Funerary Horse Figures
Mary Harrsch, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

In 249 AD, during the Three Kingdoms Period, there was a coup d'état in the Wei Kingdom. The new ruler's younger brother conquered the Shu Han Kingdom in 263 AD, earning him the ancient feudal title "King of Jin." His son then conquered the Wu Kingdom in 280 AD, ending the Three Kingdoms Period and uniting China under the Jin Dynasty.

The Jin Dynasty quickly declined through succession crises and military rebellions known as the War of the Eight Princes, combined with invasions by nomadic people from the Eurasian steppe. As various groups settled in northern China, Jin control of the area destabilized, leading to the Sixteen Kingdoms, which fought against the Jin and each other.

Eventually the northern kingdoms were united under the Northern Wei in 386 AD, and in 420 the Jin Dynasty, forced to the southern part of China, was succeeded by the Liu Song. Both the Northern Wei and Liu Song gave way to various successor states, but the dynasties remained separated by the Yangtze River until 589 AD, and so this period is called the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Buddhism and Taoism gained popularity during this time.

In 589, the northern kingdom conquered the south and established the Sui Dynasty, bringing ethnic Han back into power, reestablishing Confucianism, and returning the capital to Chang'an.

A disastrous war with Korea between 598 and 614 led to the collapse of the Sui. Rebellions once again broke out, and the Sui Emperor Yang was murdered in 618. He was replaced by Li Yuan, who ruled the Tang State, home of the legendary Xia Dynasty, and claimed to be a descendant of Lao Tzu. Taking the regnal name Emperor Gaozu, he established the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty ruled for the next three hundred years (except for fifteen years when Wu Zeitan usurped the throne and became China's only empress regnant) and marked another cultural golden age for China.

As Chang'an grew and became a center of international cultural exchange, the Tang court made an effort to preserve and restore traditional Chinese music. Music was officially classified by the imperial bureaucracy as court music, common music, or foreign music and groups were established to preserve the former.