Chapter 24 Flashcards
Who is Erzhu Rong?
A general of the Bei Wei army stormed Luoyang, sacked the city, and placed Wei Xiaozhuang on the Bei Wei throne. However, his mother, the empress, was killed in the process
Who is Liang Wudi?
The royal name for the general Xiao Yan, took the southern Chinese throne in 502 and began the southern Liang Dynasty.
Who is Qi Gaodi?
An official seized the Liu Song throne by force, declared himself emperor and founded the new southern Qi dynasty.
Why did Xiao Yan act as a prime minister, and support the rule of
Qi Hedi’s brother?
In China, a general could not simply take power through strength; he had to fit into the dynastic system. At that time, Xiao Yan did not yet fit into this system
What bureaucratic and military accomplishments did Liang Wudi
make, in Liang dynasty?
-Liang Wudi built five new Confucian schools for training officials and required all heirs to the throne to be educated in Confucian ethics.
-He strengthened frontier defenses and successfully repelled an attack from the Bei Wei.
How did Buddhism shape Liang Wudi’s China?
Liang Wudi, a devoted Buddhist, sponsored Indian monks to travel and preach in the capital. He built many Buddhist temples, and by the end of his reign, there were nearly thirteen thousand temples within Southern Liang. He also ordered the gathering of the first Chinese Tripitaka, a comprehensive collection of Buddhist scriptures.
What is the juntian, or “equal-field” system? What was the purpose of it?
The juntian, or “equal-field” system, was a land system in the Bei Wei kingdom where the government owned the land and assigned it to individuals for farming and tax payment. Its purpose was to prevent noblemen from accumulating large amounts of land to pass down to their heirs, which could lead to independent hereditary kingdoms within the larger kingdom.
What was the Bei Wei strategy for dealing with nomads that attacked the kingdom?
The Bei Wei managed to control the threat of nomadic invasion by incorporating the nomadic groups into their borders and integrating them into the Bei Wei army.
What were the circumstances of the Heyin Massacre?
After Wei Xiaoming’s death, the empress dowager and her lover appointed a two-year-old as a figurehead emperor. In response, Erzhu Rong crowned a cousin of Wei Xiaoming as the rightful emperor, allowing his army to sack Luoyang. They captured the empress and drowned her and the child emperor in the Yellow River. Erzhu Rong then ordered the murder of two thousand of the empress dowager’s supporters in the Heyin Massacre
What was the cause of the Bei Wei civil war? What was the result of the civil war?
Wei Xiaozhuang married Erzhu Rong’s daughter to strengthen their trust, but he was still afraid of the general and had Erzhu Rong assassinated. This led to a civil war between Erzhu Rong’s relatives and field army against the emperor and the Luoyang army. By 534, the civil war resulted in the division of Bei Wei into two separate kingdoms: Eastern Wei and Western Wei.
