The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907- 978 AD) was a chaotic separatist period formed after the Tang Dynasty. There are ten countries in the north, such as the later Tang Dynasty, the later Jin Dynasty and the later Han Dynasty, which were replaced on the last Friday, while there are ten countries in the south, such as the later Shu Dynasty, Wu Dynasty, the southern Tang Dynasty and wuyue. In short, it was social unrest and war, which was later unified by Zhao Kuangyin and established the Song Dynasty.

The five dynasties are: Hou Liang, Later Tang Dynasty, Later Jin Dynasty, Later Han Dynasty and Later Zhou Dynasty. The dominant position of the Five Dynasties was in the north, and the monarchs were mostly foreigners and ethnic minorities (Shatuo people). Except Luoyang, which was the capital of the later Tang Dynasty, Kaifeng (Bianjing) was the capital of the other four generations.

Ten Kingdoms: In addition to these five dynasties, there have been ten separatist regimes, namely, pre-Shu, post-Shu, Wu, Southern Tang, wuyue, Fujian, Chu, Southern Han, Nanping (namely Jingnan) and Northern Han.

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms are essentially the continuation of the separatist regime in the Tang Dynasty, which existed as early as the end of the Tang Dynasty. After the demise of the Tang Dynasty, these vassals remained independent for decades. The regimes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were basically short-lived regimes, because powerful generals often launched mutinies to seize power, such as Li Siyuan, Li Congke, Shi Jingtang and Guo Wei, all of whom came to power by mutiny. In addition, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was a period of war. Because there is no strong central government, the separatist regimes are constantly fighting, and the rulers are more martial arts than civil affairs.

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was a period of great chaos and extinction, with tyrants above and cruel officials below. In addition, the famous cities Chang 'an and Luoyang were destroyed all the year round, so the predecessors called the Five Dynasties "Five Seasons", that is, the last generation and the worst generation. Therefore, Ouyang Xiu often begins with "alas" in his History of the New Five Dynasties. It's not that he's putting on airs, let alone anything else. In the troubled times of the Five Dynasties, the cruel punishment of "the year of the year" (that is, chess pieces) appeared.

The founding kings of the five dynasties were all square towns of the previous dynasties, which were developed by military separatism. Therefore, the historical characteristics of this period are frequent wars and frequent regime changes. In the Five Dynasties, the Houliang lasted the longest, only seventeen years, followed by fourteen years in the late Tang Dynasty and eleven years in the late Jin Dynasty, while four years in the late Han Dynasty and nine years in the later Zhou Dynasty were less than ten years. In fact, even in a short time, its power struggle is extraordinary. For example, Emperor Zhu Wen of the Back Beam was killed by his second son, Zhu Yusi, only five years after he ascended the throne. Soon after Zhu Yusi came to power, he was killed by his younger brother Zhu Youzhen. Another example is Li Congrong, the son of Li Siyuan, and Li Siyuan, the son of Emperor Mingzong in the later Tang Dynasty. He once seized power through soldiers, but failed and lost his life. After the death of Mingzong, Li Conghou, the fifth son of his younger brother, succeeded to the throne for only one year, and his position was taken over by Li Congke, the adopted son of Mingzong. Frequent fighting has brought great pain and disaster to the people.

In the late Five Dynasties, the trend of unification was constantly strengthened. During the reign of Zhou Shizong and Chai Rong, a series of reform measures were implemented, which enhanced the national strength of the later Zhou Dynasty. The northern expedition to Qidan and the southern Tang Dynasty occupied fourteen states in Jianghuai, which prepared important conditions for ending the separatist regime in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Three of the five dynasties, namely the founding kings of the later Tang Dynasty, the later Jin Dynasty and the later Han Dynasty, were all Shatuo people. At the same time, the Khitans in the north are becoming stronger and stronger. They colluded with each other and gradually formed powerful political forces and military groups, such as Shi Jingtang in the late Jin Dynasty, who helped Xie Qidan seize the throne and ceded sixteen states of Youyun to Qidan, thus forming the second confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the history of China for the Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties, which laid a deep curse.

Compared with the five dynasties, the situation in the ten countries is much better. Of these ten countries, except Liu Chong's Northern Han Dynasty is in the north (now part of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Hebei), all other countries are in the south of China. They were less affected by the war in the Central Plains, their political situation was relatively stable, and their time of maintaining political power was much longer than that of the Five Dynasties. For example, the shortest former Shu is 34 years, twice as long as the latter Liang, while the longest Wu Yue is 85 years. This has played a vital role in the development of southern China. Taking wuyue as an example, the seawall was built in 9 10, which ensured the development of agricultural production and made wuyue embark on the road of prosperity. Due to frequent wars in the north, many Zhongyuan people moved to the south to avoid disasters and chaos. They brought production technology and science and culture from the north, which played a positive role in the development of the south.