History of Social Life in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (History of Social Life in Ancient China)

The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were a historical period that was far more divided than unified. The cultures of the north and the south developed along different trajectories; but at the same time, it was a period of fierce collision between the cultures of the north and the south. From the development and collision, a new peak of prosperity was born in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Cao Pi once said: "The elders of the third generation know how to dress, and the elders of the fifth generation know how to eat and drink. It is difficult to know how to dress and eat." At that time, dressing and eating were not only to keep out the cold and to satisfy the hunger, but also to mark a person's identity and status. In this era of war and separation, "Du Kang is the only one who can relieve our worries" has become the consensus of most scribes. The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove pushed the trend of drinking to a climax and made it one of the symbols of celebrities. "Book of Rites: Hunyi" says: "Those who have a faint ceremony will combine the best of the two surnames, to serve the ancestral temple, and to carry on the descendants." However, when we carefully read the weddings of this period, we can find much more than this. Belief and worship of ghosts and gods are a magical ancient painting. After thousands of years of dust are wiped away, people can hear the cry of distant souls. "History of Social Life in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties" written by Zhu Dawei, Liu Chi, Liang Mancang, and Chen Yong starts from the historical background, class structure, grassroots political power and social organizations of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and discusses various social strata and their secular life from the aspects of clothing, dietary customs, city palaces and gardens, marriages, funerals, beliefs, worship of ghosts and gods, and entertainment at that time.