Crimson and Snow White

A historical novel of legends and intrigue, recounting major events and figures of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It is not a strictly factual historical novel like Cai Dongfan's Romance of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, since there would be little point in writing another one like that. Instead, the story is woven together through fictional accounts of real historical figures. It focuses mainly on the rise and fall of the Southern Qi and the reforms of the Northern Wei, as well as the story of the successive dynasties founded by the Xiao clan of Nanlanling, the Qi and Liang, and their rise in turn... [Since there was no suitable tag for the plot, I chose “Three Kingdoms.” Three means many, after all, so it still fits. The Northern and Southern Dynasties followed the period when the Sixteen Kingdoms, which emerged after the Yongjia upheaval at the end of the Western Jin, coexisted with the Eastern Jin. Then came the long standoff between north and south. This prolonged division brought frequent border conflicts and lasting misery to the people on both sides. China was divided at the time, suffering the consequences of the great division and turmoil that followed the fall of the Western Jin, yet still failing to reunify. Fu Jian's failure to defeat the Eastern Jin and unify China is one regrettable example. Still, compared with the Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Northern and Southern Dynasties were relatively stable within their respective realms. Finally came the so-called “Later Three Kingdoms” era: the Southern Liang, followed by Chen, alongside the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, and the Western Wei and Northern Zhou.] The Northern and Southern Dynasties were also an age of decline, known in Buddhist terms as the Age of the Final Dharma. Religious belief was more diverse at the time, and traditional Confucianism had lost its position of supremacy. Yet this very diversity ushered in a golden age of intellectual freedom, laying the historical foundations for the openness and inclusiveness of the Sui and Tang dynasties.