Ed Ranks Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of China (907 to 979 AD), Part II

Now that I've ranked the Five Dynasties of China from 907 to basically 960, it's time to talk about (and rank, obviously) the 10 break-away "kingdoms" to the south that refused to bow to the five dynasties. The last of these held out all the way until 979.

One of the first things that you'll probably notice is that these kingdoms all lasted much longer than the dynasties.  While the longest dynasty ruled for but a mere 16 years, the shortest-lasting of the 10 Kingdoms lasted a whole 18 years. So basically if you tried to go all in and make yourself "Emperor," you were doomed to fail in about a decade or so.  However, if you took on the less aggressive stance of just trying to be the king over some local lands, you could usually hold out quite long (in one case, for nearly the entire period of 72 years).

Hey, and speaking of only lasting 18 years, it was these guys...

10.  Kingdom of (Former) Shu

Its enemy: Current Shu. Maybe.

Upon the collapse of the Tang, Wang Jian (Tang’s military governor of western Sichuan) refused to recognize the Later Liang and was among the first to declare independence. Wang Jiang was a pretty competent leader, but when he died in 918 his son Yan took over and was described as “largely incompetent.” It didn’t take long after the Later Tang took power as the dynasty in the north that the Tang took over Shu and incorporated it back into the northern dynasties, ending the supposed “Great Shu” after less than two decades.  The Shu would wait a decade until they were finally able to get their revenge and return to power for Shu, Part II. Because it rhymes. In the end, the minimal amount of time that the Kingdom lasted, plus its inability to really engage in any successful land grabs of its own, means that the Former Shu was the least successful of the Ten Kingdoms.

• Length of Reign: 907 to 925 (18 years)
• Size: A decent-sized state about the same size as Chu and including most of Sichuan, all of Chongqing, and parts of Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei.
• Notable Accomplishments: Having at least one competent ruler for 11 years. Being one of the first out of the gate to declare independence and maintain it with a sizable chunk of land. 

9. Kingdom of Chu (Ma Chu)

While Chu gained relative independence at the beginning of the era in 907, it wasn’t for another 20 years until they became really independent. By that time, the initially deposed Tangs had come back into power to form the Later Tang Dynasty. In 927, Later Tang officially recognized Chu as independent, with its regional governor Ma Yin now upgraded to the status of “king.” But he died just a few years later in 930, and over the next two decades five of his many sons (he had at least 35 sons) would take the throne. By 951, the Southern Tang (see #8 below) decided to do a roll-in and just take the place over, ending its independence.

• Length of Reign: 927 to 951 (24 years)
• Size: The landlocked territory of Changsha, Hunan, and northeastern Guangxi.
• Notable Accomplishments: Almost making it a quarter of a century. Having someone who was the 30th son of its king eventually take the throne. That’s pretty impressive. If you’re born as the 30th son…I assume you just sort of figure you’re never going to be king.

8. Kingdom of Southern Tang

Southern Tang

The Kingdom of Wu was one of the first states to break off when the Tang Dynasty fell, and lasted a good 30 years until 937. What ended Wu?  More like who ended Wu. Xu Zhigao, a descendant of the Tangs, seized control and renamed himself Li Bian, and transformed Wu into Southern Tang. Li Bian and his successors would take the original Wu lands and begin a campaign of expansion, with Southern Tang eventually claiming Yin, Min, Chu, Southern Anhui, Southern Jiangsu, much of Jiangxi, Hunan, and Eastern Hubei. These guys were just steamrolling over other states until 956, when it suffered a setback in a conflict with the Later Zhou Dynasty to its north. It was forced to cede all its land north of the Yangtze River to the Later Zhou and basically turned into a vassal state. Not that long after, the Later Zhou itself fell to the Song, who allowed the Southern Tang to continue to be a semi-autonomous vassal state. But by 975 the Song were well into their “we are Emperors of all of China” mode and had enough of their obedient vassal pretending to be independent, and forced King Li Yu of the Southern Tang to surrender. Having a kingdom that lasts for almost 40 years sounds impressive - but when only 19 of those years are actual independence and the rest are as a puppet state - you can't give these guys that much credit.

• Length of Reign: 937 to 975 (38 years)
• Size: Pretty big. The entire former Kingdom of Wu, plus Chu, Yin, Min, and parts of Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei. Niiiiice! At least, for a time.
• Notable Accomplishments: A lengthy reign and large territorial expansion. However, the latter half of their time as a kingdom was spent being a subservient vassal state.

7. Kingdom of Jingnan (Nanping)

When the Later Liang took control from the Tang Dynasty, Gao Jichang of the small territory of Jingnan remained loyal to the Liang. It wasn’t until the Liang themselves were deposed by the Later Tang that Jingnan declared itself as a kingdom. Although it had staying power for nearly 40 years, Jingnan was the smallest and weakest of all the states. So how did it stay around for so long? In one way, it simply wasn’t big enough to even bother conquering. However, Jingnan also proved to be smooth political operators and, despite declaring independence in 924, always attempted to remain allies with the large dynasties to its north. That willingness to be a little subservient to the dynasties protected it from invasion. That is, until the Song came around. Once the Song Dynasty took over, Jingnan’s time of being protected was over and it was one of the first kingdoms to fall to the Song. 

• Length of Reign: 924 to 963 (39 years)
• Size: The smallest of any of the states during this period, just a small territory completely  surrounded by the five northern dynasties, as well as the Kingdoms of Wu and Chu.
• Notable Accomplishments: Knowing how to make alliances to protect its small, weak territory. Being a central trade hub, which also helped to keep the peace as war in the area would have wrecked trade.

6. Kingdom of Min

Zoltar... I mean... uhh... Wang Shenzhi.

A 36-year reign is not too bad during this time period, although the Min had nothing on their Wuyue neighbors directly to the north (see #1 below). Two years after the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, the Min sort of declared themselves independent when Wang Shenzhi declared himself as "Prince of Min." However, he didn’t quite have the balls to call himself “King” or “Emperor,” and would only posthumously be recognized as one in 933 when his son, Yanjun, was bold enough to declare himself as Emperor of Min (he retroactively said that his dad had been an Emperor too).  In 943, Yanjun’s half-brother Yanzheng declared independence in the northwest part of Min, declaring a new Kingdom of Yin (this kingdom was so weak that it's not even counted among the 10, so don't look to read more about them here). This was the beginning of the end for Min, as Min asked for help from the Southern Tang to defeat Yanzheng and his Yin Kingdom.  Southern Tang "helped," happily. But they kept the land for themselves. Min then tried to seek an alliance with Wuyue to counter the Southern Tang, but it was too little and too late. The Southern Tang would conquer Min in 945, with Wuyue also carving out Min’s northern lands which the Tang couldn’t capture.

• Length of Reign: 909 to 945 (36)
• Size: Not huge. The modern-day Fujian Province of southeast China.
• Notable Accomplishments: Lasting over three decades. Constructing an effective bureaucratic and tax system. Foolishly destroying itself in a brother rivalry.

5. Kingdom of Later Shu

Don't get me started on how surreal its southern neighbor, Dali, was.

Obviously the “Former Shu” (#10 above) never actually called themselves “Former” during their reign. That only happened later when the Shu came to power once more. After the ruling Wang family of Shu fell to the Later Tang in 935, Meng Zhixiang was appointed by the Tang as Shu's military governor. Although initially loyal, he continued to gain power and influence until he decided to rebel against his Tang bosses along with another rebel leader, Dong Zhang, who controlled the eastern part of Shu, called “the Dongchuan Circuit.”  Then Zhixiang had second thoughts and decided to end his rebellion and re-ally with the Later Tang again, betraying his ally Zhang. Then when the Later Tang Emperor died in 933, he again flipped and rebelled once more–declaring himself ruler of Shu in 934. Zhixiang’s reign would last for exactly six months before he died, allowing his son Meng Chang to take over.  Chang ruled 30 years, relatively peacefully. Although Later Shu is credited with being a center of art and literature, it’s also criticized for being militarily and politically stagnant. After the Song Dynasty came to power in 960, one of their first targets of conquest was Later Shu – and they were unable to put up much of a fight. Chang died just days after submitting to the Song in 965. Of a broken heart? *shrug*

• Length of Reign: 934 to 965 (just over 30 years)
• Size: The same as the Former Shu - Most of Sichuan, all of Chongqing, and parts of Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei.
• Notable Accomplishments: 30 years of peaceful rule. The creation of a kingdom still known to this day for art and culture.

4. Kingdom of Wu

Gaoshang Sixuan Honggu Rang, aka "RZA."

Some will describe the Kingdom of Wu as actually beginning in 902 versus 907, but I’ll just set its start at the beginning of the Five Dynasties period when the King of Wu, Yang Wo, refused to recognize Zhu Wen of the Later Liang as the new emperor, thus effectively declaring independence. That independence would last a healthy 30 years, which was no small feat during this period of Chinese history. But eventually, Xu Zhigao (a descendant of a Tang Prince) seized control in 937 and declared a new kingdom, which would be known as the Southern Tang. Still, a pretty good run with a fairly large chunk of land.

• Length of Reign: 907 to 937 (30 years)
• Size: Its core in modern Yangzhou, with lands ranging from central and southern Anhui, central and southern Jiangsu, much of Jiangxi, and eastern Hubei.
• Notable Accomplishments: Lasting a really long time. Being so loyal to the Tangs that they refused to recognize the Later Liang and really became the first kingdom to break off. You could almost say that the Wu and the Tang were good friends. Like some sort of “clan” or something. I wish I could think of a good name for such an entity. Eh, something will come to me eventually.

3. Kingdom of Northern Han

Northern Han was a relative late-comer in the Ten Kingdoms, only being established in 951, a year after the fall of the Later Han Dynasty.  With the short-lived (four-year) Later Han Dynasty conquered by the Later Zhou, Liu Min broke away and founded a new kingdom and claimed to be the “true heir” to the imperial throne that the Zhou claimed. He quickly made an alliance with the Liao/Khitans, which was super important because they remained a powerful force in the north. The move was a wise one, as under Liao protection the Northern Han were able to resist Emperor Taizu of Song, who by the foundation of the Song Dynasty in 960 (after dethroning the Later Zhou) begun a major campaign of conquest to reunite China back to its pre-907 Tang Dynasty size. With Khitan protection, Northern Han was able to hold out to the very end.  Northern Han was the last of the Kingdoms conquered by the Song, and thus their end was the end of the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and the true beginning of the Song Dynasty's rule over a unified China.

• Length of Reign: 951 to 979 (28 years)
• Size: A fairly small kingdom located in Shanxi, the traditional place of power for the now-faded Tangs. 
• Notable Accomplishments: Long-lasting, wisely picking political-military alliances, being the final holdout against the crushing power of the Song Dynasty.

2. Kingdom of Southern Han

The bottom, in pink.

While other princes of China broke free after the collapse of the Tang in 907, Liu Yin was satisfied just being the “Prince of Nanping” and nominally remained loyal to the new Later Liang Emperor.  That changed in 917 when Yin died and his brother Yan, declared a new Kingdom of “Great Han.” The kingdom was able to survive nicely over five decades, although it had an unsuccessful attempt to expand and control territories in modern Vietnam. After a long and successful period of rule, things began to fall apart in 960 when the Song Dynasty came into power and began their reunification process. Southern Han was still strong enough to resist Song for 11 years before it finally had to submit in 971. 

• Length of Reign: 917 to 971 (54 years)
• Size: China's southern coast, controlling modern Guangdong and Guangxi, the island of Hainan, and creeping its way towards Vietnam.
• Notable Accomplishments: Long-lasting, pretty expansive territory, able to resist Song domination for over a decade.

1. Kingdom of Wuyue

Qian Liu, before the advent of the Atkins Diet.

The era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms lasted for 72 years. The Kingdom of Wuyue lasted for a massive 71 of those 72 years. Talk about success! Just like Yang Wo of Wu and Wang Jian of Former Shu, Qian Liu of Wuyue refused to recognize the Later Liang as the successors to the Tang Dynasty and thus broke free to become a de-facto independent state at the very beginning of this period. Not only would Wuyue be the longest lasting kingdom in this period, it would not surprisingly also be one of the most powerful. Over its long reign, Wuyue would see five Kings and engage in territorial expansion to the detriment of the Kingdom of Min and others. As with most of the other independent kingdoms of China during this time, its end would come when the Song Dynasty got rolling and expanding to reunite China. However, Wuyue was still strong enough to survive an entire 18 years into the Song Dynasty before finally being conquered. Good work, Wuyue! It looks like it was the Wuyue instead who were really the ones that ain't nothing to fuck with.

• Length of Reign: 907 to 978 (71 years)
• Size: Nearly identical to the territories of the ancient Yue (with the exception of Wu territory), including Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and the southern portion of Jiangsu Province. It would later absorb the northern part of the Min Kingdom after it fell in 945.
• Notable Accomplishments: Longest lasting kingdom of period. Also, probably the strongest kingdom of the period. Able to resist domination by anyone else for 71 years and able to resist the Song for nearly two decades