12 CultureShock! China
agriculture and handicrafts, culture and commerce—during
this time period, the Chinese invented compasses, sundials
and water clocks, and devised the lunar calendar.
However, population shifts from the Yellow River in the
North to the Yangtze River in the south of the kingdom,
combined with the increasing frequency of border raids by
tribes in the North (a key reason behind the migration to the
south) pushed yet another dynastic government to the limit
of its ability to control the provinces from the centre. China
witnessed another dynasty collapsed, and again, conflict and
chaos ensued—350 years of it.Chaos and Disunity
Chaos and disunity reigned from AD 220 through to
AD 581, known most often as the ‘Three Kingdoms’ period.
Barbarians from the north once again invaded the emperor’s
domain, assimilating themselves into the society left behind
by the many Han Chinese moving south.The Three Kingdoms
The three kingdoms of the first half of this period of disunity were
Wei, Shu and Wu, each with an elder statesman at its helm. The most
famous of these was Zhuge Liang (181–234), prime minister of the
State of Shu. To this day, even among the hip-hop Chinese youths in
the big cities, Zhuge Liang is a name that prompts one to ‘give one’s
all’ to a task, reflective of Zhuge Liang’s own intense dedication to
‘bending himself to the task and exerting himself to the utmost till
his dying days’.The Three Kingdoms Period was followed by the Jin
(265–420), the Southern and Northern dynasties (420–589),
and then eventually the Sui dynasty (581–618).
Despite the turmoil of these centuries, two important
developments occurred: Buddhism took root, and one
of China’s most well-known pieces of literature was
created—The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a story that
romanticises the intrigue and eventual fall of a fictional
imperial court.
Buddhism had most likely already been a subject of
Chinese philosophical discussion around the middle of the