Five Dynasties & Ten States

After Zhu Quanzhong usurped the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and founded the Later Liang Dynasty (907 - 923), there were sequentially four dynasties after that. All these five dynasties were called Five Dynasties in Chinese history. Meanwhile, there were also ten kingdoms originating from the former Jiedushi (regional military attachment) of Tang. Hereunder is the timeline of the Five Dynasties and Ten States:

Period	Dynasty	Capital City	Reign Period	Destroyed by
Five Dynasties	Later Liang	Luoyang, Kaifeng	907 - 923	Later Tang
	Later Tang	Luoyang	923 - 936	Later Jin
	Later Jin	Luoyang, Kaifeng	936 - 946	Liao
	Later Han	Kaifeng	947 - 951	Later Zhou
	Later Zhou	Kaifeng	951 - 960	Song
Ten States	Southern Wu	Yangzhou	902 - 937	Southern Tang
	Southern Tang	Nanjing	937 - 975	Song
	Wu Yue	Hangzhou	907 - 978	Song
	Southern Chu	Changsha	927 - 951	Southern Tang
	Northern Han	Taiyuan	951 - 979	Song
	Southern Han	Guangzhou	917 - 971	Song
	Former Shu	Chengdu	907 - 925	Later Tang
	Later Shu	Chengdu	934 - 965	Song
	Southern Ping	Jingzhou	924 - 963	Song
	Min	Fuzhou	909 - 945	Southern Tang

Five Dynasties

The period of the five dynasties lasted for only 53 years, from 907 to 960. In 907, Zhu Quanzhong established the Later Liang in Kaifeng (provincial capital of Henan Province).In his reign, old conventions of the Tang Dynasty were discarded while new reforms were reinforced. However, Zhu did not pursue the cause of unification and later became corrupt. In 923, Later Liang was defeated by Li Cunxu.

The Later Tang lasted for 14 years. During this dynasty, the second emperor of Later Liang, Emperor Mingzong, was an enlightened emperor. He carried out many favorable policies under which people lived an affluent life. Likewise, rulers of the Later Tang did not unify the whole country either. Finally, the regime was destroyed by Emperor Mingzong's brother-in-law Shi Jingtang, with the help of the Qidan group from the northern areas.

After the downfall of the Later Tang, Shi Jingtang was enthroned as emperor of the Later Jin by the king of the Qidan group. In this way, the regime of the Later Jin was attached to the Qidan group. Till the reign of Shi Zhonggui, who was the foster son of Shi Jingtang, wanted to break away from the control of Qidan. Unfortunately, the Later Jin was captured by Qidan who afterwards set up the Liao Dynasty in capital Kaifeng.

Although the Qidan group established a new dynasty, their regime did not last long in the central plain areas because of the objection from the local people. Before long, Liu Zhiyuan, a man from Taiyuan, led his army into the central plain and soon founded a new dynasty - Later Han. In 950, suspecting that a military general named Guo Wei plotting to rebel, Liu Chengyou (the second emperor of the Later Han) wanted to kill him. But Liu Chengyou did not fulfill his goal; instead, Guo Wei along with his military force killed Liu Chengyou and founded Later Zhou in 951.

Comparatively, the Later Zhou was the most prosperous one among the five dynasties. Under the wise ruling of Guo Wei and his foster son Chai Rong, the national strength was greatly enhanced. In that period, the rulers gradually unified almost the whole country. But the third emperor was a child who was enthroned at the age of seven. In 960 when the regime unstable, a military general in the court, named Zhao Kuangyin, took the chance of resisting the Liao aggressors and launched a mutiny in Chenqiao County. Soon the child emperor had to yield the throne to Zhao, after which a new dynasty - Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) was founded.