Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms follow different political sequences

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, major northern regimes succeeded one another while several states existed elsewhere. The dynasties and kingdoms do not all fall along one sequential timeline. These states fought but also traded and maintained cultural connections. Continued regional development cannot be described solely through changes in dynasty names.

Historical background

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period was an era of political upheaval and division in Imperial China from 907 to 979 CE. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concurrent dynastic states, of which the most powerful and influential ten were known as the ten kingdoms, were established elsewhere, mainly in South China. It was a prolonged period of multiple political divisions in Chinese imperial history.

Traditionally, the era is seen as beginning with the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 and reaching its climax with the founding of the Song dynasty in 960. In the following 19 years, Song gradually subdued the remaining states in South China, but the Liao dynasty still remained in China's north (eventually succeeded by the Jin dynasty), and the Western Xia was eventually established in China's northwest.

Many states had been de facto independent long before 907 as the late Tang dynasty's control over its numerous fanzhen officials waned, but the key event was their recognition as sovereign by foreign powers. After the Tang collapsed, several warlords of the Central Plain crowned themselves emperor. During the 70-year period, there was near-constant warfare between the emerging kingdoms and the alliances they formed. All had the ultimate goal of controlling the Central Plain and establishing themselves as the Tang's successor.

The last of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms regimes was Northern Han, which held out until Song conquered it in 979. For the next several centuries, although the Song controlled much of South China, they coexisted alongside the Liao dynasty, Jin dynasty, and various other regimes in China's north, until finally all of them were conquered by the Yuan dynasty.

Background

Due to the decline of Tang central authority after the An Lushan Rebellion, large regional administrations began to be superimposed over the old districts and prefectures that had been standard practice for the previous millennium, ever since the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE). These administrations, known as circuit commissions, would become the boundaries of the later Southern regimes; many circuit commissioners became the emperors or kings of these states.

By the early 10th century, in the last decades of the Tang dynasty, the imperial government granted increased powers to the jiedushi, the regional military governors, who commanded de facto independence from its authority. They were not even appointed by the central court anymore, but developed hereditary systems, from father to son or from patron to protégé. They had their own armies rivaling the "palace armies" and amassed huge wealth, as testified by their sumptuous tombs.

In this model, Southern China, divided into several independent dynastic kingdoms, was more stable than the North, which experienced constant regime change. Consequently, the Southern kingdoms were able to embark on trade, land reclamation, and infrastructure projects, laying the groundwork for the Song Dynasty economic boom. This economic shift to the south also led to a vast southward migration.

Ten Kingdoms

Unlike the dynasties of northern China, which succeeded one another in rapid succession, the regimes of South China were generally concurrent, each controlling a specific geographical area. These were known as "The Ten Kingdoms" (in fact, some claimed the title of Emperor, such as Former Shu and Later Shu). Each court was a center of artistic excellence. The period is noted for the vitality of its poetry and for its economic prosperity. Commerce grew so quickly that there was a shortage of metallic currency. This was partly addressed by the creation of bank drafts, or "flying money" (feiqian), as well as by certificates of deposit. Wood block printing became common during this period, 500 years before Johannes Gutenberg's press.