Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

In the half-century after the Tang fell, the Central Plains ran through five dynasties — Later Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou — while a dozen small states stood alongside: the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Regimes turned like lantern slides, yet there were bright spots: Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou reformed and readied reunification; ci, a new kind of lyric poetry, flowered in the southern states; woodblock printing spread far and wide.

In 960 the general Zhao Kuangyin was draped in a yellow robe by his soldiers at Chenqiao and founded the Song. The chaos slowly gathered back into one.