Jin (晉; 883 (or 896 or 907)–923), also known as Hedong (河東) and Former Jin (前晉) in
Chinese historiography, was a
dynastic state of China and the predecessor of the
Later Tang dynasty
Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history.
The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...
. Its
princely rulers were the ethnic
Shatuo warlords
Li Keyong
Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...
and
Li Cunxu
Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923 ...
(Li Keyong's son). Although the
Five Dynasties period began only in 907, Li Keyong's territory which centered around modern
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
can be referred to as Jin as early as 896, when he was officially created the
Prince of Jin by the failing and powerless
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
court, or even (by extension, anachronistically) as early as 883, when he was created the ''
jiedushi
The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", " legate" ...
'' military governor of Hedong Circuit, which controlled more or less the same territory.
History
The Jin rulers
Li Keyong
Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...
and Li Keyong's son
Li Cunxu
Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923 ...
, of
Shatuo extraction, claimed to be the rightful subjects of the defunct
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
(618–907), in a struggle against the usurper state of the
Later Liang dynasty.
At the time of the Tang dynasty's fall in 907, the Jin state consisted of most of Shanxi (Linfen, Hezhong, Jincheng, Qinyang were taken by Later Liang) and several parts of Inner Mongolia. In 912, Jin took over Jincheng and in 913, conquered Yan, and eventually expanded to cover all of the territory north of the
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
. Eventually, in 923, Li Cunxu, claiming rightful succession to the Tang throne, declared himself emperor, transitioning his state to the
Later Tang
Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history.
The first three of the Later Tang's four ...
dynasty, which shortly after destroyed the Later Liang dynasty.
*
Former countries in Chinese history
10th-century establishments in China
907 establishments
923 disestablishments
10th-century disestablishments in China
States and territories established in the 900s
States and territories disestablished in the 920s
History of Shanxi
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