The designation “early medieval China” denotes the centuries between the end of the Eastern Han 東漢 (27 ce–220 ce) and the Sui 隋 dynasty (581 ce–618 ce), or c. 200 ce–600 ce. During this period the Eastern Han devolved into rebellion and warlordism, ending with the founding of the Wei 魏 dynasty (220 ce–265 ce). The Wei in turn was supplanted by the Jin 晉dynasty (265 ce–420 ce). Although the new rulers managed to unify China for a brief time, the dynasty was forced south of the Yangzi River when non-Han nomadic tribes sacked Luoyang and Chang’an. Following this came the Northern and Southern Dynasties 南北朝 (420 ce–589 ce), which took place, respectively, to the north and south of the Yangzi River. Non-Han clans ruled during the Northern Dynasties 北朝 (386 ce–581 ce), whereas the Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420 ce–579 ce) era was controlled by northern emigré and southern clans. Sometimes, the period is referred to as the Six Dynasties 六朝 period or simply the Period of Disunion. Although this period was not one of grand empire building, it was acclaimed as an age of great literary, intellectual, and cultural accomplishment. Of particular cultural importance was the emergence of pentasyllabic (wuyan五言) and heptasyllabic (qiyan七言) shi詩 (lyric poetry), which began to rival and, eventually, eclipse the dominant, tetrasyllabic (siyan四言) form, which could be traced back to the Classic of Poetry (Shijing [詩經]). It should be noted, however, that although literary histories often conventionally characterize early medieval China as dominated by pentasyllabic poetry, the genre fu賦 (rhapsody, rhyme prose) was as significant in terms of cultural prestige. Also of importance was yuefu shi樂府詩 (Music Bureau poetry), often treated as a genre, but actually an amorphous poetic corpus with musical associations, from ritual hymns to local song traditions and literati imitations. The three major forms are often treated separately, but they share many thematic commonalities. Furthermore, there is a vast literature in Chinese and Japanese devoted to the poetry of this period, and the following article is intended simply as a starting point for research. This article provides a guide to the main traditional sources and modern critical editions for early medieval poetry, along with important English-language scholarship and selected scholarship in Chinese, Japanese, French, and German. Those interested in more general reference works and resources for Chinese poetry should consult the article on Traditional Chinese Poetry.
“Jonah’s gourd” and its early Byzantine interpretations