Toward the close of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yellow Turban Uprising broke out. The local despots and landlords, while suppressing the uprising soldiers, consolidated their positions and gradually a feudalistic, separatist situation evolved. The Wei Kingdom, the Shu Kingdom and the Wu Kingdom arose in tripartite balance. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty sixteen Kingdoms arose , fighting with each other incessantly . Then the rivaling Southern and Northern Dynasties came into being for over two hundred years.

    In this period, the economy in the South of China developed relatively greatly. The minority nomads in the north and the west migrated to the interior, signifying the merging of nationalities. Both economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries were extended southward to Linyi (central Vietnam)and Funan (Cambodia ),eastward to the Korean Peninsula and Japan , and westward to the mid-Asian Kingdoms and to the Daqin (the Rome Empire )Culturally, metaphysics prevailed in China. Buddhism, protected by the secular rulers, rivaled with Daoism and spread quickly. In arts and literature, this period witnessed the works of the "seven essayists in the Jian'an reign period", the poems and essays of Tao Yuanming, the work on literary criticism by Liu Xie , "Appreciation Literature Like Sculpting a Dragon".the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi , etc., the paintings by Gu Kaizhi , etc., and the grotto arts represented by the Dun Huang Grottos , all of which have attained everlasting fame .

    In science and technology, Zu Chongzhi was the first mathematician to calculate accurately the ratio of circumference into seven digits behind the decimal point, leading the world by almost one thousand years. The "Main Tactics for Concerted Efforts of the People",written by Jia Sixie, has been recognized as a masterpiece in agricultural history in the world.

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