Popular science article: What happened to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (Part 1)

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms refer to the five orthodox Central Plains regimes of Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou, as well as the former Shu, Southern Wu, Wu Yue, Min, Southern Han, Nanping, Ma Chu, There were ten separatist regimes: Hou Shu, Southern Tang, and Northern Han.

Generally speaking, Luoyang or Kaifeng was the capital of the Five Dynasties. It was the political power that occupied the Central Plains at that time. It inherited the same line and inherited the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty. This was the orthodox country at that time and the nominal leader at that time. .

Except for the Northern Han Dynasty, most of the Ten Kingdoms were entrenched in the south. These were all separatist regimes and were the talkers of each region at that time. With so many political powers and countries crowded together in the Central Plains, how could it be so messed up this time?

It is no exaggeration to say that the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was one of the most chaotic periods of great schism in ancient China.

As for how to sort out these fifteen regimes, let alone ordinary readers, even many history enthusiasts can’t figure it out.

I am not very talented in the cafeteria, so I will briefly talk about the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in chronological order, first from south to north.

Generally speaking, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms are divided by time.

The starting time is: 907 AD, the first year of Kaiping by Emperor Taizu of the Later Liang Dynasty (the fourth year of Emperor Ai Tianyou of the Tang Dynasty);

The ending time is: 960 AD, which is the year of Jianlong Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty. Year.

That is, from Zhu Wen's destruction of the Tang Dynasty to Zhao Kuangyin's founding of the Song Dynasty, the time span is 53 years.

But in fact, this is the time from the beginning to the demise of the Five Dynasties, Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou, not the time of the demise of the Ten Kingdoms.

Among the ten kingdoms, the earliest one, the Former Shu, was founded in the second year of the Dashun reign of Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty (891), and the last Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed in the fourth year of the Taiping and Xingguo reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty (979).

This time span is as long as 88 years, spanning the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty.

This is also a way of dividing the time of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. This is how the famous historian Fan Wenlan divided it.

There are two different division methods, the former takes the Five Dynasties as the standard, and the latter takes the Ten Kingdoms as the standard.

In fact, strictly speaking, the statement of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms is not very accurate.

Because some of these regimes are not independent countries in the true sense, but are just separatist forces, such as the Wuyue Kingdom.

Moreover, in addition to the Ten Kingdoms, there were many independent or semi-independent regimes at that time. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there were far more than these fifteen regimes.

The Ten Kingdoms are only the ten most representative and influential among them, and are recognized by the "New History of the Five Dynasties".

The so-called Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, to put it bluntly, is just a conventional term, it just sounds easy to call it. If you want to call it Five Dynasties and Eleven Kingdoms, you can also call it Five Dynasties and Twelve Kingdoms.

However, we don’t need to dwell on these side issues. Next, let’s take a look at how the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms emerged.

Speaking of the emergence of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, I have to mention one person, the famous young and dangerous boy Huang Chao in the late Tang Dynasty!

It is said that since the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and his daughter-in-law Yang Guifei fell in love for a while, they were exhausted. When the Anshi Rebellion broke out, the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty was gone forever.

Although there were three so-called ZTEs (Yuanhe Zhongxing by Tang Xianzong, Huichang Zhongxing by Tang Wuzong, and Dazhong by Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty), they only delayed the death of the Tang Dynasty. The only suspense is who will come Ended the life of the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, God chose Huang Chao.

In fact, Huang Chao originally wanted to be an official in the Tang Dynasty, but he failed in several imperial examinations.

Huang Chao is popular and cannot be an official, so I will be the emperor.

He once wrote two poems:

One is "Fu Di Hou Fu Chrysanthemum",

One is "Inscribed on Chrysanthemums",

The two poems have the same meaning, I want to be the emperor! In the words of Sun Wukong, the emperor takes turns and comes to my house this year.

The Tang Dynasty deserved its misfortune, Huang Chao really did it!

In June of the second year of Qianfu of Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty (875), Huang Chao participated in Wang Xianzhi's uprising.

Three years later, Wang Xianzhi died in battle, and Huang Chao became the leader of the rebel army.

In December of the first year of Guangming of Tang Xi (880), Huang Chao captured Chang'an, fulfilled his promise, and became emperor.

Unfortunately, Huang Chao failed in the end. In June of the fourth year of Zhonghe (884), the uprising led by Huang Chao was suppressed by the Tang Dynasty.

After all, he failed to achieve "I will kill all the flowers after they bloom".

What’s terrible is that the Huangchao Uprising is the most typical peasant mobility battle in Chinese history.

The Huangchao Rebel Army's operations spanned the north and south of the Yangtze River, and passed through 11 provinces and cities today, including Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, and Shaanxi.

With such a large scope of activities, let alone a rebellion, even if it is a demonstration, this guy is too scary.

As a result, the Huang Chao Uprising dealt a fatal blow to the Tang Dynasty politically, militarily, and economically, and greatly subverted the Tang Dynasty's ruling order.

So after Huang Chao died, my flowers faded and hundreds of flowers bloomed!

After Huang Chao's death, Li Keyong, An Chongrong and others who suppressed him became the bosses of the separatist party;

His subordinates Qin Zongquan and others continued to fight against the Tang Dynasty ;

In addition, the Tang Dynasty surrendered to generals like Zhu Wen and gradually accumulated strength.

The entire Tang Dynasty became the domain of local vassal towns such as Li Keyong, Li Maozhen, Yang Xingmi, An Chongrong, Qin Zongquan, and Zhu Wen.

Although the Tang Dynasty extinguished the Huangchao Uprising, it was still full of chicken feathers and only half a breath of life was left.

In February of the first year of Wende (888), after Tang Zhaozong succeeded to the throne and became the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the young Zhaozong was determined to revive the glory of the Tang Dynasty.

It is a pity that he is destined to be an unlucky guy ten thousand times more miserable than Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty.

The business he took over was so bad. Local governors like Li Keyong and Li Maozhen bullied him, and eunuchs like Yang Fugong also bullied him in the court. He was a puppet emperor.

Tang Zhaozong was not willing to be a puppet. After taking care of Yang Fugong, he decided to attack the feudal town.

He gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and formed a Central Army with 100,000 troops.

In December of this year, Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty sent troops south to attack Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan, the feudal lords in Sichuan.

At the same time, he sent another surrendered general Zhu Wen, Li Kuangwei, Helian Duo and others to form a coalition to attack Li Keyong who was entrenched in Hedong.

At the beginning of the war, the war on the Western Front went relatively smoothly, but the commander Wei Zhaodu was incompetent in commanding the army. During the battle, the Yongping Army Jiedu Wang Jian, nicknamed the Thief Bastard, overrode the situation and monopolized military power.

The eastern front was even worse. The Tang army won first and then lost. The battle was very difficult and there was a stalemate.

In order to ensure the victory of the Eastern Front Campaign, in the second year of Dashun (891), Tang Zhaozong ordered the suspension of the Western Front Campaign and dispatched the Western Expeditionary Army to rescue the Eastern Front.

However, the fledgling Wang Jian disobeyed the order. Wei Zhaodu, the commander-in-chief of the Western Expeditionary Army, was afraid of being killed by Wang Jian, so he returned to the Central Committee to resume his orders.

Wang Jian then sent troops to garrison the border, cutting off the connection between Sichuan and the Tang Dynasty. Since then, Sichuan has become Wang Jian's territory.

Tang Zhaozong had no choice but to admit the fact that Wang Jian separated Sichuan. In fact, Wang Jian started anew and established a political power.

In the fourth year of Tianyou (907), the Tang Dynasty was destroyed by Zhu Wen. Wang Jian refused to recognize Zhu Wen. In September of this year, he officially proclaimed himself emperor. The country was named Dashu, and the history was called Qian Shu—— This is the first country of the Ten Kingdoms!

Then look at Tang Zhaozong. The Central Army on the Western Front could not come back. Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty could only bite the bullet and continue the battle on the Eastern Front.

In the end, the Central Army he had worked so hard to manage was severely defeated by Li Keyong, and Li Keyong became the final winner.

However, the biggest winner in this battle was Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen was Li Keyong's mortal enemy, and it was he who incited Tang Zhaozong to attack Li Keyong.

However, in this battle, Zhu Wen's direct troops did not suffer much damage, and those who served as cannon fodder were basically Tang Zhaozong's Central Army.

After the war, Tang Zhaozong lost so much that he lost his underwear, Li Keyong was also weakened, and only Zhu Wen benefited and gradually became the most powerful vassal in the world!

What was even worse was behind. After the defeat on both the east and west fronts, Tang Zhaozong's prestige was in disrepair. All the vassals and towns did not take him seriously, especially Li Maozhen, who tried hard to bully him.

Tang Zhaozong couldn't bear it anymore, so he sent troops to attack Li Maozhen. As a result, he was insulted by Li Maozhen, and Tang Zhaozong was forced to flee from Chang'an.

Finally, Li Maozhen's ally Han Jian, the governor of Huazhou, locked up a small black room for nearly three years.

In the fifth year of Qianning (898), Zhu Wen occupied Luoyang. Li Maozhen, Han Jian and Li Keyong immediately formed an alliance and allowed Tang Zhaozong to return to Chang'an.

As a result, when Tang Zhaozong returned to Chang'an, he was bullied by the eunuchs again and locked up in a dark room.

As the majestic emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Tang Zhaozong was imprisoned twice. How could such an emperor be called the lord of the world? The Tang Dynasty actually existed in name only.

Then the era of chaos is here!

In the second year after Wang Jian occupied Sichuan, that is, in August of the first year of Jingfu (892), Yang Xingmi, who started in Luzhou, occupied Jianghuai after defeating Qin Zongquan's general Sun Ru, and was therefore taken over by Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Dynasty. Appointed as the Huainan Jiedushi, Yang Xingmi became the boss of the separatist party.

In the second year of Tianfu (902), Yang Xingmi was granted the title of King of Wu. In fact, Yang Xingmi also established a political power. This political power was called the State of Wu, and was known as Yang Wu and Nan Wu in history - these were ten years. the second country of the country.

In October of the second year of Jingfu (893), the year after Yang Xingmi took control of Huainan, Wang Chao, who was separatist in Fujian, was appointed as the observer of Fujian by Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty. Fujian became the territory of the dynasty and another political power. came out.

In the fourth year of Qianning (897), Wang Chao passed the throne to his younger brother Wang Shenzhi.

In the third year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (909), Zhu Wen named Wang Shenzhi the King of Fujian, and the Kingdom of Fujian was officially established. This regime was called the Kingdom of Fujian - the third country among the Ten Kingdoms.

In the year when Wang Chao controlled Fujian, Qian Liu, who was separatist in western Zhejiang, was appointed by Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty as the military governor of Zhenhai, and he also established a political power.

In the second year of Tianfu (902), Qian Liu was granted the title of King of Wu.

In the first year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (907), Qian Liu was named King of Wuyue, and the Kingdom of Wuyue was officially established - this was the fourth country among the Ten Kingdoms!

In the third year of Qianning (896), Ma Yin, who was separatist in Hunan, established another regime.

Ma Yin is even more amazing. He is a subordinate of Huang Chao's general Qin Zongquan and Sun Ru's general Liu Jianfeng.

This is very convoluted, that is to say, Huang Chao had a general named Qin Zongquan, Qin Zongquan had a general named Sun Ru, Sun Ru had a general named Liu Jianfeng, and finally arrived at Ma Yin, and Ma Yin was Liu Jianfeng’s subordinates!

In the first year of Jingfu (892), Sun Ru was killed by Yang Xingmi. After his death in battle, Liu Jianfeng led his defeated troops southward to Jiangxi. Later, Liu Jianfeng's team grew larger and larger.

In the first year of Qianning (894), Liu Jianfeng led his army into Hunan and defeated various forces in Hunan.

In the third year of Qianning (896), Liu Jianfeng was killed by his subordinates. Ma Yin became the master of this army and gradually unified Hunan.

In August of this year, Ma Yin was appointed as the governor of Tanzhou and judged the military affairs of Hunan. He formally separated Hunan and actually became its own country.

In the first year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (907), Zhu Wen named Ma Yin the King of Chu, and the Chu State was officially established. It was known as Southern Chu and Ma Chu in history - this is the fifth country among the Ten Kingdoms!

But this is not over yet. Wang Yang, Qian Ma and others can build a country, and so can people named Liu.

In the fifth year of Qianfu (878) of Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao's uprising army captured Guangzhou. Guangzhou tooth general Liu Qian was ordered to suppress the Huang Chao uprising, and was later named the governor of Fengzhou.

In the first year of Qianning (894), Liu Qian died. His eldest son Liu Yin succeeded him as the governor of Fengzhou, and then separatized Lingnan and became the leader of the Lingnan region.

In the first year of Tianyou (904), Emperor Aizong of the Tang Dynasty, Liu Yin was named Qinghai Jiedushi, and a new regime was established!

In the first year of Qianhua in Houliang (911), Liu Yin died of illness and his younger brother Liu? succeeded to the throne.

In the third year of Zhenming (917), Liu Yu officially proclaimed himself emperor and changed the name of the country to Dayue. The following year, he changed the name of the country to Han, and it was called Southern Han in history - this was the sixth country in the Ten Kingdoms. .

At this point, the South has been divided among these six countries.

Please note that each of these six countries has eliminated many forces within its own territory, and only established a country after brutal wars.

Let’s think about it for ourselves, how many separatist forces there were in the Tang Dynasty at that time.

At that time, whether you were a soldier or a thief, as long as you could raise an army, you had the opportunity to build a country for fun.

This is the current situation in the late Tang Dynasty. What is the Great Split? This is called the Great Split! # History # # Interesting things in history # # Historical skylight # # Historical review # # Historical truth #