This is a timeline of the Northern and Southern dynasties in China.
380s Year Date Event 386 Northern Wei: Tuoba Gui revives the Tuoba state Later Qin: Yao Chang declares himself emperor 387 Later Liang: Lü Guang declares himself Duke of Jiuquan
390s Year Date Event 393 Wei: Conquered by Later Yan 394 Later Qin: Conquers Former Qin Later Yan: Conquers Western Yan 395 Northern Wei: Tuoba Gui defeats Later Yan at Canhepi (east-northeast of Liangcheng, Inner Mongolia) 396 Northern Wei: Tuoba Gui takes Bingzhou from Later Yan Emperor Xiaowu of Jin dies and is succeeded by Sima Dezong (Emperor An of Jin) 397 Southern Liang: Tufa Wugu declares himself Prince of Xiping Northern Liang: Duan Ye declares himself Duke of Jiankang in Zhangye 398 Northern Wei: Tuoba Gui moves his capital to Pingcheng 399 Northern Wei: Tuoba Gui declares himself emperor Sun En revolts Faxian leaves for India
400s Year Date Event 400 Western Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms): Li Gao declares himself Duke of Liang in Dunhuang Western Qin: Submits to Southern Liang and then Later Qin Southern Yan: Murong De declares himself emperor in Guanggu 401 Northern Liang: Juqu Mengxun kills Duan Ye and declares himself Duke of Zhangye 402 Huan Xuan sacks Jiankang and Sun En dies, but his lieutenant Lu Xun takes over 403 Later Liang: Surrenders to Later Qin 404 Huan Xuan declares himself emperor and dies the same year 405 Qiao Zong declares himself Prince of Chengdu 407 Xia: Helian Bobo declares himself Heavenly King Northern Yan: Gao Yun is set up as heavenly king and replaces Later Yan 409 Western Qin: Revived
410s Year Date Event 410 Liu Yu conquers Southern Yan 411 Rebel Lu Xun dies 412 Faxian returns from India 413 Jin recovers Sichuan and Qiao Zong commits suicide 414 Western Qin: Conquers Southern Liang 416 Jin takes Luoyang from Later Qin Huiyuan dies 417 Jin conquers Later Qin and Liu Yu takes Chang'an 418 Jin troops retreat from Chang'an Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms): Helian Bobo takes Chang'an 419 Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms): Helian Bobo leaves Chang'an
420s Year Date Event 420 Liu Yu (Emperor Wu of Liu Song) replaces the Jin dynasty with the Song dynasty 421 Northern Liang: Juqu Mengxun conquers Western Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms) 422 Emperor Wu of Liu Song dies and is succeeded by Liu Yifu, Emperor Shao of Liu Song 423 Kou Qianzhi sets up the Celestial Master at Pingcheng 424 Emperor Shao of Liu Song is deposed and succeeded by Liu Yilong (Emperor Wen of Liu Song) 426 Northern Wei: Attacks Xia 427 Northern Wei: Takes Chang'an and sacks the Xia capital, Tongwan 428 Xia: Retakes Chang'an
430s Year Date Event 430 Northern Wei: Takes Luoyang from Liu Song Western Qin: Abandons Yuanchuan and Fuhan to the Tuyuhun and relocates to Pingliang and Anding 431 Xia: Conquers Western Qin and are in turn conquered by the Tuyuhun 433 Xie Lingyun is killed 434 Northern Wei: Enters a marriage alliance with the Rouran Song retakes Hanzhong from Chouchi 435 Northern Wei: Attacks Northern Yan 436 Northern Wei: Conquers Northern Yan, whose sovereign Feng Hong flees to Goguryeo 439 Northern Wei: Conquers Northern Liang; so ends the Sixteen Kingdoms
440s Year Date Event 442 Northern Wei: Tuoba Tao takes part in a Daoist ritual to receive talisman registers 445 Northern Wei: Ge Wu rebels in Guanzhong 446 Northern Wei: Ge Wu dies Northern Wei: Cui Hao instigates proscription campaigns against Buddhism 449 Northern Wei: Defeats the Rouran in battle
450s Year Date Event 450 Northern Wei: Cui Hao is killed Liu Song launches a campaign against Northern Wei 451 Northern Wei: Tuoba Tao leads his army south to Guabu (southeast of Luhe, Jiangsu) Pei Songzhi dies 453 Emperor Wen of Liu Song is killed by Liu Shao, who is killed Liu Jun (Emperor Xiaowu of Liu Song) Northern Wei: Construction of the Yungang Caves begin 458 Liu Song launches a campaign against Buddhism
460s Year Date Event 464 Emperor Xiaowu of Liu Song dies and is succeeded by Liu Ziye (Emperor Qianfei of Liu Song) 465 Northern Wei: Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei dies and is succeeded by Tuaba Hong (Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei) Emperor Qianfei of Liu Song dies 466 Liu Yu (Emperor Ming of Liu Song) takes power Bao Zhao is killed 467 Northern Wei: Conquers territory north and west of the Huai River 469 Northern Wei: Takes Qingzhou and Jizhou (冀州) (north Jiangsu)
470s Year Date Event 471 Northern Wei: Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei abdicates in favor of Yuan Hong (Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei) 472 Emperor Ming of Liu Song dies and is succeeded by Liu Yu (Emperor Houfei of Liu Song) 477 Emperor Houfei of Liu Song is killed by Xiao Daocheng and is succeeded by Liu Zhun (Emperor Shun of Liu Song) 479 Xiao Daocheng (Emperor Gao of Southern Qi) replaces Liu Song with the Southern Qi
480s Year Date Event 482 Emperor Gao of Southern Qi dies and is succeeded by Xiao Ze (Emperor Wu of Southern Qi) 485 Northern Wei: The equal-field system is implemented 486 Northern Wei: The Three Chiefs system is implemented
490s Year Date Event 493 Emperor Wu of Southern Qi dies and is succeeded by Xiao Zhaoye Northern Wei: Li Chong starts constructions in Luoyang 494 Northern Wei: Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei moves to Luoyang Northern Wei: Construction on the Longmen Caves begin 495 Northern Wei: Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei bans Xianbei language in court 498 Emperor Ming of Southern Qi dies and is succeeded by Xiao Baojuan 499 Northern Wei: Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei dies and is succeeded by Yuan Ke (Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei)
500s Year Date Event 500 Northern Wei: Conquers territory south of the Huai River 501 Emperor He of Southern Qi is enthroned in Jiangling as a rival to Xiao Baojuan 502 Xiao Baojuan is killed in Jiankang and Xiao Yan kills Emperor He of Southern Qi, founding his own Liang dynasty 504 Northern Wei: Conquers Yiyang 506 Northern Wei: Annexes Chouchi 507 Northern Wei: Is defeated by Liang dynasty at Zhongli (northeast of Fengyang, Anhui)
510s Year Date Event 512 Northern Wei: Loses Qushan (southwest of Lianyungang, Jiangsu) to Liang dynasty 518 Northern Wei: Song Yun departs for the Western Regions
520s Year Date Event 520 Northern Wei: Yujiulü Anagui takes shelter 522 Northern Wei: Song Yun returns from India with 170 Buddhist sutras 523 Northern Wei: The Six Frontier Towns rebel under Poliuhan Baling 525 Northern Wei: Yujiulü Anagui defeats Poliuhan Baling Northern Wei: Du Luozhou rebels in north Hebei 526 Northern Wei: Ge Rong rebels in north Hebei 527 Northern Wei: Xiao Baoyin rebels in Guanzhong and kills Li Daoyuan 528 Northern Wei: Erzhu Rong kills Yuan Zhao and enthrones Yuan Ziyou (Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei) Northern Wei: Ge Rong is defeated 529 Emperor Wu of Liang enters the Tongtai Monastery
530s Year Date Event 530 Northern Wei: Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei kills Erzhu Rong but is killed by Erzhu Zhao 532 Northern Wei: Gao Huan enthrones Yuan Xiu (Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei) 533 Northern Wei: Erzhu Zhao kills himself 534 Northern Wei: Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei escapes to Chang'an Eastern Wei: Gao Huan sets up Yuan Shanjian as Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei 535 Western Wei: Yuwen Tai kills Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei and enthrones Yuan Baoju (Emperor Wen of Western Wei) 536 Tao Hongjing dies Eastern Wei: Chan Buddhism founder Bodhidharma dies 537 Battle of Shayuan: Yuwen Tai defeats Gao Huan
540s Year Date Event 541 Lý Bôn rebels and attacks Liang officials 543 Eastern Wei: Gao Huan defeats Yuwen Tai at Luoyang 544 Lý Bôn establishes the Early Lý dynasty and becomes Lý Nam Đế (Southern Emperor) 545 Chen Baxian drives Lý Nam Đế into the mountains, where he is eventually killed, but resistance continues under Lý Thiên Bảo 547 Eastern Wei: Gao Huan dies and Hou Jing defects to Liang dynasty 548 Hou Jing rebels in Shouyang and lays siege to Jiankang 549 Hou Jing seizes Taicheng Emperor Wu of Liang dies and is succeeded by Xiao Gang (Emperor Jianwen of Liang) Xiao Cha defects to Western Wei Eastern Wei: Conquers area south of the Huai River
550s Year Date Event 550 Western Wei: Conquers area east of the Han River (Hubei) Northern Qi: Gao Yang (Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi) replaces Eastern Wei with Northern Qi and conquers areas east of Luoyang The fubing system is introduced 551 Hou Jing kills Emperor Jianwen of Liang and declares himself emperor 552 Wang Sengbian and Chen Baxian take Jiankang Hou Jing is killed Xiao Ji declares himself emperor in Jiangling 553 Xiao Ji is killed by Emperor Yuan of Liang's generals Western Wei: Conquers Sichuan Northern Qi: Rouran submit after behind being defeated by Turks 554 Emperor Yuan of Liang is captured by Western Wei and killed 555 Western Liang: Xiao Cha declares himself emperor in Jiangling Wang Sengbian sets up Xiao Yuanming but Chen Baxian kills Sengbian and sets up Xiao Fangzhi (Emperor Jing of Liang) 556 Northern Qi: Attack on Jiankang fails Western Wei: Yuwen Tai dies 557 Northern Zhou: Yuwen Hu replaces Western Wei with Northern Zhou Chen Baxian replaces the Liang dynasty with the Chen dynasty 558 Western Liang: Takes Changsha and Wuling 559 Chen Baxian dies and is succeeded by Chen Qian (Emperor Wen of Chen)
560s Year Date Event 560 Northern Zhou: Yuwen Hu kills Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou and sets up Yuwen Yong (Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou) Northern Qi: Gao Yan (Emperor Xiaozhao of Northern Qi) ousts Emperor Fei of Northern Qi and sets himself up as emperor 561 Northern Zhou: North Hubei is lost to the Chen dynasty Northern Qi: Emperor Xiaozhao of Northern Qi dies and is succeeded by Gao Zhan (Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi) 565 Northern Qi: An attack by Northern Zhou is repulsed Northern Qi: Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi abdicates to Gao Wei 566 Emperor Wen of Chen dies and is succeeded by Chen Bozong (Emperor Fei of Chen) 568 Emperor Fei of Chen is deposed 569 Chen Xu (Emperor Xuan of Chen) takes power
570s Year Date Event 570 Chen dynasty establishes trade relations with the Early Lý dynasty 572 Northern Zhou: Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou kills Yuwen Hu 573 Northern Qi: Loses areas north of the Changjiang to the Chen dynasty, including the Huai River valley 574 Northern Zhou: Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou launches proscription against Buddhism 575 Northern Qi: Forces are defeated by Chen dynasty at Lüliang Northern Zhou: Attacks Northern Qi 576 Northern Zhou: Takes Jinyang 577 Northern Zhou: Annexes Northern Qi 578 Northern Zhou: Repulses a Chen attack on Pengcheng and captures Wu Mingche Northern Zhou: Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou dies and is succeeded by Yuwen Yun (Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou) 579 Northern Zhou: Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou abdicates to Yuwen Chan (Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou)
580s Year Date Event 580 Northern Zhou: Seizes area north of the Changjiang Northern Zhou: Yang Jian becomes de facto holder of power Northern Zhou: Yuchi Jiong and Wang Qian rebel but fail 581 Sui dynasty: Yang Jian (Emperor Wen of Sui) replaces the Northern Zhou with the Sui dynasty 582 Emperor Xuan of Chen dies and is succeeded by Chen Shubao 583 Sui dynasty: Emperor Wen of Sui moves into Daxingcheng (Xi'an, Shaanxi) and abolishes the commanderies while promulgating the Kaihuang Code 584 Sui dynasty: Digs the Guangtong Canal 587 Sui dynasty: Annexes Western Liang 588 Sui dynasty: Launches expedition against the Chen dynasty 589 Sui dynasty: Takes Jiankang and annexes the Chen dynasty; so ends the Northern and Southern dynasties
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