Northern Han

Overview

Northern Han (951–979) was a northern regional regime of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, occupying parts of present-day central Shanxi and limited areas of Shaanxi and Hebei. It was one of the Ten Kingdoms. Because it controlled the former Hedong region, it was also called “Eastern Han,” and because it was founded by the Liu family it was also called “Liu Han.” In 951, the fourth year of the Qianyou era of Later Han and the first year of the Guangshun era of Later Zhou, Liu Chong, a member of the Later Han imperial family and military governor based at Taiyuan, later renamed Liu Min, proclaimed himself emperor at Jinyang (Taiyuan). He continued to use the dynastic name Han and the Qianyou era name of Later Han; historians call the regime Northern Han. Centered on Taiyuan, Northern Han had a small territory and poor agricultural resources. From its establishment it followed a policy of “alliance with Liao against Zhou,” its ruler styling himself a nephew-emperor toward the Khitan Liao and relying on Liao recognition and military assistance to sustain the regime. Northern Han had four rulers and lasted about twenty-eight years. It fought repeatedly with Later Zhou and, after Later Zhou was replaced by the Northern Song, with the Northern Song. It was the last regional regime of the Ten Kingdoms to be destroyed. In 979, the fourth year of the Taiping Xingguo era of Song, Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi personally led a campaign that captured Taiyuan. The last ruler, Liu Jiyuan, surrendered, and Northern Han ended. The Ten Kingdoms were thereby fully subdued and the division associated with the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms came to an end.

Historical Development

Foundation: Liu Chong was the younger brother of Emperor Gaozu of Later Han, Liu Zhiyuan, although one account describes him as a collateral younger relative. When Liu Zhiyuan was posted to Taiyuan, Liu Chong was appointed commander of the Hedong infantry and later served as Military Commissioner of Hedong and Prefect of Taiyuan, defending the region. Liu Chong had long been on poor terms with Guo Wei in a struggle for power. He therefore quietly built an independent base in Hedong, recruited fugitives, and repaired weapons and armor in preparation for self-preservation. In the eleventh month of 950, the third year of Later Han’s Qianyou era, internal disorder broke out at the Later Han court and Emperor Yin Liu Chengyou was killed. Court discussion proposed Liu Chong’s son Liu Yun, Military Commissioner of Wuning at Xuzhou, as emperor and sent Feng Dao to receive him. Guo Wei instead overturned this arrangement, destroyed Later Han, and proclaimed himself emperor of the new Later Zhou. Liu Yun was demoted to Duke of Xiangyin and soon killed. On learning of this, Liu Chong proclaimed himself emperor at Taiyuan on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month of 951, changed his name to Liu Min, retained the dynastic name Han and the Qianyou era name, and founded the regime known as Northern Han. It controlled Bing, Fen, Xin, Dai, Lan, Xian, Long, Wei, Qin, Liao, Lin, and Shi prefectures. Its establishment marked the transformation of the political struggle between Liu Chong and Guo Wei from covert rivalry into open confrontation.

Relative high point: Northern Han had little territory and a small population, so its “high point” mainly consisted of its ability to survive with Khitan support. In the same month that Liu Chong proclaimed himself emperor, he sent envoys to Liao to seek assistance. In the sixth month of that year he agreed to a father-son relationship with the Khitan ruler and styled himself a “nephew emperor,” treating the Liao ruler as an uncle. The Khitan ruler Yelü Ruan, Emperor Shizong of Liao, then formally invested Liu Chong as “Divine and Martial Emperor of the Great Han” and his wife as Empress. In the tenth month of 951, Liu Chong joined Khitan forces to attack Jin Prefecture of Later Zhou. Their forces surrounded the city from three directions and sent raiders as far as Jiang Prefecture, briefly creating considerable military pressure. After Liu Jun succeeded Liu Chong, he shifted toward a strategy of strengthening the regime and maintaining the Liao alliance for self-defense. He reduced southern offensives and concentrated on defense. Accounts describe him as diligent in government and respectful toward the people and scholars, and Northern Han entered a comparatively stable phase.

Turning point: In 954, the first year of Later Zhou’s Xiande era, Chai Rong had just become Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou. Liu Chong, confident in his forces, took the opportunity to advance south in alliance with the Khitans in the hope of defeating Zhou. In the third month, the armies met southeast of Zezhou at Bagongyuan in the Battle of Gaoping. The Khitan commander Yang Gun deployed on high ground and did not enter the fighting. Northern Han initially broke part of the Zhou right wing, but Emperor Shizong personally supervised the battle, while Zhao Kuangyin of the palace guard and Ma Renyu and others counterattacked. The Northern Han general Zhang Yuanhui fell from his horse and was killed, and the army collapsed. Northern Han suffered a severe defeat and lost much of its main force. Liu Chong escaped back to Jinyang with only a little more than one hundred cavalry. Zhou troops then besieged Jinyang for several dozen days but withdrew because the defenses were strong and supplies insufficient. Northern Han nevertheless never fully recovered from the Battle of Gaoping.

Decline: After Gaoping, although Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou actively pursued unification, he did not again launch a major assault on Northern Han during his lifetime, and the frontier entered a period of fortified confrontation. In 960, the first year of Jianlong under the Northern Song, Zhao Kuangyin, commander of the Later Zhou palace army, launched the Chenqiao Mutiny and replaced Zhou with Song. The Northern Song inherited Later Zhou’s pressure on Hedong. After Emperor Taizu adopted a strategy of “south first, north later,” Song forces increasingly turned against Northern Han. They repeatedly attacked the outer prefectures of Taiyuan, captured and forcibly moved Northern Han residents into Song territory, and built numerous military stockades along the frontier. Liao relief, on which Northern Han depended, became increasingly delayed and ineffective, while Northern Han’s population and material resources were rapidly exhausted.

Fall: In the first lunar month of 979, the fourth year of the Taiping Xingguo era of Song, Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi personally led a campaign against Northern Han. Pan Mei and others besieged Taiyuan, while Guo Jin was stationed at Shiling Pass to block Liao relief forces. After the Liao relief army was defeated, Song forces intensified the siege. By the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the city’s situation was desperate. Liu Jiyuan sent the court officer Li Xun with a formal submission and then surrendered in plain clothing. Northern Han was destroyed and the Ten Kingdoms were fully subdued. After the city fell, Emperor Taizong, citing an incompatibility of astrological configurations, ordered Taiyuan’s old city destroyed. Prominent families and wealthy households were first moved out, after which the city was burned. The Fen and Jin rivers were then diverted to flood it, the old Jinyang city was leveled, and the administrative seat was moved elsewhere, bringing the former dynastic center to an end.

Politics and Institutions

Northern Han was a case in which a military governorship was directly elevated into an independent regime. Its predecessor was the Hedong military command of Later Han, and after the founding of the state the government remained rooted in the institutions of that command. In the central administration, Liu Chong appointed Zheng Gong, formerly a military-governor’s judge, as Secretariat official, and Zhao Hua, formerly an administrative judge, as vice minister in the Ministry of Revenue; both received the title Participant in Determining Government Matters. Li Guangmei, who had served as Palace Protocol Commissioner and was familiar with Central Plains institutions, was responsible for many Northern Han ceremonial and administrative arrangements. In general, the regime inherited the institutions of Later Han, although the brevity of the state and scattered nature of the sources make many details uncertain. One notable feature was the position of Prefect of Taiyuan, which functioned in practice as an office associated with succession: all four Northern Han rulers had held it before ascending the throne. Northern Han did not establish a formal ancestral temple and conducted sacrifices in a family style. Official salaries were extremely low. The chief councilor received only 100 strings of cash per month and a Military Commissioner only 30, with lower officials receiving still less. As a result, corruption among officials became widespread and incorrupt officials were rare.

Military and Diplomacy

Northern Han’s military strength centered on the Taiyuan garrison, developed from the army of the former regional command. After the state was founded, it continued the Five Dynasties imperial-guard system, with separate cavalry and infantry guard commands under commanders-in-chief and with subordinate units such as Gongwei, scattered commands, palace-direct units, and capture units, as well as guard formations called Tingzhi, Huwei, and Baowei. Northern Han also organized the Tuyuhun population in its territory into a separate military unit for campaigns under its own tribal leaders. Because the state was territorially small and lacked strategic depth, its confrontation with Later Zhou and Northern Song mostly took the form of struggles over frontier forts and limited engagements. Both sides garrisoned troops and constructed military stockades along the border, with some lines reportedly containing more than forty forts. Diplomatically, Northern Han consistently relied on an alliance with Liao. Liu Chong accepted a subordinate kinship relationship and tribute obligations, hoping to use Liao power in struggles over the Central Plains, and important affairs were regularly reported to Liao. Liu Jun came to believe that Liao could not be fully relied upon and shifted to strengthening internal defenses while maintaining the alliance. Under Liu Jiyuan, Emperor Jingzong of Liao somewhat improved relations with Northern Han, although Liao also occasionally pressured the regime. Northern Han also maneuvered in relation to the Tangut Li family of Xiazhou and fought the Zhe family of Fuzhou, which had aligned with Later Zhou.

Economy and Commerce

Northern Han’s territory was poor in land and resources, and the state had a narrow fiscal base. Agriculture relied heavily on millet and related grains. The region also produced high-quality grapes, and grape wine was often sent to the Khitans as tribute. Taxation continued the two-tax system, and agricultural taxation made up a large share of state revenue. Commerce remained relatively active. Merchants from Hedong traded within the regime and also traveled to Jiangnan, Fujian, and Guangdong, making commercial taxation an important source of income. Animal husbandry was also significant. Xian Prefecture had been a horse-breeding region since the Tang, and because Mount Wutai was close to the Khitan frontier, the monk Jiyong frequently purchased horses and presented them to the court as so-called “additional-capital horses,” numbering several hundred a year. A silver mine was also established at Baigu, where civilians were recruited to extract and smelt silver for state use, and Baoxing Army was established there. Nevertheless, Northern Han had to support its military internally while sending resources to the Khitans externally. Tax and labor burdens were severe, and men aged seventeen and above were forcibly conscripted. Many people fled into Later Zhou and Northern Song territory. Beginning in the reign of Emperor Taizu, Northern Song forces also captured and forcibly moved large numbers of Northern Han households; estimates place the total number of externally displaced people under the two Song emperors at two to three hundred thousand. At the time of its fall, Northern Han reportedly governed only some thirty thousand households and maintained roughly thirty thousand soldiers across its eleven prefectures and military districts, leaving the regime greatly weakened.

Culture and Society

Northern Han was the only one of the Ten Kingdoms in which Shatuo elites formed the principal ruling group in combination with Han Chinese and Tuyuhun groups. Its population was ethnically diverse. Taiyuan had long contained both Han and non-Han populations, and Khitan troops were also stationed in Northern Han, adding further diversity to Hedong. Shatuo groups retained some northern pastoral customs after entering the Central Plains, including horse-sacrifice rites and the use of arrows as tokens. Northern Han rulers and subjects strongly supported Buddhism and left important material remains. At Tianlongshan in present-day Taiyuan survives a stele dated 975, the second year of the Guangyun era, recording Liu Jiyuan’s order to build a Thousand-Buddha Pavilion at Tianlong Temple. The Ten-Thousand-Buddha Hall at Zhenguo Temple in Pingyao was built in 963, the seventh year of Tianhui, and is one of the oldest surviving timber buildings in China. Archaeological remains of a large Tang-Five Dynasties Buddhist complex in Jinyuan District, Taiyuan, may also have been associated with Northern Han royal worship. In funerary archaeology, the tomb of Consort Tai Wang, a consort of founder Liu Chong, was discovered at Qingyanghe Village in Taiyuan in 2009. Its murals are well preserved, and its anti-robbery “false tomb” design was the first such example identified in Five Dynasties tomb archaeology. The comparatively simple burial arrangement reflects elite funerary practices under Northern Han.

Emperors and Governing Core

Liu Min, Liu Jun, Liu Ji'en, Liu Jiyuan.

> This section describes each ruler’s place in the evolution of the regime; full personal biographies are carried by the corresponding person entities.

Historical Assessment and Legacy

Contemporary views: Northern Han rulers and officials regarded themselves as the legitimate continuation of Later Han and Later Zhou and Northern Song as usurping regimes. Because the state was territorially small and fiscally weak and relied on Liao for survival, contemporaries often criticized it as dependent on another power. Sima Guang nevertheless described Liu Jun as diligent in government, caring for the people, and respectful toward scholars, stating that despite persistent warfare the territory remained comparatively stable. The people of Fen and Jin, however, suffered under heavy taxation and labor service, and many fled to Later Zhou or Northern Song.

Later views: Later historians often regard Northern Han’s dependence on the Khitans and prolonged survival as emblematic of the decline of the regional regimes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Its destruction restored political unity to northern China, formally ended the Ten Kingdoms division, and enabled the Northern Song to complete its partial unification. As the last of the Ten Kingdoms to fall, Northern Han is often treated as an important marker of the end of that era. Surviving remains such as the Ten-Thousand-Buddha Hall of Zhenguo Temple and the Tianlongshan inscriptions provide important material evidence for the regime.