The Dynasties of the North and South were another lengthy period of disunity and internal strife for China. It lasted from 317-589A.D. During this time period, the north and south were split and two separate successions of dynasties formed. In both the north and the south, there were different groups of rulers. Many of the dynasties overlapped each other in terms of time.

The northern dynasties consisted of the Northern Wei (386-533A.D.), the Eastern Wei (534-540A.D.), the Western Wei (535-557A.D.), the Northern Qi (550-577A.D.) and the Northern Zhou (557-588). The southern dynasties consisted of the Song (420-478 A.D.), the Qi (479-501 A.D.), the Liang (502-556 A.D.) and the Chen (557-588 A.D.).

In the north especially, Buddhism flourished. This was due partly to the fact that the nobles who had been the main followers of Confucianism moved south. The tenets of Buddhism appealed to the country people for a number of reasons, but especially because of Buddhism's promise of an afterlife, which is nonexistent in Confucianism. The poor who had suffered under the wealthy were offered hope in Buddhism's reincarnation to a better life if one lived their current life well. This meant the nobles who had oppressed them would come back to a harder life and they would come back to a better life. Another factor in the spread of Buddhism was China was ruled by non-Chinese, who were not already committed to the Confucian religion or the traditional shamanistic religions of China.