Xiao's Girder

We have not paid enough attention to the Late Liang Dynasty for reasons that the history of it is short and it was subordinated to North Dynasties, the research of Late Liang Dynasty is accordingly weak.However, it is very worthy to study the history of Late Liang Dynasty from the view of politics and culture. On the one hand, as the Late Liang Dynasty was subordinated to North Dynasties, the historical events of North Dynasties, thus, often had connection to Late Liang Dynasty. For instance, we would make mistakes if we neglect the function of Late Liang Dynasty when study the "Jiang Ling Event" and the changes of territorial boundaries of Northern Chou Dynasty. On the other hand, although Late Liang Dynasty owned a small territory, its culture was extraordinary prosperous. And it was keeping close cultural communication throughout its 33-year history. This helped to promote communicating between South Dynasties and North Dynasties in culture and was favorable for the unity of Sui-Tang era.The first chapter of this paper depicts the process of Late Liang Dynasty from the establishment to abolition. On the background of social turmoil, the establishment of Late Liang Dynasty was related to "prince event" and battle between Xiao Yi and Xiao Cha. Although Xiao Cha, the emperor of Late Liang Dynasty, claimed himself the legal heir to the throne, the Late Liang Dynasty, in fact, became a country controlled by North Dynasties including Xiwei Dynasty, Beizhou Dynasty and Sui Dynasty. Late Liang Dynasty struggle for independence many times, however, it never succeeded. As the political situation of North Dynasties became steady, Yang Jian, the emperor of Sui Dynasty, abolished Late Liang Dynasty, which meant a new era of unity would come.The second chapter details the role of Late Liang Dynasty played in South Dynasties and North Dynasties from the view of politics and military forces. The Late Liang Dynasty took advantage of its superior location and legality to helped Xiwei Dynasty and Beizhou Dynasty enlarge their territory. The Late Liang Dynasty obtained the area of Bazhou and Xiangzhou from the political opponent Wang Lin and Chen Baxian during the time when Chen baxian made war with Wang Lin. However, as the war was over, the area of Bazhou and Xiangzhou was lost to Chen Dynasty. After wars with Chen Dynasty, the Late Liang Dynasty and its suzerain state Beizhou Dynasty both realized that they can not gain any benefit from their enemy Chen Dynasty, and vice versa. Accordingly, a treaty was reached between them that all the three countries stopped warring and united to struggle with Beiqi Dynasty. Thus, the Beiqi Dynasty Collapsed because of this treaty.The third chapter studies the group of the officials from its shaping to disintegrating from the view social stratum and migration. The group of the officials owned common interest though it was consisted of complex sections. It can be divided into First-rate Intelligentsia, Second-rate Intelligentsia and Normal Intelligentsia, each of which played different role in Late Liang Dynasty. After Late Liang Dynasty was abolished, the majority of the officials of Late Liang Dynasty immigrated to the Sui Dynasty. As most of the clans declined, some other ones were booming during the Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty. They changed their manners doing things, which was the most important reason among the other ones. The officials of Late Liang Dynasty advanced the cultural communicating between South Dynasties and North Dynasties while they migrated, because the culture of Late Liang Dynasty was inherited from Liang Dynasty, which belongs to the cultural system of South Dynasties. For instance, Shen Chong, mast of Confucianism lived in'Late Liang Dynasty, was invited to give lectures in Changan for decades, which contribute to the communication between South and North Dynasty in Confucianism. Another example, the famous writers of Late Liang Dynasty such as Liu Zhen, Liu Bian, and Cai Yungong influenced Yang Yong and Yang Guang in writing, both of whom were the prince of Sui Dynasty.The fourth chapter researches the prevalent fashion of practicing dhyana in in Late Liang Dynasty. The Buddhist atmosphere became prevalent in Late Liang Dynasty because of the advocate of Xiao Cha and Xiao Kui both of whom loved Buddhism on the influence of family. According to the book "added stories of Buddhist monks", the dhyana practice was especially popular in Late Liang Dynasty, which was the Buddhist trait of North Dynasty. This not only because the already existing dhyana practice in this areas, but the Buddhist monks' frequent communication which brought the fashion of practicing dhyana was more important.