中英雙語話歷史 第55期:南北朝(劉宋)
In 420, Liu Yu dethroned the Emperor of Jin and declared himself as the Emperor of Song, which was known as Liu Song to distinguish from the Song set up by Zhao Kuangying after the Tang Dynasty.
Born in a humble family, Liu Yu realized that it was the uprisings of the great noble clans that caused the downfall of the Eastern Jin therefore he would by no means put the members of the prestigious on the important ead, the military power was in the hands of his sons and other important posts were filled with persons from the poor origin.
劉裕出身貧寒,又看到了東晉因大族屢屢興兵反抗而使其滅亡的教訓，故而在他登基後，不再重用名門大族，其用人也多爲貧寒出身，兵權則主要交予自己的皇子，所以沒有重蹈東晉發生大族割據的覆轍。By these measures he did successfully avoid the separate regimens set up by the noble clans, however, he failed to foresee the conflicts between his princes after his death.
然而，由於皇子相互間的爭權奪利，最後以至於相互殘殺,這是劉裕始料未及的。
In 422, Uu Yu died, his two sons Shao and Wen took the throne in succession.
公元422年，劉裕卒，宋少帝、文帝相繼即位。Worthy to mention is during Wen’s reign, there appeared a prosperous comfortable society characterized by social stability, economic growth and cultural flourishing.
其中，文帝劉義隆在位的30年間，是宋朝最繁榮的一段時期，這時南方的經濟、文化真正有所發展，出現了一個所謂“小康”的局面。There were wars broken out between the Liu Song and Wei in the north； however, both suffered great loss and dared not to launch a large-scale campaign towards each other.
此間，宋與北朝的魏國交戰雖各有勝負，但卻都損失慘重，使南北方均無能力再發生大戰。Since then, there was a relative tranquil period till in the year of 454, Emperor Wen died and was succeeded by two tyrannies of Xiao Wu and Ming of Liu Song.
從此，南北方相對穩定下來。公元454年，文帝薨。These two cruel emperors even plotted to kill their family members besides suspecting their own followers, which caused a constant chaos situation in their kingdom.
文帝死後，宋孝武帝、宋明帝先後爲帝，但他們倆都是有名的暴君，不僅對諸將疑忌，而且兄弟間相互殘殺，政治一度混亂。Xiao Daocheng, Commander of Liu, aslo the Imperial Guards, gained his own weight in this confusion, usurped the power of Liu Song and changed its name to Qi in 479, which brought an end to the end of the Liu Song.
在此期間，刺史蕭道成趁政治混亂之機而形成了較強的勢力。公元479年，蕭道成滅宋，建立齊。至此，劉宋宣告滅亡。
