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Chinese History - Five Dynasties and Ten States (907-960)

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Five Dynasties and Ten States
literature, thought, and philosophy

period before (Tang)
-- Ten States
next period (Song)

As a new dynastic sequence, the Five Dynasties had the task to compose the official history of their predecessor, the Tang Dynasty 唐. Unfortunately, many documents of the 7th and early 8th century had been lost during the An Lushan 安祿山 rebellion. The collection and rediscovering of imperial documents offial and private sources was therefore an important task of the Five Dynasties historio"raphers. Liu Xu 劉昫 and Zhang Zhaoyuan 張昭遠 published the History of Tang (Tangshu 唐書) in 945. Missing sources were rediscovered later, and with a portion of political interpretation, the Song period 宋 scholar Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 rewrote the history of Tang as a book called Xin Tangshu 新唐書 "New History of Tang" - in contrast to the Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書 "Old History of Tang" by Liu Xu. But there are also a couple of non-official histories about the Tang period that were written during the Five Dynasties era. Wang Renyu 王仁裕 compiled Kaiyuan Tianbao yishi 開元天寶遺事 "Forgotten matters of the Kaiyuan Tianbao era [of Emperor Tang Xuanzong 唐玄宗]", Yu Chiwo 尉遲偓 wrote the Zhongchao gushi 中朝故事 "Events the mid-dynasty" , and Liu Chongyuan 劉崇遠 Jinhuazi 金華子 "Master Golden Flower", both about the last decades of the Tang period, while Wang Dingbao 王定保 describes the tribute system in his Tang zhiyan 唐摭言 "Picked accounts the Tang", and Sun Guangxian who reports life and deeds of literate officials and scholars of the Tang and Five Dynasties period in his book Beimeng suoyan 北夢瑣言 "Jade-chain words a northern dream". The history of the Ten States of the south is reported in the semi-official Shiguo chunqiu 十國春秋 "Spring and Autumn of the Ten States" by Wu Renchen 吳任臣.
Like during the golden age of the Tang Dynasty, poetry continued to be a very important literary style, the two forms of poetry were the regular shi poems 詩 and the ci poetry 詞 that had just developed during the 9th century. The most important collection of Five Dynasties poetry is the Huajianji 花間集 "Collection among the flowers" by Zhao Chongzuo 趙崇祚, including poems of Wei Zhuang and Ouyang Jiong Shu, and of the two emperors of Southern Tang (Nantang erzhu 南唐二主): Li Jing 李璟 and Li Yu 李煜. The style of the Five Dynasties poems is very courteous and describes life and thought of the life among the scholar-officials, but Li Yu's poems, especially after his retirement, show deep sentiments and regrets about the sadness of life.

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(modern Shanxi; further: Zhao 趙 and Beiping 北平), the west was ruled by the state of Qi 岐 of Li Maozhen 李茂貞 (modern Shaanxi), and in the northeast Liu Shouguang 劉守光 ruled over an empire called Yan 燕. In 912 Zhu Wen was killed by his own son Zhu Yougui 朱友珪 who was defeated by his brother one year later. This last ruler Zhu Youzhen 朱友貞 ruled for ten years. In 923, Li Keyong’s son Li Cunxu 李存勖 conquered the capital Kaifeng 開封 and refounded the Tang Dynasty.

Later Tang

Li Keyong 李克用, a member of the Turkish Shatuo 沙陀 clan, was installed by the Tang rulers as military commissioner (jiedushi 節度使) of the area of modern Shanxi and proclaimed himself as king of Jin 晉. His son Li Cunxu 李存勖 continued the permanent power struggle with the empire of Later Liang. In 911 he was able to control a great part of the north and proclaimed himself emperor of Tang 唐 (Later Tang, Houtang 後唐) in 923 (posthumous Houtang Zhuangzong 後唐莊宗). All other realms in the north and south accepted the authority of the new Tang Dynasty. But Li Cunxu’s easy-going and arrogant regime provoked a military rebellion that ended with his dead. Internal struggles characterize the rest of the Later Tang period. A brother-in-law of emperor Li Siyuan 李嗣源 (posthumous Houtang Mingzong 後唐明宗) named Shi Jingtang 石敬瑭 occupied the capital and founded the Jin Dynasty 晉.

Later Jin

Shi Jingtang 石敬瑭, a member of the Turkish Shatuo 沙陀 clan, was military commissioner (jiedushi 節度使) of the area of modern Shanxi before he overthrew the Later Tang Dynasty and founded his Jin Dynasty 晉 (Later Jin, Houjin 後晉) in 936 with the help the Khitan tribe (Chinese: Qidan 契丹). Some Khitan people like Sang Weihan 桑維翰 took over important posts in his government. After Shi Jingtang’s dead (posthumous Houjin Gaozu 後晉高祖), Jing Yanguang 景延廣 took over the government affairs for the young emperor Shi Zhonggui 石重貴. He offended the Khitan and provoked their military intervention. Shi Zhonggui’s uncle Du Wei 杜威 who was assigned as general-in-chief, subjected to the Khitan and was rewarded with the title of emperor. The Khitan troops advanced to the south, occupied the capital, and in 947 the Khitan chieftain Yelü Deguang 耶律德光 proclaimed himself emperor of Liao 遼. His troops devastated the Yellow River plain before they withdraw to the north, taking with them the young emperor Shi Zhonggui as a host. In the same year, Liu Zhiyuan 劉知遠 proclaimed himself emperor of Han 漢.

Later Han

Liu Zhiyuan 劉知遠 (also called Liu Gao 劉暠), a member of the Turkish Shatuo 沙陀 clan, was military commissioner (jiedushi 節度使) of the area of modern Shanxi before he proclaimed himself emperor of the Han Dynasty 漢 (Later Han, Houhan 後漢 - don’t be confused with the later part of the great Han Dynasty) in 947. The conquest of the Yellow River plain by the Khitan (Chinese: Qidan 契丹) empire left a power vacuum that was filled now with this extremely short-lived Later Han empire. After Liu Zhiyuan’s death (posthumous Houhan Gaozu 後漢高祖), the empire was shaken by power struggles among the mightiest persons around the emperor. The strongest among them was Guo Wei 郭威 who founded the Zhou Dynasty.

Later Zhou

Guo Wei 郭威, military affairs commissioner (shumishi 樞密使), proclaimed himself emperor of Zhou 周 (Later Zhou, Houzhou 後周) in 951 when the power struggles at the court of Later Han ended with the dead of the powerless emperor. Guo Wei tried to issue some reforms that should lighten the burden of the peasentry. After his death in 953 (posthumous Houzhou Taizu 後周太祖) his adoptive son Chai Rong 郭柴榮 (posthumous Houzhou Shizong 後周世宗) was able to perform some sussessful military campaigns against the Khitan realm and the empire of Northern Han (Beihan 北漢) in the north and the empire of Later Shu (Houshu 後蜀) in the south and thereby contributed to the later reunification of China by the Song Dynasty 宋 that was founded in 960 by Zhao Kuangyin 趙匡胤.

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