Southern Han (; 917–971), officially Han (), originally Yue (), was one of the ten kingdoms that existed during the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...
. It was located on China's southern coast, controlling modern
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
and
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
. The kingdom greatly expanded its capital Xingwang Fu (, present-day
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
). It attempted but failed to annex the independent polity of
Jinghai
Jinghai District () is a district of the municipality of Tianjin, People's Republic of China, located in the southwest portion of the municipality, bordering Hebei province to the south and west, Xiqing District to the north and northeast, and Bi ...
which was controlled by the Vietnamese.
Founding of the Southern Han
Liu Yin was named regional governor and military officer by the
Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
court in 905. Though the Tang fell two years later, Liu did not declare himself the founder of a new kingdom as other southern leaders had done. He merely inherited the title of Prince of Nanping in 909.
It was not until Liu Yin's death in 917 that his brother,
Liu Yan, declared the founding of a new kingdom, which he initially called "Yue" (); he changed the name to Han () in 918. This was because his surname Liu () was the imperial surname of the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
and he claimed to be a descendant of that famous dynasty. The kingdom is often referred to as the Southern Han Dynasty throughout China's history. It attempted but failed to annex the independent polity of
Jinghai
Jinghai District () is a district of the municipality of Tianjin, People's Republic of China, located in the southwest portion of the municipality, bordering Hebei province to the south and west, Xiqing District to the north and northeast, and Bi ...
which was controlled by the Vietnamese.
Territorial extent
With its capital at present-day
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, the domains of the kingdom spread along the coastal regions of present-day
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
,
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
and the island of
Hainan
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
. It had borders with the kingdoms of
Min
Min or MIN may refer to:
Places
* Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China
** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian
* Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China
* Min River (Fujian)
* Min River (Sichuan)
* Mineola (Am ...
,
Chu and the
Southern Tang
Southern Tang () was a state in Southern China that existed during Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which proclaimed itself to be the successor of the former Tang dynasty. The capital was located at Nanjing in present-day Jiangsu Province ...
as well as the non-Chinese kingdoms of
Dali. The Southern Tang occupied all of the northern boundary of the Southern Han after Min and Chu were conquered by the Southern Tang in 945 and 951 respectively.
War with the Vietnamese
During the late 9th century as the Tang dynasty weakened, local Vietnamese lords began taking control of its domain in
Jinghai
Jinghai District () is a district of the municipality of Tianjin, People's Republic of China, located in the southwest portion of the municipality, bordering Hebei province to the south and west, Xiqing District to the north and northeast, and Bi ...
(northern Vietnam). Southern Han campaigned twice against the Vietnamese in 931 and
938
Year 938 ( CMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – The Hungarian army invades Northern Italy with the permission of King H ...
in an attempt to add these Vietnamese territories to their realm, but failed both.
Fall of the Southern Han
The Five Dynasties ended in 960 when the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
was founded to replace the
Later Zhou
Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei (E ...
. From that point, the new Song rulers set themselves about to continue the reunification process set in motion by the Later Zhou. Through the 960s and 970s, the Song increased its influence in the south until finally it was able to force the Southern Han dynasty to submit to its rule in 971.
Rulers
Rulers family tree
References
Citations
Sources
*
*Schafer, Edward H. "The History of the Empire of Southern Han: According to Chapter 65 of the Wu-tai-shih of Ou-yang Hsiu", Zinbun-kagaku-kenkyusyo (ed.), Silver Jubilee Volume of the Zinbun-kagaku-kenkyusyo. Kyoto, Kyoto University, 1954.
*
*
*
External links
Chinaknowledge.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Southern
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Former countries in Chinese history
917 establishments
10th-century establishments in China
971 disestablishments
970s disestablishments
10th-century disestablishments in China
States and territories established in the 910s
States and territories disestablished in the 970s
Former kingdoms