The cambridge history of china volume 5 part one the sung dynasty and its precursors, 907–1279

INTRODUCTION: THE SUNG DYNASTY ANDto Sung institutional, social, economic, and cultural history, our task here is to present the political history of China from the fall of the T’ang dyn

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY

OF CHINA

General Editors

Volume 5 Part One: The Sung Dynasty and Its Precursors, 907–1279

Humanities, Grant RZ-20535-00, and by a grant from the Chiang Ching-Kuo

Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (USA).

U N G -

H O - T U N G

C H I N G

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H S I H

O P E I

F U

FU

L I A N G - C H E

C H I

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S I P

C H O

U

C H I N G

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I

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H U A

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-N A N

T’ai-yuan-fu

Ch’ing-chou

Chiang-ning-fu Yang-chou

K’uei-chou Ch’eng-tu-fu

Ho-nan-fu

Sui-chou

Shou-ch’un-fu Shun-ch’ang-fu Chung-shan

P’ing-chiang-fu

Ning-kuo-fu

Chia-hsing-fu An-ch’ing-fu

Chien-te-fu Lin-an-fu

chiang-fu

Chen-Hsing-ch’ing-fu

Hui-chou Chen-wu

Lo-chou

Hsi-ning

Lan-chou Hsi-an

Wu-chou

K’o-lon

Chen-jung

Shun-te Wei-chou

Ch’in-chou Hsi-ho Chieh-chou Wen-chou

Ch’eng-chou Mien-chou Min-chou

Chien- chou

Han-Lung-ch’ing Pa-chou Lang-chou

P’eng-chou Li-chou

Kuo-chou Liang-shan Ning-hsi Ho-chou P’u- chou Yü-chou Fu-chou Ch’ang-

chou

Hsing-kuo Nan-k’ang

Hui-chou Huang-chou

Ch’i-chou Chiang-chou Fu-chou Shou-ch’ang

O-chou Te-an-fu Hsin-yang Kuang-chou Hsin-yang

Ts’ai-chou T’ang-chou Teng-chou

Ying-chou Kuei-chou

Chün-chou Chin-chou Fang-chou K’ai-chou

Ta-chou Yun-an Wan-chou Chung-chouShih-chou

Li-chou Hsia-chou

Shang-chou Yang-chou

Hua-chouK’uo-chou Shan-chou

Ju-chou

Chieh-chouMeng-chouT’ung-chou

Li-chou Yao-chou Ching-chou Pin-chou

Fu-chou

Fang-chou

Ting-pien Sui-te

Yen-an-fu Tzu-chou Hsi-chou Fen-chou

Chiang-chou Tse-chou Ping-yang Ch’ing-tso Wei-sheng

Shih-chou

Liao-chou

Lan-chou Yin-chou Ching-chou Chin-ning Pao-te Fu Lin Feng-chou Huo-shan Ning-hua Hsien-chou

Tai-chou Pei-p’ing T’ien-wei Hsin-chou P’ing-ting Ch’ing-yuan-fu

En-chou Hsin-te-fu Ming- chou Hsiang-chou Tz’u-chou

Wei-chou Huai-chou Cheng-chou

Hua-chouP’u-chouChi-chou

Kung-chou

Hua-ning-fu

Po-chou Yün-chou Yen-chou I-chou Huai-yang Hsü-chou

Tz’u-chou

Ti-chou Te-chou Wei-chou

Lai-chou Pin-chou

Mi-chou

Hai-chou

An-tung Ch’u-chou Ch’ing-ho Kao-yu T’ai-chou T’ung-chou

chou

Ch’ang-Huai-an hsin Ssu-chou Chen-chou Ch’u-chou Ho-chou Hao-chou Po-chou Su-chou Tan-chou

Chao-Liu-an

Wu-wei Ch’in- chou

Ch’ing-chou Ts’ang-chou Mo-chou Pao-chou Pa-chou Hsiung-chou

Chi

Southern Capital Ta-t’ung

N A N

C H I A

N G

I N

G

-K ’ U E I

T ’U

N G -

Kuang-chou

Fu-chou Lung-hsing-fu

Kuei-chou

Ying-te-fu

Ch’ang-te-fu Lu-chou

Nan-p’ing

Chen-chou Po-chou Ssu-chou Ch’ing-ning

Ching chou P’ing-chou Ts’ung-chou

An-hua Na Kuan Ti Wen Lung Yen Lan

Pin T’ing

Yung-chou

Ch’in-chou Lien-chou Pai-chou Hua-chou

Lei-chou

Ch’iung-chou Ch’ang-hua Chen-chou Yen-te Chu-yai Wan-an

Kao-chou

Yung-chou Yü-lin

Te-ch’ing-fu T’eng

En-nan-chou Hsin-chou

Feng-chou Ch’ao-ch’ing-fu

Chia-chou Lien-chou Shao-chou

Nan-hsiung Nan-an

Kan-chou Ch’en- chou Kuei-yang-chien

Ch’a-ling Heng-chou Yuan-chou Chi-chou

Lin-chiang

Ch’ien-ch’ang Fu-chou Shao-wu

Ting-chou

Yün-chou Hsin-chou

Chen-chou

Yuan-chou

Shao-chou T’an-chou

Wu-kang

Yung-chou Ch’uan-chou Tao-chou

Chao-chou P’an

Hsiang

Wu-chou Kung

I-chou Hsin Kuei Heng

Wen-chou

Chien-ning Nan-chien

Hsing-hua Ch’uan-chou

Mei-chou Chang-chou

Ch’ao-chou Hsün-chou

Hui-chou

Jao-chou Ch’ü-chou

Ch’u-chou Yüeh-chou

Ch’ien-chou Jung-chou

Fu Chün Chou

Map 1 Political Map of the Northern Sung, c 1100 Reprinted by permission from The Times atlas of China, P J M Geelan and Denis C.

Twitchett, eds (London: Times Books, 1974).

THE CAMBRIDGE

HISTORY OF

CHINA

Volume 5 Part One: The Sung Dynasty and Its

Precursors, 907–1279

edited by DENIS TWITCHETT and PAUL JAKOV SMITH

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, S˜ao Paulo, Delhi

Cambridge University Press

32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521812481

C

 Cambridge University Press 2009 This publication is in copyright Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,

no reproduction of any part may take place without the written

permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2009 Printed in the United States of America

A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

(Revised for volume 5, part 1) Main entry under title:

The Cambridge history of China.

or will remain, accurate or appropriate Information regarding prices, travel timetables, and other factual information are correct at the time of first printing, but Cambridge University Press does not guarantee

the accuracy of such information thereafter.

Mentor, friend, and inspiration

This volume has been long in the making, many of its authors freshly mintedPh.D.s when recruited by Denis Twitchett in the late 1980s Since that timesinology in general and the field of Sung history in particular have undergone

several significant changes: pinyin has become the most widely used form of

romanization; authoritative versions of key Sung texts have been made widely

accessible online and through the electronic edition of the Ssu-k’u ch’¨uan-shu;

and a punctuated, annotated version of the writings of most Sung authors has

been issued in the 360-volume Ch’¨uan Sung wen But the writing of the chapters

in this volume predates those changes, which has influenced the conventions

we have followed

With respect to romanization, we continue The Cambridge history of China

practice of rendering most Chinese terms and proper names (the names ofpersons, places, official titles, bibliographic entries, and so on) in the Wade-Giles system Following the example of previously published volumes, we

use familiar (pre-pinyin ) forms for the names of modern provinces (yielding

Kiangsi rather than Chiang-hsi or Fukien rather than Fu-chien) and principalcities (such as Peking, not Pei-ching, and Canton rather than Kuang-tung).Otherwise, all place names are in Wade-Giles, according to the standard set

in Hope Wright, compiler, Geographical names in Sung China: An alphabetical

list (Paris: ´Ecole Pratique des Haute ´Etudes, 1956) For both place names and

personal names, numbers are used to differentiate between homonyms, such asChief Councilor Chang Ch ¨un and his subordinate General Chang Ch ¨un2, orthe prefectures of Ho-chou (in Sung Kuang-nan East circuit, modern Kwangsiprovince) and Ho-chou2 (in Sung Hsi-ho circuit, modern Kansu province) Wehave sought to ensure that all places mentioned in the text can be found on one

of the volume’s many maps, but for fuller coverage readers should consult T’an

Ch’i-hsiang, compiler, Chung-kuo li-shih ti-t’u chi, volume 6: Sung-Liao-Chin

shih-ch’i (Shanghai: Ti-t’u ch’u-pan, 1982).

Because our authors prepared these chapters prior to the widespread ability of standardized editions or online and electronic text databases and in

avail-varying sinological environments, multiple versions of the same work may

be cited between chapters and occasionally within the same chapter Varianteditions are all listed in the Bibliography Translations of terms and officialtitles are consistent across chapters, with occasional deference to contextualdifferences In all matters of translation, romanization, and geographic nomen-clature, we aim for a high degree of consistency between this and the companion

Volume 5, Part 2 These two volumes, in conjunction with Volume 6 (Alien

regimes and border states, 907–1368), provide a thorough survey of the history

of China and its neighboring states from the tenth through the fourteenthcenturies

by Paul Jakov Smith, Haverford College

A Cycle of State Building on the Steppe, Tenth to Thirteenth

by Naomi Standen, University of Newcastle

Early Political Recruitment 158

by Lau Nap-Yin, Institute of History and Philology, Academia

Sinica, and Huang K’uan-chung, Institute of History and

Philology, Academia Sinica

A New Type of Emperor: The Diffident Chen-tsung,

by Michael McGrath, Adrian College

Jen-tsung’s Early Reign: The Regency of Empress Liu

Politics from Spring 1065 until the Death of Ying-tsung

by Paul Jakov Smith, Haverford College

Shen-tsung’s Ascension and the Crisis of the Mid-eleventh

The First Phase of the New Policies: Economic Reform under

From Economic Redistribution to Revenue Extraction 414

by Ari Daniel Levine, University of Georgia

by Ari Daniel Levine, University of Georgia

Popular Uprisings, Border Conflicts, and the Fall of the

by Tao Jing-shen, University of Arizona

Banditry, the Suppression of Local Disorder, and the Power

by Gong Wei Ai, University of Malaya

The Peace Settlement of 1164–1165 713

The Ch’un-hsi Period (1174–1189): The Growth of

by Richard L Davis, Lingnan University

by Richard L Davis, Lingnan University

by Richard L Davis, Lingnan University

TABLES AND FIGURES

tables

figures

MAPS

27 The K’ai-hsi war of 1206 795

and whose guiding hand has shaped The Cambridge history of China As Denis’s

coeditor from 2001 to his death in 2006, I was a privileged beneficiary of hisprofound scholarship and the boundless warmth and generosity of his spirit.Although this would be a stronger work had Denis still been here to give itone final inspection, we hope he would be pleased that it is finally out, anddedicate it to him as a token of our deep esteem

Many others have helped to bring Volume 5, Part 1, to completion In ing through the various chapters it was always a delight to come across com-ments and suggestions by the late James T C Liu (1919–93), the preeminentSung historian, who like Denis was friend and mentor to many of us involved in

work-this project Ralph Meyer, long-time project manager for The Cambridge history

of China, brought preliminary order to the chapters and to the union glossary

and bibliography until his retirement in 2002, when he was ably succeeded

by Michael Reeve John Chaffee and Willard Peterson, editors respectively ofVolume 5, Part 2, and Volume 9, Parts 1 and 2, took time from their ownvolumes to offer valuable advice and assistance on this one Many of the maps

in this volume were initially drafted using Geographic Information Systemdatasets created by the late Robert M Hartwell (1932–96) and made available

to the scholarly community by the China Historical GIS Project at HarvardUniversity; I am grateful to Peter K Bol and Merrick Lex Berman of Harvardand to the Academic Computing Center of Haverford College for their helpwith this invaluable resource

The East Asian Studies Program at Princeton University, directed duringthe relevant years by Martin C Collcutt and Benjamin A Elman, has gen-

erously supported The Cambridge history of China project in numerous direct

and indirect ways The Project has been privileged to receive financial port from the National Endowment for the Humanities and from the ChiangChing-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange We are grateful

sup-to these institutions for their financial support and the scholarly recognition

it implies

Paul Jakov Smith2007

CPPM Tzu-chih t’ung-chien ch’ang-pien chi-shih pen-mo

CYYL Chien-yen i-lai hsi-nien yao-lu

HCP Hs¨u tzu-chih t’ung-chien ch’ang-pien

HTC Hs¨u tzu-chih t’ung-chien

TCTC Tzu-chih t’ung-chien

Weight

1chin (catty) = 16 liang, approx 1.3 pounds

Volume

1shih (tan) = 100 sheng, approx 2.7 bushels, or 21.5 gallons

Area

Currency

Lo Shao-wei Wang Jung

Yu-chen Mo-ti, 913–23

Ts'ung-hou Min-ti, 933–4

Later Chou dynasty, 951–959

Liu Yün

Liu Chih-yüan Han Kao-tsu, 947–48

Figure 3 Genealogy of the Later Han and Later Chou ruling houses.

(Wu) (Wu-Yüeh) (Min) (S Han) (Ch'u) (Ching-nan) (Former Shu) 890

@ (933)

Yen-cheng (943) Fen (942)

Sheng (943)

Hsi-sheng (930) Hsi-fan (932)

Hsi-sheng (948) Hsi-ngo (950) (951, to T'ang)

Ch'ang (958) Chou Hsing-feng (956)

Chou Pao-ch'üan (962)

Ch'ang (936) Hsi (939)

Yen-han (926)

Meng Family (Later Shu) Chih-hsiang (934) Ch'ang (935)

Pao-jung (948)

Pao-hsü (960) Chi-chung (962)

Yin (896)

Keys: # = adoption of title "king" (wang), marked by heavy line

@ = adoption of title "emperor" (ti), marked by double line

Figure 4 Rulers of the Southern Kingdoms.

Figure 5 Outline genealogy of the Sung imperial family Source: For full details see

introductory section on the earlier rulers c 2100–249 b.c by W Perceval Yetts (New York, 1957); James M Hargett, “A chronology of the reigns and reign-periods of

the Song dynasty (960–1279),” Bulletin of Sung-Y¨uan Studies 19 (1987), pp 26–34; and John W Chaffee, Branches of heaven: A history of the imperial clan of Sung China

(Cambridge, Mass., 1999).

Name Dates Temple Name Reigned Reign Periods Dates

Chao Tun 1147 –1200 Kuang-tsung 1189 –1194 Shao-hsi 1190 –1194

Note: Table 2 follows the conventional approach that treats the Chinese lunar year and the Western solar

year as essentially coterminous, thus preserving the traditional count of years in each reign period For a

convenient reference see Chung-kuo li-shih nien-tai chien-piao (Peking, 1973), pp 135–56 Reign periods

were sometimes changed mid-year, to respond to or to influence significant events For a translation of the Sung reign-period names, along with a conversion of their inaugural dates to the Western calendar by day, month, and year, see James M Hargett, “A chronology of the reigns and reign-periods to the Song dynasty

(960–1279),” Bulletin of Sung-Y¨uan Studies 19 (1987), pp 26–34 Emperors are referred to throughout

this volume by their temple names (e.g., T’ai-tsu, Kao-tsung, and so on), although these were conferred

posthumously The filiation of the Sung emperors is thoroughly documented in John W Chaffee, Branches

of heaven: A history of the imperial clan of Sung China (Cambridge, Mass., 1999).

INTRODUCTION: THE SUNG DYNASTY AND

to Sung institutional, social, economic, and cultural history, our task here is

to present the political history of China from the fall of the T’ang dynasty

in 907 to the Mongol conquest of the Southern Sung in 1279 Because ourfocus is on political events as seen from the perspective of the Sung court,

we recommend that this volume be read in conjunction with The Cambridge

history of China, volume 6: Alien regimes and border states, 907–1368, which

covers the same period and many of the same events from the vantage point ofthe non-Chinese regimes and border states that had so momentous an impact

This overview will offer a brief introduction to the intersection of politicaltrends and Sino-steppe encounters during the Five Dynasties and Northernand Southern Sung that are portrayed in the chapters to follow

coming out of the t’ang: state building in north and southThe collapse of T’ang power in the final decades of the ninth century unleashedmassive forces of rebellion, warlordism, and territorial fragmentation, givingway to what traditional narratives depict as a half century of political divisionand social turmoil before the reestablishment of unity and order by ChaoK’uang-yin and his new dynasty, the Sung (960–1279) The social turmoil waspowerful enough to sweep away the underpinnings of the old T’ang aristocracyand usher in new social and political elites But as the first two chapters of

1

Herbert Franke and Denis C Twitchett, eds., The Cambridge history of China, volume 6: Alien regimes and

border states, 907–1368 (New York, 1994).

0 600 km 0 600 km

Yu YEN CHIN

CH’I

Hsia TING- NAN

Yu Yün

Yün

0 0

600 km

400 miles

0 0

600 km

400 miles

Liao Southern Capital Hsia

SOUTHERN T’ANG

MIN

YÜEH LATER SHU

M

Chiang-ning (Nanking)

K H I T A N L I A O

Hsia TING-NAN

NAN

YÜEH LATER SHU

N HAN

Southern Capital

Sixteen prefectures

CH’ÜAN

CHANG-SOUTHERN T’ANG

Annexed from

S T’ang 959

Recaptured from Liao 959

K H I T A N L I A O

Chiang-ning K’ai-feng

Map 2 The Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms, 907–960 After Albert Hermann, An historical atlas of China (1935; rev ed., Chicago:

Aldine Publishing Company, 1966), p 33.

this volume demonstrate, the picture of chaos and political disorder that haslong dominated our understanding of the transitional epoch separating T’angand Sung must now yield to a view of the Five Dynasties in the north andnine kingdoms in the south as an era of robust state building that laid thefoundation for unification under the Sung.

The political trajectory over time and across space during the first half ofthe tenth century is depicted in Table 3 and Map 2 In terms of territorialexpansion, the successive regimes of north China consolidated their controlalong a north-south axis encompassing all of north China and the Central Plainsfrom the Yellow River south to the Huai and Han rivers, and west along thecorridor formed by the Wei River valley and the north face of the Ch’in-lingrange Sovereignty over north China was by no means complete during thisperiod: the T’o-pa-ruled military governorship of Ting-nan, in the southernOrdos region of the future Hsi Hsia domain, remained beyond effective FiveDynasties’ dominion; the Sha-t’o stronghold centered on T’ai-y ¨uan (in SungHo-tung circuit, or modern Shansi) slipped the noose of central control in 951;and – most momentously for later events – the Sixteen Prefectures comprisingthe 300-mile barrier between the Central Plains and the steppe were ceded

by the Sha-t’o state of Later Chin to the Khitan in 937 But the overall trendwas toward the deepening of territorial control, culminating under the fifth,Later Chou, dynasty with the recapture of two of the Sixteen Prefectures (Mo-chou and Ying-chou) in the north and the annexation of the plains betweenthe Huai and Yangtze rivers (the region known as Chiang-Huai) from theSouthern T’ang

The process of territorial consolidation in the north was propelled by theincreasingly effective assertion of centralized political authority Volume 3 ofthis series documents the devolution of T’ang political power to the mili-

tary governors (chieh-tu shih) and increasingly autonomous generals (many of

It was these generals, military governors,and regional warlords (like Huang Ch’ao’s lieutenant and Later Liang founderChu Wen) who competed with one another for mastery over the north, andwho sought to recreate their own image of the defunct T’ang order that theyhad helped to destroy Thus the chief challenge facing the successive would-bedynasts was how to recentralize power from other members of their own kind –

in particular, the military governors – while rebuilding the apparatus of thecentralized, bureaucratic state

2

See especially Robert Somers, “The end of T’ang,” in The Cambridge history of China, volume 3: Sui and

T’ang China, 589–906, part 1, ed Denis C Twitchett (Cambridge, 1979), pp 682–789 See also Herbert

Franke and Denis C Twitchett, “Introduction,” in The Cambridge history of China, volume 6: Alien regimes

and border states, 907–1368, ed Herbert Franke and Denis C Twitchett (New York, 1994), p 10.

The process of recentralization began with the very first Five Dynasties ruler,when the Liang founder Chu Wen began to systematically replace T’ang-eramilitary governors with personally appointed prefects loyal to Chu alone.Although Chu Wen was never able to neutralize the animosity of the majormilitary governors who were deeply opposed to his imperial aspirations andruthless approach to governance, the four succeeding regimes (three Sha-t’oand one Han Chinese) were able to build on his momentum to impose ever-greater centralizing pressure on the military governors By midcentury theLater Chou rulers Kuo Wei and his adopted son Ch’ai Jung had begun to winthe war of attrition against the once-autonomous military governors In this,they were assisted by the reemergence of civil officials operating through aregular bureaucracy But they were also helped by Ch’ai Jung’s recentraliza-tion of military authority through a series of reforms that transformed thetwo most potent armies – the Metropolitan and Palace Commands – fromunpredictable power brokers to reliable agents of centralized imperial power,finally relieving the Later Chou rulers from dependence on the allegiance of

Naomi Standen shows that as a consequence of theselong-term efforts to reestablish the authority of the state in north China “powerhad unequivocally moved to the center” by the time the head of the PalaceCommand, Chao K’uang-yin, deposed his Later Chou masters

Meanwhile, throughout this half century of ostensible fragmentation a allel process of state building was taking place in the south Whereas northernstate builders came out of the class of military governors with roots in the T’angpolitical order, southern rulers emerged out of outlaw elements unleashed bythe massive social dislocation and demographic upheavals produced by therebellions that helped topple the T’ang In chapter 2, Hugh Clark describeshow outlaw adventurers rose to the top of local military confederations andthen flowed opportunistically with the shifting migrant tides to assume power

par-in troubled regions far from their origpar-inal homes, where through a balance

of protective and predatory activities they created alliances with the residentelites As T’ang political authority was seized by Chu Wen and his Later Liangregime in the north, the most powerful military entrepreneurs carved outindependent states in the physiographic cores of south China: Wu-Y ¨ueh inthe Yangtze delta; Min in the river valleys of Fukien; Wu (followed by itssuccessor state of Southern T’ang) in the elongated valley formed by the lowerYangtze River, P’o-yang Lake, and the Kan River; Southern Han, in the PearlRiver lands of Kuang-nan East and Kuang-nan West (modern Kwangtung andKwangsi), traditionally dubbed Ling-nan; Ch’u, encompassing the Hsiang and

3

The most important overview of this process is Edmund H Worthy, Jr., “The founding of Sung China, –1000: Integrative changes in military and political institutions” (diss., Princeton University, 1976).

Regime Dates Founder and Origins Capital and Core Domain

Five Dynasties

Ch’ao’s rebellion who amasses sufficient military might to capture the T’ang court in 903, murder the last adult T’ang emperor (Chao-tsung, r 888–904) in 904, then depose Chao-tsung’s son and proclaim his own dynasty in 907.

K’ai-feng North and Central China (Hopei, Shantung, and Honan) south to the Huai and Yangtse rivers, but Shansi and the Peking region beyond Liang control.

Shatuo Turk named military governor (and in 895 Prince of Chin) by the T’ang court who, with Khitan help, resists Chu Wen’s military advances Ts’un-hs ¨u carries on struggle against Later Liang, which he destroys in 923.

Loyang From core region in Shansi, Later T’ang expands well beyond Later Liang borders to control most of intramural north China south to the Huai and Han rivers; neither it nor the succeeding regimes establish effective control over the Ting-nan military governorship centered on Hsia-chou, south of the Ordos.

last Later T’ang ruler Li Ssu-y ¨uan.

K’ai-feng Controls all of Later T’ang territory except for the Sixteen Prefectures spanning Yu-chou (renamed Yen-ching

by the Khitan, modern Peking) to Y ¨un-chou (modern Ta-t’ung), which Shih cedes to the Khitan in 937 This strategic barrier protecting north China from the steppe, later termed “The Sixteen Prefectures of Yen-Y ¨un,” becomes the chief object of irredentist passions during the Northern Sung.

governor of the Shansi region centered on T’ai-y ¨uan who takes advantage of the Liao emperor’s death following a punitive invasion of Later Chin to establish his own reign.

K’ai-feng Same as Later Chin.

leader, becomes high military official under Later Han, takes advantage of a military coup to proclaim himself emperor of the Chou Succeeded by adopted son Kuo (originally Ch’ai) Jung (921–959), who governs effectively with the help of senior military commander Chao K’uang-yin, the Sung founder.

expansion, culminating in 959 with the capture of two of the Sixteen Prefectures (Ying-chou and Mo-chou) from the Liao and annexation of the Chiang-Huai plains between the Yangtze and Huai rivers from the Southern T’ang But the Kuo rulers unable to dislodge the Shansi state of Northern Han.

Ten Kingdoms

peasant turned bandit chieftain; named military governor by T’ang in 892, then Prince of Wu in 902 Wu rule usurped from within by Southern T’ang, 937.

Yang-chou, then Chin-ling (mod Nanking) Controlled major portions of the lower Yangtze and Kan River valleys (Huai-nan East and West Chiang-nan East and West circuits during the Sung, modern Anhwei and Kiangsi provinces).

outlaw leader in Hs ¨u-chou–Ts’ai-chou region (Sung Ching-hsi North, modern Honan), joins T’ang forces against Huang Ch’ao, named military governor of Western Szechwan in 891, assumes title of emperor in 907 Region invaded by Later T’ang in 925.

Ch’eng-tu Controlled all of the Szechwan basin, the upper Han River valley, and the corridors between Szechwan and northwest China (Sung Ch’in-feng Circuit, modern Shensi and Kansu).

Eight Battalion militia leader Tung Ch’ang in the Yangtze delta region of Liang-che (modern Chekiang) Consolidates power in Hang-chou before turning on Tung Ch’ang in 996

in the name of the waning T’ang court, which names him Prince of Y ¨ueh in 902, then Prince of Wu in 904.

Hang-chou Controlled rich Yangtze delta and coastal regions of Liang-che circuit (modern Chekiang province).

(continued )

Regime Dates Founder and Origins Capital and Core Domain

by 890s; outmaneuvers his elder brother to assume civil and military authority in the northern region centered on Fu-chou in 898, then title of Prince of Min in 909.

Interfamily strife impedes political unification of the region, which is largely divided up by Southern T’ang and Wu-Y ¨ueh

by 945.

Fu-chou Mirroring divisions in the Wang family, political control fractured along physiographic subregions of Fukien centered around Fu-chou in the north, the Chien-chou state

of Yin (proclaimed in 943) in the northwest, and Ch’ ¨uan-chou and the coastal prefectures in the south Chien-chou/Yin is taken by the Southern T’ang in 945 and Fu-chou/Min absorbed by Wu-Y ¨ueh in 946, leaving only the Ch’ ¨uan-chou (or Ching-y ¨uan) region – under control of the warlord Liu Ts’ung-hsiao – to maintain its independence until submitting to Sung rule in 978.

Ch’ien, a hereditary tribal chieftain in the region west of Canton that allied itself with T’ang against Huang Ch’ao In

appointment as commandant of Canton, then named military governor of Canton in 905 In 917 succeeded by brother Liu Yen, who establishes the state as Great Y ¨ueh in

Kuang-chou (Canton) Controlled the region of modern Kuang-tung and Kuang-hsi (Sung Kuang-nan East and Kuang-nan West) traditionally designated as Ling-nan; asserted unenforceable claims to continue T’ang control over the Red River valley of Annam (modern Vietnam).

Ching-nan (or

Nan-p’ing)

Chiang-ling by Later Liang founder Chu Wen in 907, then assumes title of King of Nan-p’ing in 924, just after Later Liang’s fall Survives through diplomatic links to successive Five Dynasties.

Chiang-ling (Ching-chou, modern Sha-shih, Hupei) Controlled the three prefectures just within and east of the Yangzte River gorges, including sites of the two modern cities of I-ch’ang and Sha-shih, as well as the southern bank

of the Han River around Ching-men-ch ¨un (modern Ching-men-shih).