551 Gao Yang forces the emperor to yield the throne to him and the Eastern Wei become the Northern Qi.

The Western Wei attacks the Northern Qi, but fails to conquer and loses a few provinces to them.

553 The Western Wei conquer the western provinces of the Liang dynasty.

554 The Western Wei capture Jiangling (Jingzhou, Hubei), the Liang dynasty capital and execute the Liang emperor.

555 Beginning of the Western Liang state, succeeding the Liang dynasty, located in southern China. The capital is Jiangling.

557 The Western Wei become the Northern Zhou.

Chen Baxian takes power from the Liang emperor and founds the Chen dynasty.