The Southern Dynasties: An Interview with Professor Andrew Chittick

Between 304 and 589 CE, China was divided into rivaling regimes occupying North and South China. While the north was controlled by a series of non-Han Chinese peoples, ultimately culminating in the Xianbei Northern Wei, the south was ruled by ruling houses of Han Chinese descent. In this companion episode to the interview ith Scott Pearce on the Northern Wei, Professor Andrew Chittick joins us to discuss the Southern Dynasties, from their development, to their society and culture, to their relationship with their northern neighbor, and finally to their legacy.

Contributors:

Andrew Chittick:

Andrew Chittick is the E. Leslie Peter Professor of East Asian Humanities and History at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL. His research focuses on the culture of early south China and maritime trade relations with Southeast Asia.  He is the author of numerous articles and two full-length books: Patronage and Community in Medieval China: The Xiangyang Garrison, 400-600 CE (SUNY Press, 2010) and The Jiankang Empire in Chinese and World History (Oxford University Press, 2020). The latter book introduces a ground-breaking new perspective on the history and political identity of what is now south China in the early medieval period (3rd-6th centuries CE), including its evolving ethnic identity, innovative military and economic systems, and engagement with broader Sino-Southeast Asian and Buddhist cultures. 

Yiming Ha:

Yiming Ha is the Rand Postdoctoral Fellow in Asian Studies at Pomona College. His current research is on military mobilization and state-building in China between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, focusing on how military institutions changed over time, how the state responded to these changes, the disconnect between the center and localities, and the broader implications that the military had on the state. His project highlights in particular the role of the Mongol Yuan in introducing an alternative form of military mobilization that radically transformed the Chinese state. He is also interested in military history, nomadic history, comparative Eurasian state-building, and the history of maritime interactions in early modern East Asia. He received his BA from UCLA, his MPhil from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and his PhD from UCLA. He is also the book review editor for Ming Studies.

Credits:

Episode no. 22

Release date: May 9, 2025

Recording date: February 10, 2025

Recording location: St. Petersburg, FL/Los Angeles, CA

Images:

Stone pixiu 貔貅 (winged lion), from the tomb of Xiao Hui, a prince of Southern Liang (502-557), in Nanjing. (Image Source)

Greatest extent of the Liang Dynasty, one of the southern dynasties. (Image Source)

Liang Emperor Wu, who reigned the longest out of all the Southern Dynasty emperors, from 502 to 549. His reign saw the growing importance of Buddhism. (Image Source)

A scroll of tributary emperors paying homage to the Liang emperor. The Southern Dynasties oversaw a prosperous commercial economy, with trading networks spanning East and Southeast Asia. Song copy of the original Liang painting. (Image Source)

A Tang dynasty copy of Wang Xizhi's (303–361), Lantingji xu, one of the most famous pieces of calligraphy in Chinese history. The Southern Dynasties are known for their cultural production. (Image Source)

Selected References:

Chittick, Andrew. The Jiankang Empire in Chinese and World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Dien, Albert E. Six Dynasties Civilization. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

Dien, Albert E. and Keith N. Knapp, eds. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 2, The Six Dynasties, 220–589. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Graff, David A. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300–900. London and New York: Routledge, 2002.

Lewis, Mark Edward. China between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.