Useful Notes / Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Era

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (五代十國, Wǔ Dài Shí Guó, 907–960) was another period of unrest and war brought on by the weakening of the Tang emperors and the redistribution of power to regional lords. The Five Dynasties formed and succeeded one another in the north, while the Ten Kingdoms were factions mainly located in the south.^note Northern Han is the only northern faction to be counted among the eponymous ten. Eventually, Zhao Kuangyin, a general of Later Zhou, took over the regime and established the (Northern) Song dynasty. For their part, the two main Later Zhou monarchs, founder Guo Wei and his successor Guo (Chai) Rong^note Chai Rong's aunt was Guo Wei's wife, and Guo had formally adopted Chai to be his son. Thus, Chai Rong was also known as Guo Rong., were considered the best emperors during this chaotic era. Their main fault was dying in their prime (Guo Wei was 49 and Chai Rong was 37 when they died), although given their non-violent deaths, they were considered to be among the fortunate ones out of the 14 emperors who ruled the Five Dynasties.

One particularly important consequence of this relatively short age of strife was that the strategic area known as the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun (燕雲十六州/燕云十六州) was ceded to the Khitan nomads in exchange for a military alliance. How important, you ask? Well, the Sixteen Prefectures contained the part of The Great Wall that stood between the Central Plain and the northern nomads. This area was also an important source of war horses and fine cavalry men that were instrumental in military conquest. (Ever wondered why the unification of Imperial China tended to go from North to South?)^note It also helped that the North was also richer than the South for some centuries, until the first migration south due to the Chaos of Yongjia, and the subsequent construction of the Sui Grand Canal. After the South became richer, it also had the uncanny ability to produce decadent rulers who ultimately ruined their realms; some examples include the last ruler of Chen, Chen Shubao and the last ruler of Southern Tang, Li Yu. The only dynasty which managed a south-north unification was the Ming under Zhu Yuanzhang. This decision screwed the Song dynasty over the next three centuries.^note While Shi Jingtang (who was the one who founded Later Jin with the help of the Khitans) did promise the Sixteen Prefectures to the Khitans, it is interesting to note that he actually did not have most of the Sixteen under his control; the prefectures were largely in the hands of one Zhao Dejun, who also wanted Khitan assistance against Shi. As one might now guess, Zhao couldn't match Shi's terms, and the Khitans sided with Shi. Zhao himself died in Khitan captivity after the Khitans overran the Sixteen Prefectures. Also of note is that as part of the terms of their alliance, Shi had to acknowledge the then ruler of Liao Yelü Deguang (Liao Taizong) as his father, despite Yelü being more than a decade his junior.

Another important consequence of this era was that Vietnam broke free of Chinese domination for the last time, and would never again become a Chinese colony, even as subsequent Vietnamese regimes paid tribute to Chinese Emperors (or not).

Eventually, the Song dynasty would eliminate the Ten Kingdoms one by one and unify much of China (other than the above-mentioned Sixteen Prefectures). The elimination of Later Shu is of particular interest; while the Later Shu regime surrendered less than three months after Zhao Kuangyin (Song Taizu) sent out the expedition, mismanagement by Song general Wang Quanbin helped stirred a rebellion which was put down only after two years.^note This rebellion could be the main reason why Meng Chang, the last leader of Later Shu (and son of its founder Meng Zhixiang), died mysteriously just days after reaching Kaifeng. Historical texts all left out the cause of his death at the age of 47 (by East Asian reckoning). Unlike most leaders who lost their kingdoms, Meng Chang remained popular with his former subjects.

Out of the Ten Kingdoms, besides Later Shu, the kings of Wuyue also helped develop their fiefdom. This development laid the foundations for Hangzhou to become an important city, and later the capital of the Southern Song. As for the Qian clan, after losing their kingdom, the clan continued to produce generations of scholars and other learnt men up till the modern era, Qian Mu and Qian Xuesen being two examples.

Of the "24 Histories", two were dedicated to the Five Dynasties: the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" (舊五代史/旧五代史, Jiù Wǔdàishǐ) and the "New History of the Five Dynasties" (新五代史, Xīn Wǔdàishǐ).

Depictions in fiction

• Age of Empires II's Battles of the Forgotten included the Battle of Langshan Jiang (狼山江; Wolf Mountain River), which took place during this era. The Definitive Edition replaced this battle with the Battle of Lake Poyang; see Ming's page for more details.
• The Glamorous Imperial Concubine
• The Great Emperor in Song Dynasty depicts the life of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin; the first few episodes of the series is set during this era.

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