Northern and Southern dynasties

Period in Chinese history from 420 to 589 Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589) Northern dynasties Southern dynasties Northern Wei 386–535 Liu Song 420–479 Southern Qi 479–502 Liang 502–557 Western Wei535–557 Eastern Wei534–550 Northern Zhou557–581 Northern Qi550–577 Chen557–589 Western Liang555–587 Northern and Southern dynastiesApproximate territories of the Northern Wei dynasty (blue) and Liu Song dynasty (red) in 440Approximate territories of the Northern Qi dynasty (dark blue), Northern Zhou dynasty (light blue), Chen dynasty (red), and Western Liang dynasty (pink) in 560Chinese南北朝TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinNán běi cháoBopomofoㄋㄢˊ ㄅㄟˇ ㄔㄠˊWade–GilesNan2 pei3 ch'ao2Tongyong PinyinNán běi cháoIPA[nǎn pèɪ ʈʂʰǎʊ]Yue: CantoneseYale RomanizationNaàhm Bāk ChìuhJyutpingnaam4 bak1 ciu4IPA[nam˩ pɐk̚˥ tsʰiw˩]Southern MinTâi-lôLâm-pak-tiâu Part of a series on theHistory of China Timeline Dynasties Historiography Prehistoric Paleolithic (c. 2.43 Ma – c. 12 ka) Mesolithic (c. 10 – c. 7 ka) Neolithic (c. 8500 – c. 2000 BC) Yellow, Yangtze, and Liao civilization Ancient Xia (c. 2070 – c. 1600