people of Jiangnan when he conquered the Liu Song Dynasty in the south, and had to order the withdrawal of the army, and the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Liu Song Dynasty thus reached a strategic pattern of confrontation between the north and the south. In the course of the Northern Expedition of the Liu Song Dynasty, its main army suffered a serious setback, and it can be seen that the people of the Northern Wei Dynasty also shared the same hatred for the Northern Expedition of the Liu Song Dynasty. It can be seen that the Northern Wei Dynasty still has a certain foundation for the rule of the northern region.

From this, we can also see that during this period, the people of the Jiangnan region have been very different from the people of the northern region in terms of language, culture and customs, although they all belong to the same Chinese nation, but the people of the north and south have completely different values, and even the degree of recognition of the two dynasties in the north and south is extremely similar, so the confrontation between the north and the south is a political situation that will inevitably be formed by the historical trend of national integration.

Because the differences between the people and nationalities of the Northern and Southern Dynasties were too great, it was impossible to achieve the unification of China in a very short period of time, and the breaking of this situation could only be achieved when the people in the Jiangnan region gradually accepted the newly formed Chinese culture, or also merged with the nomadic peoples, and the situation of unification of the world could be formed. In fact, in the historical stage after the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Northern Dynasty and the Southern Dynasty are constantly engaged in war and peace, and the people of the North and the South are also in the confrontation and war between the North and the South, and they have begun to carry out a new round of integration, and it must be the Northern Dynasty that leads this new round of national integration, because the Northern Dynasty has a deeper understanding of the multi-ethnic regime, and there is also a more advanced system, and the Sinicization reform implemented by the Northern Dynasty is very thorough. In the end, the northern dynasty became the most progressive regime of the times, while the southern dynasty was constantly suppressed and eroded by the northern dynasty under the counteroffensive of the family, which led to the emergence of a new Chinese culture formed in the northern region, and the people in the southern region gradually began to accept the situation, so that with the end of the integration period of the great national integration, the world will inevitably be reunited, and it will be marked by the advanced northern dynasty to defeat the relatively backward and weak southern dynasty.

As for the history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, we should still focus on the history of the Northern Dynasties. Because the history of the Northern Dynasties is the struggle and war between the newly formed Han ancestors around the formation of a new Chinese culture. Through these battles and wars, it has greatly promoted the nomads who have basically completed the sinicization and the Han ancestors who have continuously accepted the nomadic culture to further complete the sinicization, and these battles and wars are also more or less affecting the Han ancestors in the south. In fact, after the collapse of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the heroes of the troubled times all belonged to the Sinicized Hu and Huhua Han people without exception, and in the process of continuous conquest in the northern land, they completely formed a new Han ancestors, and also formed a new ruling class in feudal society. It can be seen that the history of the Northern Dynasties is still a history of ethnic integration, and it is also a history of struggle of the Shu landlord class to finally enter the historical stage.

And in comparison. The history of the Southern Dynasties pales in comparison. Because half of the history of the Southern Dynasty was a history of the struggle of the great families to become the ruling class of the feudal dynasty again. But the big families, because of their innate hypocrisy and selfishness, have no way to control the power they have obtained. In the four regimes of the Southern Dynasty of Song, Qi, Liang and Chen, in addition to the Liu Song Dynasty achieved certain political results, the Southern Qi Dynasty and the Southern Liang Dynasty built by the family were basically under the blow of the Northern Dynasty, and its land was gradually lost.

It is impossible to separate the history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. However, the difference between the regimes of the north and the south during the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties was too great, and its internal composition of the Northern Dynasty was obviously more complex than that of the Southern Dynasty, but the Northern Dynasty strengthened its rule through a series of reforms, and the attack and encroachment on the Southern Dynasty did not stop for a moment, while the Southern Dynasty also took advantage of the complex situation within the Northern Dynasty to carry out the corresponding Northern Expedition.

This situation of confrontation between the north and the south was not until after the establishment of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, as the prototype of the Shu landlord class, the Guanlong aristocratic group appeared on the historical stage. As the most advanced feudal dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty successively obtained large tracts of land in the Southern Dynasty in the Southern Expedition, and also obtained the jurisdiction of Yizhou, which is today's Sichuan region, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty defeated the Northern Qi regime that occupied the Kwantung region in the process of eastward expansion. With the Huhua Han Yang Jian replacing the Northern Zhou Dynasty and establishing the Sui Dynasty, this also marks the end of the great ethnic integration blood type area and the Shu landlord class completely entered the historical stage, the chapter of the history of Chinese civilization has opened a new page, and the Southern Dynasty has come to the end of history under the southern expedition of the Sui Dynasty. The Sui Dynasty also completely ended the nearly 300-year-long war between the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and reunified the land of China. And with the Shu landlord class, it completely became the ruling class of feudal society. In the successive feudal dynasties after the Sui Dynasty, there has never been such a bloody situation of national integration and such a long period of war.

From this, we can also see that the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms is the predecessor of the Northern Dynasties, and the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty can also be called the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Even in our description of the historical stages. There is no historical period of the Sixteen Kingdoms at all, and the history of this stage is often summarized through the two Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. But in fact, the various tribes of the nomads during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and the Han ancestors in the northern region have made indelible contributions to the history of the Chinese nation. We should not forget this history.

With the regretful drinking of the Yangtze River, the historical pattern of confrontation between the north and the south was formed, and the history of ethnic integration during the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms also came to an end. However, the remnants of the Sixteen Kingdoms still write a new chapter in the history of the Northern Dynasties. However, with the arrival of the last stage of the bloody period of ethnic integration and the final completion of the period of national integration, the history of the Northern Dynasties created by these Sinicized Hu and Hu Han people did not present a complex historical situation like the overlapping regimes of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. On the contrary, they gradually showed their new style and appearance on the historical platform based on the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the end, due to the influence of Chinese culture, the Sinicized Hu people completed the transformation to the Huhua Han people, and since then, the Huhua Han people have become the new masters of the northern land. At the same time, it also became a new Han ancestor formed during the bloody period of ethnic integration.

After the heroic Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao was killed, his eldest grandson Tuoba Tao inherited the throne of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and a series of reforms he carried out opened the prelude to the final completion of the period of national integration of the nomads in the northern region. After Tuoba Jun, the Northern Wei Dynasty appeared in the famous Northern Wei Dynasty Xiaowen Emperor Sinicization reform. This also pushed the movement of the nomads in the northern region to finally complete the sinicization to a climax.

Today, during the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms and even the Northern Dynasties, many living habits, languages and cultures formed have deeply influenced our people today. When we write the history of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, we often regard Tuoba Tao and the Yangtze River as the end of the history of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. However, I think that Tuoba Tao's drinking horse Yangtze River only formally ended the troubled era of the Sixteen Kingdoms, and established the situation of confrontation between the North and the South, and did not have much impact on the remnants of the Sixteen Kingdoms. On the contrary, after the death of Tuoba Tao, the rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty intervened in the great integration of nationalities through official political means in order to maintain their rule, which accelerated the Sinicization rhythm of the various tribes of the nomads in the northern region, and completely put an end to the reappearance of the chaotic situation in the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms. Therefore, the Sinicization reform of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty is the final outcome of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. If there is no Sinicization reform, the Northern Wei Dynasty is likely to be divided again after Tuoba Tao was killed, and it is very likely that the bloody war scene will be staged again on the northern land. However, the internal contradictions of the Northern Wei Dynasty were finally resolved by the Sinicization reform, and the history of the Sixteen Kingdoms period would not be repeated, and the Sinicization reform marked the complete end of the Sixteen Kingdoms period.