Est. 1968
Terracotta Figure of an Official
Height: 24 cm
China, Northern Qi Period (549-577)
sold
The Northern Dynasties (420 – 589)
nachtegaalslaantje 1 • 5211 le ’s-hertogenbosch • the netherlands
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iban: nl53fvlb0225735911 • bic: fvlbnl22 • vat nl 148693003 b01 • k.v.k. 55447376
Est. 1968
In this period political instability in the north was even greater than that in the south. From 304 - 439, a period known
by the Chinese as ‘the Sixteen Kingdoms’, a succession of northern tribal rulers fought for contro. Political power
rapidly changed hands with short-lived warring states. In the late 4th century, however, a nomadic people of Turkic
origin – the Xian Bei or Toba Wei – acquired dominance, and in 386 they defeated their last rival, unifying northern
China under what was now known as the Northern Wei empire, the first of the five ‘Northern Dynasties’.
Although the emperors of the Northern Dynasties were never recognized by Chinese historians, events in the north
had a decisive influence on Chinese history. Behind the military confrontation lay a clash of ideas and ideals which
was eventually solved by an incorporation of northern elements into Chinese civilization. Despite political division
and economic stagnation – large areas returned to a system of bartering – this was a time of intellectual ferment,
with a continual cross-fertilization from the refugees flowing north and south. The greatest common influence was,
however, Buddhism, which entered China both through Central Asia along the Silk Roads and from the south. With
its universal offer of salvation, regardless of nationality and rank, Buddhism cut across political frontiers, and with its
missionaries came merchants and travellers bringing Western inventions and art motifs, further enriching intellectual
and artistic life.
Slowly the northerners became more Chinese.. The northerners were always heavily outnumbered by the local
population and intermarriage was common. More importantly, having no written language, the northerners took to
using Chinese script. In 494, when the Northern Wei moved their capital south - from Datong to Luoyang - the
Northern Wei emperor Xiao Wendi (‘Filial Cultured Emperor’) imposed a drastic policy of sinicization at court.
Northerners were obliged to speak Chinese, wear Chinese dress, take Chinese surnames and, deprived of their
tribal titles, were reclassified like Chinese families of standing.
The wealth of the north came from land reform. Inheriting the same financial system as the south, in which land taxes
were light and the main tax burden borne by free peasants (in poll tax and forced labour), the northerners suffered
the same problem of dwindling central revenues. The great landowners and Buddhist establishments (estimated in
554 at 30.000 with 2 million monks and nuns), took so much money and manpower out of the system that strong
central government was impossible. In 485, Xiao Wendi introduced a radical land reform known as the Equal Fields
system, designed to maintain or increase the number of independent peasants. All state land was nationalized and
every peasant family allotted an equal share of about 19 acres (7,5 ha). Of this a small proportion could be held
permanently for long term crops such as mulberry trees for silk, but the main part returned to the state on death for
redistribution. Although these measures could not regain land already in private hands they prevented further
erosion and stabilized central finances, creating a sound economic basis which made the future reunification
possible.
In 535, military revolts against the sinicization at court had split the Wei into rival Eastern and Western Wei
kingdoms, followed respectively by the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties. This resulted in a partial return to
northern styles with an emphasis on the military and the foreign nature of Buddhism. This reverse however, was only
brief. In 581, four years after the Zhou had defeated the Qi and re-imposed northern unity, a Zhou general, Yang
Jian, usurped the throne. This was the man who so easily overcame the effete Southern Chen in Nanjing, and
founded the Sui dynasty as emperor Wendi, ruler of all China.
nachtegaalslaantje 1 • 5211 le ’s-hertogenbosch • the netherlands
tel . +31 (0)73 - 614 62 51 • www.vanderven.com • [email protected]
iban: nl53fvlb0225735911 • bic: fvlbnl22 • vat nl 148693003 b01 • k.v.k. 55447376
Est. 1968
Like the overture to a great opera, the Sui heralded the revival of imperial glory. Although the ‘empire’ had survived
in name during the Period of Disunion, its rulers had been mostly military usurpers, governing only a few provinces,
and failing to attract the elusive aura of legitimacy. In 40 years, the Sui introduced the elements needed for genuine
imperial rule – a strongly centralized military and civil administration with a sound financial base. They created an
effective canal system linking north and south, and while using Buddhism as a unifying force, they revived
Confucianism as a source for good administration and legitimacy.
Provenance:
Private Collection, The Netherlans
nachtegaalslaantje 1 • 5211 le ’s-hertogenbosch • the netherlands
tel . +31 (0)73 - 614 62 51 • www.vanderven.com • [email protected]
iban: nl53fvlb0225735911 • bic: fvlbnl22 • vat nl 148693003 b01 • k.v.k. 55447376