Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Buddhism spread rapidly not only in the north but also among the Six Dynasties of the south. In the great age of Buddhism in China from the fifth to the ninth centuries, Confucianism was largely left in eclipse and the Buddhist teachings as well as Buddhist art had a profound effect upon Chinese culture, both north and south." [Fairbank: China, p. 73]
"For centuries, the old Han dynasty had held the Chinese provinces together in one sprawling and unified whole, the eastern parallel to the Roman empire in the west. But by AD 220, the Han had fallen to rebellion and unrest. The empire fractured apart into thirds, and the Three Kingdoms that took over from the Han—the Cao Wei, the Shu Han, and the Dong Wu—were unstable, shifting and battling for control. . . . The monasticism of the early fifth century was centered around the teachings of the newly developed Amitabha sect." [Bauer: Medieval World, p. 19-20]
"Between 420 and 464, the Liu Song displace the Jin, the Bei Wei of the north brew magic potions, and the first state persecution of Buddhists begins." [Bauer: Medieval World, p. 100]