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Created page with "*''Dates: 220-589'' The Six Dynasties Period of Chinese history was a period of disunity following the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220, up until the reunificat..."
*''Dates: [[220]]-[[589]]''

The Six Dynasties Period of Chinese history was a period of disunity following the fall of the [[Han Dynasty]] in [[220]], up until the reunification of China under the [[Sui Dynasty]] in [[589]]. During this span of time, a number of states rose and fell, including the [[Western Jin Dynasty]], which briefly united [[China proper]] from [[280]] until [[317]], but six states of southern China are considered the eponymous "six dynasties" of the period: the [[Eastern Wu]], [[Eastern Jin]], [[Liu Song]], [[Southern Qi]], [[Liang Dynasty]], and [[Chen Dynasty]].

This same period saw even greater fragmentation in northern China, where from around [[304]] until roughly [[439]], sixteen different polities vied for power and territory. Thirteen were dominated by peoples other than the [[Han people]].

The chaotic situation brought some philosophers to pursue an avenue now known as ''[[xuanxue]]'' - dark or mysterious learning. It focused on the concept of nothingness, or non-being (''wú''), with some thinkers such as [[Wang Bi]] writing of the original nothingness (''benwu'') from which all emerged, and others simply focusing on meditation in order to reach or achieve nothingness.

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==References==
*Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 84.

[[Category:Historical Periods]]
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