Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period

Overview

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was a transitional era between the fall of Tang and the Northern Song's reunification of most of the Chinese heartland. In 907, the fourth year of Tianyou, Zhu Wen forced Emperor Ai of Tang to abdicate, proclaimed himself emperor, founded Later Liang, and established his capital at Kaifeng; this marked the beginning of the Five Dynasties. The Central Plains then passed successively through Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou, all short-lived regimes frequently founded through war or usurpation. At the same time, southern and regional states included Yang Wu, Southern Tang, Wuyue, Min, Southern Han, Jingnan (Nanping), Ma Chu, Former Shu, Later Shu, and Northern Han, based at Taiyuan. The New History of the Five Dynasties and later historians grouped the most prominent of these as the Ten Kingdoms. In 960, the seventh year of Xiande, Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao Mutiny, replaced Later Zhou, and founded the Northern Song. Song then successively subdued Jingnan, Later Shu, Southern Han, Southern Tang, Nanping, and Wuyue, and in 979, the fourth year of Taiping Xingguo, destroyed Northern Han. The long period of coexistence among the Five Dynasties and regional states thereby ended, and most of the Chinese heartland returned to unified rule. The era was marked by rapid dynastic turnover in the north, regional military separatism, and political intervention by military commanders, while the economic disparity between north and south increased. Southern regions were comparatively stable and prosperous, and the period also provided important conditions for the development of ci poetry, woodblock printing, and Chan Buddhism.

Historical Development

Establishment: After the Huang Chao Rebellion, regional military governors became increasingly autonomous. Zhu Wen, the Military Commissioner of Xuanwu, used Bianzhou as his base and gradually absorbed rival powers. In 904, the first year of Tianyou, he had Emperor Zhaozong of Tang killed and installed Emperor Ai; the following year he killed eunuchs and court officials in the White Horse Calamity. In the fourth month of 907, Zhu Wen forced Emperor Ai to abdicate and founded Later Liang, conventionally marking the beginning of the Five Dynasties. Other regional commanders either recognized its authority or established their own regimes, and the southern states entered the political stage.

Height: Although Later Liang was short-lived, it briefly maintained a degree of order in the Central Plains. Later Tang, founded by the Shatuo ruler Li Cunxu, destroyed Later Liang and for a time brought much of the Yellow River region under one government; its territory was among the largest of the Five Dynasties. In the south, Former Shu, Wu, Ma Chu, and other regimes were established relatively early, while Southern Tang ruled the Jiang-Huai region and Wuyue controlled Liangzhe. These states inherited many Tang institutions and cultural traditions, and their economies and cultures prospered to varying degrees. This was a comparatively stable stage of the period.

Turning point: In 936, the third year of Qingtai, Hedong Military Commissioner Shi Jingtang sought Khitan aid against the last emperor of Later Tang, agreeing to become a vassal, address the Khitan ruler as father, and cede northern territory. Khitan forces helped destroy Later Tang, and Shi Jingtang founded Later Jin. In 938, the third year of Tianfu, Later Jin formally transferred the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun to the Khitan. The Central Plains thereby lost important northern defensive zones and sections of the Great Wall, fundamentally changing the strategic balance with northern steppe powers and allowing Khitan, later Liao, forces easier access southward.

Decline: Late in Later Jin, Shi Chonggui broke with the Khitan. Khitan armies advanced south and destroyed Later Jin in 946; in the following year they briefly occupied Kaifeng and proclaimed imperial rule before withdrawing in the face of resistance. Meanwhile, Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor in 947 and founded Later Han. Later Han also lasted only briefly. After its emperor was killed, Guo Wei founded Later Zhou in 951. Repeated warfare in the Central Plains damaged society and the economy. Among the Ten Kingdoms, Ma Chu and Min were absorbed by Southern Tang before new divisions emerged, while Northern Han held Taiyuan with Khitan support. The various regimes increasingly contracted and constrained one another.

End: In 960, the seventh year of Xiande, Zhao Kuangyin, Inspector-General of the Palace Command, was acclaimed emperor in the Chenqiao Mutiny and replaced Later Zhou with the Northern Song. Song then subdued Jingnan and Hunan in 963, Later Shu in 965, Southern Han in 971, and Southern Tang in 975. In 978 Wuyue and Qingyuan in the Zhangzhou–Quanzhou region submitted to Song, and in 979 the Northern Song destroyed Northern Han. The long period of competing states thereby ended and most of the Chinese heartland returned to unified rule.

Politics and Institutions

The Five Dynasties broadly inherited Tang institutions while modifying them for wartime conditions. The Three Departments and Six Ministries remained in operation, although authority was often shared among palace confidants and Grand Councilors. The State Finance Commission, which oversaw salt and iron, expenditure, and revenue, and the Bureau of Military Affairs became increasingly established institutions, later inherited by the Northern Song. Regional military governors remained powerful, and the central courts strengthened palace and metropolitan armies, including the Palace Army and the Imperial Guard, in an effort to restrain local strongmen; these developments provided an institutional foundation for the stronger centralization of the Song. The Ten Kingdoms generally modeled their official systems on Tang institutions. Southern Tang and Wuyue placed comparatively greater emphasis on civil governance, while Ma Chu, Min, and others often retained more of the practices of regional military administrations. Recruitment through imperial examinations was repeatedly suspended and restored. Military intervention in politics was pronounced, while hereditary privilege, recommendation, and advancement through military merit coexisted with examination recruitment. Rulers were frequently killed or displaced through coups and internal conflict, and abdications were often formalities rather than stable constitutional transfers. Because the sources are complex and the states differed substantially, details are treated in the individual polity entries.

Military and Diplomacy

The Central Plains dynasties alternately fought and allied with the Khitan, later Liao. Shi Jingtang of Later Jin ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun in exchange for Khitan support, while Later Han and Northern Han also relied on the Khitan to varying degrees. Under Later Zhou, Emperor Shizong launched major campaigns: from 956 to 958 he attacked Southern Tang in the Huainan region and seized fourteen prefectures north of the Yangtze, which remained under Later Zhou and then Song; in 959 he led a northern expedition against the Khitan, recovering Ying, Mo, and Yi prefectures and the passes of Waqiao, Yijin, and Yukou, before falling ill and dying. These gains were later lost to Liao in the early Northern Song. Warfare and diplomacy among the Ten Kingdoms and the Central Plains alternated repeatedly. Southern Tang fought Later Zhou and then Song over Huainan, Wuyue repeatedly aided the Central Plains regimes against Southern Tang, and Northern Han survived through Khitan support. Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Han were all founded by Shatuo military elites, giving cavalry and metropolitan armies particular importance. Tribute, alliances, hostages, and marriages accompanied warfare as tools of diplomacy.

Economy and Commerce

Repeated warfare damaged the Yellow River economy, although recovery began under Later Zhou. Kaifeng grew as a major city because of its position on canal routes. The southern states enjoyed comparatively stable conditions, and Jiang-Huai, Liangzhe, Bashu, Lingnan, and other regions experienced significant commercial and economic development. Southern Tang, Wuyue, Later Shu, and Southern Han were all known for prosperity, and the Qiantang sea walls were constructed during this period. Monetary circulation, commercial routes, and cities such as Jinling, Hangzhou, and Chengdu expanded, making the southward shift of the economic center increasingly visible. North–south trade and overseas contacts continued, and shipbuilding, silk, tea, and ceramics were important industries. Tax systems and the balance between state monopolies and private commerce varied among regimes and are treated in their individual entries.

Culture and Society

The period linked Tang and Song cultural developments. Warfare displaced many scholars, but rulers of Southern Tang, Wuyue, Later Shu, and other southern states patronized literature, painting, and printing. Woodblock editions of the Nine Classics were produced, and the Huajian school of ci poetry, Southern Tang poets such as Feng Yansi, and Li Yu played important transitional roles in the history of ci. Chan Buddhism also flourished. Southern celadon traditions such as Yue ware and northern white wares continued to develop. Socially, the old aristocratic clans weakened after the late Tang, while examinations, military merit, and appointment by recommendation shaped new scholar and military elites. Patronage of literature and Buddhism in the southern states encouraged temple construction and educational culture.

Constituent Polities and Representative Rulers

The Five Dynasties of the Central Plains were Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou. The Ten Kingdoms usually refer to Yang Wu, Southern Tang, Wuyue, Min, Ma Chu, Former Shu, Later Shu, Southern Han, Jingnan, and Northern Han.

Historical Assessment and Legacy

Contemporary observers often focused on the rapid succession of regimes and the violence of the period. Zhu Wen and other usurpers were frequently condemned, and scholars often portrayed the era as one of disorder, while people in the southern states sometimes looked back on their prosperity and cultural life with regret after annexation. Later historical scholarship treats the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms as a crucial transition between Tang and Song: it inherited Tang institutions and cultural forms while helping establish military, fiscal, and political arrangements later developed under Song. Song historians placed the Five Dynasties in a formal dynastic sequence and treated the Ten Kingdoms separately in works such as the New History of the Five Dynasties and the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms. Modern scholarship emphasizes the period's role in the southward shift of the economy, the development of ci poetry and woodblock printing, patterns of transregional exchange, and the long-term strategic effects of the loss of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.