Southern Han

Southern Han (Template:Lang-zh; 917–971), officially Han (Template:Lang-zh), originally Yue (Template:Lang-zh), was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was located on China's southern coast, controlling modern Guangdong and Guangxi. The dynasty greatly expanded its capital Xingwang Fu (Template:Lang-zh, present-day Guangzhou). It attempted but failed to annex the autonomous polity of Jinghai, which was controlled by the Vietnamese.

Founding of the Southern Han

Liu Yin was named regional governor and military officer by the Tang 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 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 which was controlled by the Vietnamese.

Territorial extent

With its capital at present-day Guangzhou, the domains of the kingdom spread along the coastal regions of present-day Guangdong, Guangxi and the island of Hainan. It had borders with the kingdoms of Min, Chu and the Southern Tang 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

File:Ngô Quyền đại phá quân Nam Hán trên sông Bạch Đằng.jpg

Đông Hồ woodblock depiction of Ngô Quyền leading his troops against Southern Han forces on the Bạch Đằng River, 938 AD

During the late 9th century as the Tang dynasty weakened, local Vietnamese lords began taking control of its domain in Jinghai (northern Vietnam). Southern Han campaigned twice against the Vietnamese in 931 and 938 in an attempt to add these Vietnamese territories to their realm, but failed both.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Fall of the Southern Han

The Five Dynasties ended in 960 when the Song dynasty was founded to replace the Later Zhou. 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

Sovereigns in the Southern Han Kingdom 917–971

Temple Names	Posthumous Names	Personal Names	Period of Reigns	Era Names
Gao Zu ( )	Tian Huang Da Di ( )	Liu Yan ( ) Liu Yan ( ) after 926	917–941	Qianheng ( ) 917–925 Bailong ( ) 925–928 Dayou ( ) 928–941
Did not exist	Shang Di ( )	Liu Bin ( )	941–943	Guangtian ( ) 941–943
Zhong Zong ( )	Wénwǔ Guāngmíng Xiào () Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign	Liu Sheng ( )	943–958	Yingqian ( ) 943 Qianhe ( ) 943–958
Hou Zhu ( )	Did not exist	Liu Chang ( )	958–971	Dabao ( ) 958–971

References

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.