During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many literati devoted themselves to literary creation, and the main literary styles used were poetry and parallel prose. The landscape poems of the Southern Dynasties shone brilliantly in the hands of Xie Lingyun, and then Xie Tiao's landscape poems were fresh and mellow, known as "big and small thanks". The poet Bao Zhao was born in poverty, but he was good at expressing his cynical feelings with seven-character ancient poems. His rhyming seven-character songs have contributed to the development of seven-character poems. Wen Yuan in the north is a little lonely, but there are also many famous essays, such as Notes on Water Classics by Li Daoyuan in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Notes on Galand in Luoyang by Yang Xuanzhi, Family Instructions for Yan Family by Yan Zhitui in the Northern Qi Dynasty, etc. The most successful writer is Yu Xin from south to north. His Poem Fu is a masterpiece of North and South literature, which combines the exquisite and mature artistic skills of the South with the vigorous and hearty spirit of the North and becomes the forerunner of the poetic style in the Tang Dynasty. Parallel prose dominated the whole literary world in this period. Bao Zhao's Climbing the Thunder Shore and Sisters' Book, Yu Xin's Wucheng Fu and Jiangnan Fu are all excellent works. Generally speaking, the pursuit of formal temperament by literati in the Southern Dynasties made full preparations for the finalization and maturity of Tang Dynasty literature, especially modern poetry.
In addition, Yuefu folk songs in the Southern and Northern Dynasties can also reflect Yuefu poems in the Han Dynasty. Wu Ge and operas in the Southern Dynasties are lively and graceful, while minority songs in the Northern Dynasties are vigorous and powerful, with different styles, but they are sincere.
The changes in society, academic thoughts and literary concepts in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, as well as the aesthetic pursuit of literature, brought about changes in poetry. From the subject matter, there are homesick poems, epic poems, fairy poems, metaphysical poems and palace poems, as well as pastoral poems created by Tao Yuanming and landscape poems created by Xie Lingyun. In terms of poetic style, the five ancient poems are more colorful, and the seven ancient poems have also made significant progress. As the beginning of formal poetry, "Yongming Style" appeared. Several basic forms of China's ancient poetry, such as five laws, five unique poems, seven laws and seven unique poems, were all formed during this period. In rhetoric, the pursuit of beauty is becoming more and more popular. Algae decoration, parallel couples, melodies and allusions have become common means.