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 emperors were ethnically Shatuo. The name Tang was used to legitimize itself as the restorer of the Tang dynasty. Although the Later Tang officially began in 923, the dynasty already existed in the years before, as a polity known in historiography as the Former Jin (907–923).

At its height, Later Tang controlled most of northern China.

Formation

From the fall of the Tang Dynasty in 907, a rivalry had developed between the successor Later Liang, formed by Zhu Wen, and the State of Jin, formed by Li Keyong, in present-day Shanxi. The rivalry survived the death of Li Keyong, whose son Li Cunxu continued to expand Jin territories at the expense of the Later Liang.

Li Keyong forged an alliance with the powerful Khitan, like the Shatuo a people of the northern steppe, a relationship that figured significantly in the expansion and ultimate triumph of the Shatuo. Li Cunxu was successful in overthrowing the Later Liang in 923 and proclaimed himself emperor of the Later Tang, which he referred to as the "Restored Tang". As a part of "restoring the Tang", the capital was moved back to the old Tang eastern seat of Luoyang.

Course

The Later Tang was a short-lived regime, lasting only thirteen years. Li Cunxu himself lived only three years after the founding of the dynasty, having been killed during an officer's rebellion in 926. Li Siyuan, the adopted son of Li Keyong, took over the dynasty, but relations with the Khitan had fallen sour. Internal struggles typified the remaining ten years of the dynasty, ending with its toppling in 936 when Shi Jingtang, son-in-law of Li Siyuan and a fellow Shatuo, rebelled, stormed the capital with the help of Khitan troops, and founded the Later Jin.

Extent of Later Tang territories

The Later Tang controlled considerably more territory at its height than did the Later Liang. It extended to all the northern territories controlled by the Later Liang as well as its own base in Shanxi. It also had control over the areas around Beijing and Shaanxi, which were not entirely under the control of the Later Liang. The largest expansion of the Later Tang occurred in 925 when they conquered the Former Shu State, centered in present-day Sichuan. However, as Later Tang power was waning, a Later Shu state formed in 934, two years before the fall of the Later Tang.

Rulers

Later Tang rulers family tree

References

Citations

Sources

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Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Dynasties in Chinese history
Former countries in Chinese history
923 establishments
10th-century establishments in China
936 disestablishments
10th-century disestablishments in China
States and territories established in the 920s
States and territories disestablished in the 930s