Environment, Epidemics and Power in Early Medieval China : Epidemics and Authority’s strategies in the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Early Medieval China

This paper aims to scrutinize the epidemics which brokeout in the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Early Medieval China, for solving the Korean Ancient epidemic enigma. The ancient epidemic of Korea mostly came from China, specifically the eruptive epidemics - measles and small pox. From the research, I realized that the climates change of the Early Han Dynasty brought mass migration of the Northern barbarian tribes and it derived so many wars between the tribes and Chinese Han. Chinese Han exiled near the Yangze River and they established the Southern Dynasties. Not any of The Northern and the Southern Dynasties lasted long as many as the former dynasty, like Han. One of the main causes was epidemics in the Northern and Southern regions. The Northern barbarian and the Chinese Han people not only encountered so many new virus and bacteria in their new territories but they also conveyed their own endemic diseases to the indigenous people. The wars of two dynasties made the situation worse, and the population as well as the production decreased. That s why China had divided for almost 350 years ever since Han Empire was collapsed, the longest division in its history. It seems like that the first domino was the environmental changes and it made chain reactions such as mass migration, war and epidemic. The authorities tried to cope with new diseases which massacred the subjects and they developed medicine as well as medical system.