Chapter 23 Section Five: The Period of Great Split: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty was never truly unified again. Foreign invasions, feudal separatist regimes, generals' rebellions, and peasant uprisings continued to occur, and the emperor escaped from the capital several times.But the Tang Dynasty still exists in name, and at certain stages, the power of the feudal towns was hit, and the power of the court was restored for a time. Forced to obey.In 907 (the fourth year of Tang Tianyou), Zhu Wen abolished Emperor Ai of the Tang Dynasty to stand on his own, and even the superficial unity no longer existed, and entered the period of great division of the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms".

This stage has many similarities with the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: more than a dozen regimes appeared before and after, and sometimes more than ten regimes existed simultaneously within China; the south and the north were basically in a state of division; each regime The territory of China is not large, and some regimes only have a small area; three of the "Five Dynasties" in the north were established by non-Han Shatuo people, and there were also non-Han regimes such as Khitan (Liao) and Dali.The difference from the period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Sixteen Kingdoms period is that the period of division was much shorter, and the life span of each regime was generally shorter; the south was also in the process of division, while the Yellow River Basin had frequent regime changes, but its territory was relatively stable.

The territory of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms is roughly as follows. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the power of the court had fallen into the hands of Zhu Wen. In 904 (the fourth year of Tianfu), Zhu Wen forced Tang Zhaozong to move eastward to Luoyang. Chang'an palaces and residences were all demolished and became ruins ever since. In 907, Zhu Wen abolished the puppet emperor Tang Ai, the throne, and the country name was Liang. Bianzhou (now Kaifeng City, Henan) was the eastern capital of Kaifeng, the actual capital, and the former eastern capital Luoyang was the western capital.Since many independent regimes already existed in the north and the south, Liang’s territory was limited to today’s Henan and Shandong, Huaibei in Anhui, the northwest corner of Jiangsu, most of the north of the Yangtze River in Hubei, eastern Shaanxi, southern Shanxi, and southern Hebei. In 923 (the third year of Liang Longde), it was destroyed by the (later) Tang Dynasty.

Shatuo leader Li Ke used the opportunity to lend troops to help Tang suppress the Huangchao uprising. He occupied the central and northern parts of Shanxi and the Hetao area. He was named King of Jin at the end of Tang Dynasty.In Liang Shi, his son Li Cunxu [xu preface] succeeded to the throne, and he always opposed Liang. He proclaimed himself emperor in 923, the country was named Tang, and the history was called Later Tang.In the same year, Liang was destroyed and the capital was moved to Luoyang.As Li Maozhen, the king of Qi who originally ruled the west of Guanzhong and Longdong, became a minister, and Lulong and other towns were cancelled, the later Tang Dynasty basically unified the north, and its northern boundary was advanced to the north of Bohai Bay, Yanshan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Ningxia. The western boundary expanded To Helan Mountain, Longdong line.Only Dingnan Town in today's northern Shaanxi and northeast of Ningxia has maintained relative independence.In the third year of Tongguang (925 A.D.), Qianshu was destroyed, and the territory was increased to the east of Qionglai Mountain in present-day Sichuan, northwestern Hubei, southern Shaanxi and southeastern Gansu.But in the third year of Changxing (932 A.D.), Meng Zhixiang occupied the old land of Qianshu.In the third year of Qingtai (936 A.D.), it was destroyed by the Later Jin Dynasty and Khitan.

Shi Jingtang from Shatuo was originally the governor of Hedong in the later Tang Dynasty, stationed in Jinyang (now southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi), and rebelled against Jin in 936.In order to defeat the Tang army, Shi Jingtang professed his vassalship to Khitan, promised to cede Lu Longyiyi and the land north of Yanmen Pass, and begged for reinforcements.The Lord Khitan led his army to rescue Jinyang and defeated the Tang army.Khitan established Shi Jingtang as the "Emperor of the Great Jin". Shi Jingtang ceded the sixteen prefectures to Khitan and promised to donate 300,000 pieces of silk every year.These sixteen prefectures are: You (governing today’s Beijing), Ji (governing today’s Ji County, Tianjin), Ying (governing today’s Hejian County, Hebei), Mo (governing today’s Renqiu City, Hebei), Zhuo (governing today’s Zhuozhou City, Hebei) , Tan (governed today’s Miyun County, Beijing), Shun (governed today’s Shunyi County, Beijing), Xin (governed today’s Zhuolu County, Hebei), GUI (governed today’s Huailai County, Hebei), Confucianism (governed today’s Yanqing County, Beijing), Wu ( It ruled today's Xuanhua County, Hebei), Yun (governed today's Datong City, Shanxi), Ying (governed today's Ying County, Shanxi), Huan (governed today's northeast of Shuozhou City, Shanxi), Shuo (governed today's Shuozhou City, Shanxi), Wei (governed today Yu County, Hebei Province), historically known as Yanyun Sixteen States, or Youyun Sixteen States. The 45-year-old Shi Jingtang readily recognized the 34-year-old Khitan lord Yelu Deguang as his father, and claimed to be his son emperor; he captured Luoyang under the support of the Khitan back then.In the third year of Tianfu (938 A.D.), Luoyang was the capital of Xijing, and Daliang (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province) was the actual capital of Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo.The northern boundary of the Later Jin Dynasty has retreated to the middle of Hebei and Shanxi, and the rest of the boundary is roughly the same as that of the Later Tang Dynasty.In the third year of Kaiyun (946 A.D.), the Khitan army invaded Kaifeng, and the later Jin Dynasty fell.

In 947, Liu Zhiyuan (a native of Shatuo), the original governor of Hedong, disobeyed Liao (Khitan changed his name) and proclaimed himself emperor in Taiyuan.In the same year, the Liao army was forced to retreat, Liu Zhiyuan went to Daliang, changed the name of the country to Han, and was called Later Han in history.In the second year of Qianyou (949 A.D.), the rebellion in the territory was quelled, and the territory was roughly restored to the state of the late Jin Dynasty.At the end of the next year, general Guo Wei proclaimed himself emperor, and the Later Han Dynasty died. In 951, Guo Wei changed the name of the country to Zhou, which is known as Hou Zhou in history.In the fourth year of Xiande (957 A.D.), the land between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River in the Southern Tang Dynasty was seized, and the southern border was pushed to the east of Dongting Lake along the Yangtze River.In the sixth year of Xiande, the southernmost of the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, Ying and Mo, were recovered, and Baigou (Juma River) was the boundary with Liao.But the central part of Shanxi has been separated by the Northern Han Dynasty.At the beginning of the seventh year of Xiande, Zhao Kuangyin launched a mutiny in Chenqiaoyi and proclaimed himself emperor, and died in the later Zhou Dynasty.

In the second year of Tang Tianfu (902 A.D.), Yang Xingmi was named King of Wu, occupied the Jianghuai area, took Yangzhou (now the city) as his capital, and renamed it Jiangdufu.The territory of the late Wu period roughly corresponded to present-day Jiangxi, the south of the Huaihe River in Anhui, the land between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River in Jiangsu, the west of Wuxi in the south of the Yangtze River, the northeast of northern Jiangsu, the east of Hubei, and the land between the Huaihe River and the Dabie Mountains in Henan. It was replaced by Southern Tang in 937. In the third year of Wu Tianzuo (937 A.D.), Wu Zhuzhuan was located in Xu Zhigao, and the name of the country was changed to Qi.In the following year, Xu Zhigao resumed his surname Li, changed his name to 昪 [bian Bian], changed the name of the country to Tang, and was known as Southern Tang in history.With Jiangdu as the eastern capital, Jinling Mansion (now Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province) was changed to Jiangning Mansion and the Western Capital, which is the actual capital.In the third year of Baoda (945 A.D.), Fujian was destroyed. In the following year, he stayed in Congxiao to occupy Quanzhou. The area around Fuzhou was occupied by Wu Yue.In the ninth year of Baoda, Chu was destroyed, and the territory increased to the present-day Hunan and eastern Guizhou, but was expelled by the old Chu tribe the following year.Baoda lost the north of the Yangtze River in fifteen years.In the eighth year of Song Kaibao (AD 975), it fell to Song Dynasty.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Qian Liu [liu Liu] occupied Wuyue. In the first year of Kaiping (907 A.D.), Hou Liang was granted the title of king of Wuyue. Later, most of them also accepted the title and year of the Central Plains Dynasty, but they were actually independent regimes.The capital was Hangzhou (now the city), and it was called the West Mansion; Yuezhou (now Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province) was the East Mansion.Wuyue State owned present-day Zhejiang Province and the land east of Suzhou in southern Jiangsu. In 947, troops were sent to assist Li Da, who occupied Fuzhou against the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the territory expanded to the lower reaches of the Minjiang River, which is now Fuzhou.After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, it has been obeyed. In the third year of Taiping Xingguo (AD 978), the Wuyue family moved to Kaifeng and the country was eliminated.

At the end of Tang Dynasty, Ma Yin occupied what is now Hunan. In 907, after accepting Liang, he was granted the title of King of Chu.In the second year of Tiancheng in the Later Tang Dynasty (927 A.D.), he was granted the title of King of Chu and established his capital in Changsha.Owns present-day Hunan, eastern Guizhou, Guangxi Hongshui River and north of Xunjiang River. It was destroyed in the Southern Tang Dynasty in 951. In 952, Liu Yan, the old general of Chu, expelled the Southern Tang Army and voted for Hou Zhou.In the third year of Xiande (956 A.D.), Zhou Xingfeng occupied Hunan, and was entrusted by the Later Zhou Dynasty as the military governor of Wuping Army, and moved to Wuling (Langzhou, now Changde City, Hunan Province).Song Jianlong four years (AD 963) was destroyed.

At the end of Tang Dynasty, Wang Shenzhi possessed the territory of present-day Fujian Province.In the third year of Kaiping in Houliang (AD 909), he was granted the title of King of Fujian, with Fuzhou (now the city) as his capital.Fujian has always belonged to the Central Plains Dynasty in name, and used the names of Houliang and Houtang, but it is actually an independent regime. In 933, Wang Lin [Lin Lin] proclaimed himself emperor and changed Fuzhou to Changlefu.In the late period of civil strife, it was destroyed in the Southern Tang Dynasty in 945. After the fall of Fujian, the Quanzhou garrison general Liu Congxiao expelled the Southern Tang army in 946 to stand on his own. Later, he was granted the title of King of Jinjiang by the Southern Tang Dynasty.Li (Ren) Da, an old Fujian general, occupied Fuzhou and surrendered to Wuyue.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Liu Yin was the envoy of Guangzhou Jiedu, and he was named the King of Nanping in the third year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (909 A.D.), which actually became an independent regime.By the time his son Liu Yan (later renamed Yanyan) succeeded to the throne, he had already occupied the land south of the Hongshui River and Xunjiang in today's Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi.In the third year of Zhenming (917 A.D.), Liu Yan proclaimed himself emperor in Guangzhou (now the city), and the name of the country was Dayue. The next year it was changed to Han, and it was called Southern Han in history.With Guangzhou as the capital, it was renamed Xingwangfu. In 951, Chu was destroyed in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and took the opportunity to seize the southern part of it, expanding its territory to the whole of Guangxi and Chenzhou, Hunan.In the fourth year of Kaibao (971 A.D.), it was destroyed in Song Dynasty. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Jian had occupied Dongchuan and Xichuan, and was granted the title of King of Shu. In 907, when the Later Liang Dynasty took over from the Tang Dynasty, Wang Jian was called the Emperor of Shu, and with Chengdu (now the city) as his capital, it was called the Former Shu in history.Its territory includes the east of the Qionglai Mountains in present-day Sichuan, the northwest of Hubei, the south of Shaanxi and the southeast of Gansu.In the third year of Tongguang (925 A.D.), it was destroyed in the Later Tang Dynasty. Soon after the former Shu was destroyed, Meng Zhixiang of the Later Tang Dynasty occupied Xichuan, and by the third year of Changxing (932 A.D.), he had completely controlled the former Shu. In 934, Meng Zhixiang proclaimed himself emperor, established his capital in Chengdu, and was known as Hou Shu in history.Its territory is the same as the former Shu.In the third year of Qiande in Song Dynasty (965 A.D.), soldiers entered Chengdu, Meng Chang surrendered, and Hou Shu died. In the first year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (907), Gao Jixing served as the Jiedu envoy of Jingnan, governing ten prefectures, roughly equivalent to Shishou, Shashi, and the west of Jingmen in present-day Hubei, governing Jiangling (now the county).In the second year of Tongguang in the later Tang Dynasty (924 A.D.), he was granted the title of King of Nanping, which was called Nanping in history.In the fourth year of Jianlong in Song Dynasty (963 A.D.), the Song army falsely attacked the Hunan rebels, and Gao Ji rushed down. After the Later Zhou Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, Liu Chong (Min), the military governor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, proclaimed himself emperor in Taiyuan, which was known as the Northern Han Dynasty in history.Only Lishi, Qinyuan, Yangquan, and Dai counties in present-day Shanxi are attached to the Liao Dynasty.In the fourth year of Song Taiping Xingguo (979 A.D.), Taiyuan was besieged, and Liu Jiyuan, the leader of the Northern Han Dynasty, surrendered. The independent and semi-independent regimes that actually existed during this period were more than those listed above, but their scope was limited and their existence was not long.