Liang Dynasty

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Liang Dynasty (梁朝 (Pinyin: Liáng cháo)) (502-557), also known as Southern Liang Dynasty (南梁), was the third of Southern dynasties in China, followed by the Chen Dynasty. Western Liang Dynasty (西梁), with its capital established at Jiangling in 555 by Emperor Xuan, a grandson of Liang's founder Emperor Wu, claimed to be the legitimate successor of Liang Dynasty; it was subservient to the successive Western Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, and Sui Dynasty, and was abolished by Emperor Wen of Sui in 587. Some scholars claim that this Dynasty represents a "golden era" of ancient China, and that the Dynasty's fall from grace seriously impeded China's growth into a great power. This theory, however, is controversial.

The ending date for Liang Dynasty itself is a matter of controversy among historians. Many historians consider the end of Emperor Jing's reign in 556, when he was forced to yield the throne to Chen Baxian, who established Chen Dynasty, to be Liang's end date. Others regard the abolition of Western Liang in 587 to be the true end of Liang.

[edit] Sovereigns of Liang Dynasty (502-557)

Posthumous Name	Family name and given names	Period of Reigns	Era names and their according range of years
Convention: Liang + posthumous name
Emperor Wu of Liang - Wu Di (武帝 Wǔ Dì)	Xiao Yan (蕭衍 Xiāo Yǎn)	502-549^[1]	Tianjian (天監 tiān-jiān) 502-519 Putong (普通 pǔ-tōng) 520-527 Datong (大通 dà-tōng) 527-529 Zhongdatong (中大通 zhōng-dà-tōng) 529-534 Datong (大同 dà-tóng) 535-546 Zhongdatong (中大同 zhōng-dà-tóng) 546-547 Taiqing (太清 tài-qīng) 547-549
Emperor Jianwen of Liang - Jianwen Di (簡文帝 jiān wén dì)	Xiao Gang (蕭綱 xiāo gāng)	549-551	Dabao (大寶 dà bǎo) 550-551
Prince of Yuzhang - Yu Zhang Wang (豫章王 yù zhāng wáng)	蕭棟 xiāo dòng	551-552	Tianzheng (天正 tiān zhèng) 551-552
Emperor Yuan of Liang - Yuan Di (元帝 yuán dì)	蕭繹 xiāo yì	552-555^[2]	Chengsheng (承聖 chéng shèng) 552-555
Marquess of Zhenyang - Zhen Yang Hou (貞陽侯 zhēn yáng hóu)	蕭淵明 xiāo yuān míng	555	Tiancheng (天成 tiān chéng) 555
Emperor Jing of Liang - Jing Di (敬帝 jìng dì)	蕭方智 xiāo fāng zhì	555-557^[3]	Shaotai (紹泰 shào tài) 555-556 Taiping (太平 tài píng) 556-557

^ Emperor Wu's nephew Xiao Zhengde the Prince of Linhe, who joined Hou Jing's rebellion, was declared emperor by Hou in 548, but after Hou's victory over Emperor Wu in 549 was deposed and killed by Hou, and is not usually considered a true emperor.
^ Emperor Yuan's brother Xiao Ji the Prince of Wuling also declared himself emperor in 552, but was defeated and killed by Emperor Yuan in 553, and is usually not considered a true emperor.
^ In 558, a year after Emperor Jing had yielded the throne to Chen Baxian (and had been killed by Chen), his nephew Xiao Zhuang the Prince of Yongjia, with support from Northern Qi, was proclaimed the emperor of Liang by the general Wang Lin. In 560, Wang Lin was defeated by Chen troops, and both he and Xiao Zhuang were forced to flee to Northern Qi. It is a matter of controversy whether Xiao Zhuang should be considered an emperor of Liang.

[edit] Western Liang Dynasty 555-587

Temple Names ( Miao Hao 廟號 miào hào)	Posthumous Names ( Shi Hao 諡號 )	Personal Names	Period of Reigns	Era Names (Nián Hào 年號) and their relevant range of years
Convention: Xi Liang + posthumous name
Note: some historians consider Western Liang as a continuation of the Liang Dynasty since it was founded by Xiao Cha (Emperor Xuan), a grandson of Xiao Yan (Emperor Wu), the founder of the Liang Dynasty.
Zhong Zong (中宗 zhōng zōng)	Xuan Di\|宣帝 xuān dì	蕭詧 xiāo chá	555-562	Dading (大定 dà dìng) 555-562
Shi Zong (世宗 shì zōng)	Xiao Ming Di\|孝明帝 xiào míng dì	蕭巋 xiāo kuī	562-585	Tianbao (天保 tiān bǎo) 562-585
Did not exist	Xiao Jing Di\|孝靖帝 xiào jìng dì or Ju Gong\|莒公 jǔ gōng	蕭琮 xiāo cóng	585-587	Guangyun (廣運 guǎng yùn) 562-585