Rock Carvings of Southern Dynasties

In Ganjiaxiang and the nearby field to the west of Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, there exist gravestones of Xiao Xiu, Xiao Zhan, Xiao Lu and other emperors in the Liang Dynasty and the Chen Dynasty, stone pillars, stone animals and other groups of stone carvings. The emblem of Nanjing City is a stone animal. In addition, in Jurong, Jiangning, Danyang and other places near Nanjing, the remains of the Six Dynasties are well preserved. Outside the Zhongshan Gate there is a stone carving at Songwu Emperor Liu Yu's tomb. A pair of Carved Stone Qilins of the Chuning Mausoleum of Liu Yu, the founding Emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty, are the typical representation among them.

The Qilin (Wade-Giles: ch'i-lin), also spelled Kirin (from Japanese) or sometimes Kyrin, is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage. The Qilin made appearances in a variety of subsequent Chinese works of history and fiction. It is sometimes called the "Chinese unicorn" due to conflation with the unicorn by Westerners. In Chinese mythology, dragon and phoenix represent emperor and queen, while Qilin is a symbol of generals and ministers loyal to emperor. Qilin is ugly in appearance but benevolent in nature, as one of the four spirits, namely Qilin, phoenix, turtle and dragon, because it “harms no living plants and eats no moving creatures”, therefore it is a good omen that brings rui (roughly translated as "serenity" or "prosperity"), and it is believed as a kind or benevolent animal, Qilin is often depicted with what looks like fire all over its body. Folklores has it that Qilin brings children to a family, Shi Yi Ji (the Record of Missing Anecdotes), for example, says “before Confucius was born, a Qilin spit a jade book to a family in Queli.”

The Southern Dynasties (420-479 AD) comprise the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty, whose capital were at Jiankang. The Southern Dynasties, together with the Eastern Wu and the Eastern Jin, is named as the Six Dynasties in Chinese history, hence Nanjing is also called “the Capital of Six Dynasties”.

Emperor Wu of (Liu) Song (363–422), personal name Liu Yu, was the founding emperor of the Chinese dynasty Liu Song. He came from a humble background, but became prominent after leading a rebellion in 404 to overthrow Huan Xuan, who had usurped the Jin throne in 403. After that point, using a mixture of political and military skills, Liu Yu gradually concentrated power in his own hands while expanding Jin's territory in 405. In 420, he forced Emperor Gong of Jin to yield the throne to him, thus ending Jin and establishing Song. He ruled only briefly, for two years, before dying and passing the throne to his son, Emperor Shao of Liu Song. Liu Yu put much emphasis to talents and administrated country with proper means, and he was highly evaluated in history.