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Map of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms China AD 951-960 |
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The collapse of the Tang dynasty in AD 907 had ushered in the 'Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms' period of civil war and political division in China. Five dynastic states, each with some level of claim on the imperial title, formed across this period, opposed by various warlords and pretenders. Ten rival kingdoms also formed out of the chaos or played a part to some extent. Southern China was especially fractured by this collapse into chaos, but in the far north the horse-riding Khitans were also able to found a state which dominated their region. The last of the five warring dynasties to provide opposition to the rise of the Southern Song was that of Northern Han. This held out until 979, while the Song itself gained real power in 960 when the Later Zhou throne was usurped by one of its leading generals. In the South-East Asia region, the newly-established independent kingdom of Nam Viet was undergoing its own problems of division, known as the 'Anarchy of the Twelve Warlords', although this was ended in 968. To select a kingdom, state, or tribe for further information, click on its name.
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Original text and map copyright © P L Kessler and the History Files. An original feature for the History Files. Go back or return home. |
