Liang Dynasty

Not to be confused with the 9th-century Later Liang Dynasty.

Liang 梁
← 502–587 →   →   →   →
Capital	Jiankang (502-552, 555-557) Jiangling (553-587)
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
- 502-549	Emperor Wu of Liang
- 549-551	Emperor Jianwen of Liang
- 552-555	Emperor Yuan of Liang
- 555-557	Emperor Jing of Liang
- 555-562	Emperor Xuan of Western Liang
- 585-587	Emperor Jing of Western Liang
History
- Established	30 April 502[1] 502
- Jiankang's fall to Hou Jing	24 April 549[2]
- Jiangling's fall to Western Wei	7 January 555[3]
- Emperor Jing's yielding the throne to Chen Baxian (often viewed as end of Liang)
- Disestablished	26 October 587[4] 587

The Liang Dynasty (Chinese: 梁朝; pinyin: Liáng cháo) (502-557), also known as the Southern Liang Dynasty (南梁), was the third of the Southern dynasties in China and was followed by the Chen Dynasty. The Western Liang Dynasty (西梁), with its capital established at Jiangling in 555 by Emperor Xuan, a grandson of Liang's founder Emperor Wu, claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Liang Dynasty; it was subservient to the successive Western Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, and Sui Dynasty, and was abolished by Emperor Wen of Sui in 587.

Rule

During the Liang Dynasty, in 547 a Persian embassy paid tribute to the Liang, amber was recorded as originating from Persia by the Liang Shu (Liang Book).^[5]

The ending date for Liang Dynasty itself is a matter of controversy among historians. Many historians consider the end of Emperor Jing's reign in 556, when he was forced to yield the throne to Chen Baxian, who established Chen Dynasty, to be Liang's end date. Others regard the abolition of Western Liang in 587 to be the true end of Liang.^{[citation needed]}

Sovereigns of Liang Dynasty (502-557)

Posthumous Name	Family name and given names	Period of Reigns	Era names and their according range of years
Convention: Liang + posthumous name
Emperor Wu of Liang - Wu Di (武帝 Wǔ Dì)	Xiao Yan (蕭衍 Xiāo Yǎn)	502-549[6]	Tianjian (天監 tiān-jiān) 502-519 Putong (普通 pǔ-tōng) 520-527 Datong (大通 dà-tōng) 527-529 Zhongdatong (中大通 zhōng-dà-tōng) 529-534 Datong (大同 dà-tóng) 535-546 Zhongdatong (中大同 zhōng-dà-tóng) 546-547 Taiqing (太清 tài-qīng) 547-549
Emperor Jianwen of Liang - Jianwen Di (簡文帝 jiān wén dì)	Xiao Gang (蕭綱 xiāo gāng)	549-551	Dabao (大寶 dà bǎo) 550-551
Prince of Yuzhang - Yu Zhang Wang (豫章王 yù zhāng wáng)	蕭棟 xiāo dòng	551-552	Tianzheng (天正 tiān zhèng) 551-552
Emperor Yuan of Liang - Yuan Di (元帝 yuán dì)	蕭繹 xiāo yì	552-555[7]	Chengsheng (承聖 chéng shèng) 552-555
Marquess of Zhenyang - Zhen Yang Hou (貞陽侯 zhēn yáng hóu)	蕭淵明 xiāo yuān míng	555	Tiancheng (天成 tiān chéng) 555
Emperor Jing of Liang - Jing Di (敬帝 jìng dì)	蕭方智 xiāo fāng zhì	555-557[8]	Shaotai (紹泰 shào tài) 555-556 Taiping (太平 tài píng) 556-557

Western Liang Dynasty (555-587)

Temple Names ( Miao Hao 廟號 miào hào)	Posthumous Names ( Shi Hao 諡號 )	Personal Names	Period of Reigns	Era Names (Nián Hào 年號) and their relevant range of years
Convention: Xi Liang + posthumous name
Note: some historians consider Western Liang as a continuation of the Liang Dynasty since it was founded by Xiao Cha (Emperor Xuan), a grandson of Xiao Yan (Emperor Wu), the founder of the Liang Dynasty.
Zhong Zong (中宗 zhōng zōng)	Xuan Di|宣帝 xuān dì	蕭詧 xiāo chá	555-562	Dading (大定 dà dìng) 555-562
Shi Zong (世宗 shì zōng)	Xiao Ming Di|孝明帝 xiào míng dì	蕭巋 xiāo kuī	562-585	Tianbao (天保 tiān bǎo) 562-585
Did not exist	Xiao Jing Di|孝靖帝 xiào jìng dì or Ju Gong|莒公 jǔ gōng	蕭琮 xiāo cóng	585-587	Guangyun (廣運 guǎng yùn) 562-585

Artistic heritage

Tombs of a number of members of the ruling Xiao family, with their sculptural ensembles, in various states of preservation, are located near Nanjing.^[9] The best surviving example of the Liang Dynasty's monumental statuary is perhaps the ensemble of the Tomb of Xiao Xiu (475–518), a brother of Emperor Wu, located in Qixia District east of Nanjing.^{[10] [11]}

• 

  A turtle-borne stele and a pillar; tomb of Xiao Hong

• 

  A turtle-borne stele; tomb of Xiao Dan

• 

  A bixie (winged lion); tomb of Xiao Hui

• 

  A stele-bearing turtle; tomb of Xiao Xiu

See also

• King of Liang

Notes

1. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 145.
2. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 162.
3. ^ Book of Liang, vol. 5.
4. ^ Book of Sui, vol. 1.
5. ^ Maurice Fishberg (1907). Materials for the physical anthropology of the eastern European Jews, Issues 1-6 (reprint ed.). New Era Print. Co.. p. 233. http://books.google.com/books?id=pfIQnqoQz0oC&pg=PA233&dq=shu+han+persia&hl=en&ei=ZfjjTbadEqPr0gHn1dmvBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=shu%20han%20persia&f=false. Retrieved 12 June 2011. 
6. ^ Emperor Wu's nephew Xiao Zhengde the Prince of Linhe, who joined Hou Jing's rebellion, was declared emperor by Hou in 548, but after Hou's victory over Emperor Wu in 549 was deposed and killed by Hou, and is not usually considered a true emperor.
7. ^ Emperor Yuan's brother Xiao Ji the Prince of Wuling also declared himself emperor in 552, but was defeated and killed by Emperor Yuan in 553, and is usually not considered a true emperor.
8. ^ In 558, a year after Emperor Jing had yielded the throne to Chen Baxian (and had been killed by Chen), his nephew Xiao Zhuang the Prince of Yongjia, with support from Northern Qi, was proclaimed the emperor of Liang by the general Wang Lin. In 560, Wang Lin was defeated by Chen troops, and both he and Xiao Zhuang were forced to flee to Northern Qi. It is a matter of controversy whether Xiao Zhuang should be considered an emperor of Liang.
9. ^ Mausoleum Stone Carvings of Southern Dynasties in Nanjing
10. ^ Albert E. Dien, «Six Dynasties Civilization». Yale University Press, 2007 ISBN 0300074042. Partial text on Google Books. P. 190. A reconstruction of the original form of the ensemble is shown in Fig. 5.19.
11. ^ 梁安成康王萧秀墓石刻 (Sculptures at the Tomb of Xiao Xiu) (Chinese) (description and modern photos)

References

• Book of Liang.
• History of Southern Dynasties.
• Zizhi Tongjian.
• Book of Zhou.
• History of Northern Dynasties.

External links