Six Dynasties (220 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Chinese dynasties in China during the periods of the Three Kingdoms (220–280), Jin dynasty (265–420), and Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–589).This era immediately follows the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220, and is an era of disunity, instability and warfare.The term generally refers to two groupings of dynasties during that period: Six dynasties with capitals in Jiankang (the modern-day Nanjing), and Six dynasties with legitimate lineage.The Six Dynasties with capitals in Jiankang are: Eastern Wu (222–280) Jin Dynasty (265–420) Liu Song Dynasty (420–479) Southern Qi (479–502) Liang Dynasty (502–557) Chen Dynasty (557–589)This listing is based on the states that maintained national capitals at Jiankang near the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang ).

Xu Song in the Tang Dynasty wrote a book, Jiankang Shilu, that provides a historical account of Jiankang, which gave rise to this scheme of naming.The Six Dynasties with legitimate lineage are: Cao Wei (220–265) Jin Dynasty (265–420) Liu Song Dynasty (420–479) Qi Dynasty (479–502) Liang Dynasty (502–557) Chen Dynasty (557–589)Sima Guang, in his book Zizhi Tongjian, used the era names of these six dynasties as the timeline to describe this period of history.

Later Chinese called this period the Six Dynasties period, or Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties.