南朝

Náncháo

popculture

Meanings

1 Southern Dynasties (420–589)
2 succession of four Han-Chinese courts (Song, Qi, Liang, Chen) based at Jiankang

Characters

Examples

南朝的首都是建康,即今天的南京。

Náncháo de shǒudū shì Jiànkāng, jí jīntiān de Nánjīng.

The capital of the Southern Dynasties was Jiankang, today's Nanjing.

南朝四百八十寺,多少楼台烟雨中。

Náncháo sìbǎi bāshí sì, duōshǎo lóutái yān yǔ zhōng.

Four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties, how many pavilions stand in the misty rain.

Tips

culture

Du Mu's famous line 南朝四百八十寺 captures how aggressively Southern Dynasty emperors patronised Buddhism — Emperor Wu of Liang (梁武帝) repeatedly renounced the throne to become a monk, each time buying his way back at enormous cost to the treasury.

Stroke Order

南 nán

朝 cháo