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105-654: The Kaiyuan Tongbao also signified a major change in how money circulated in the Chinese Empire, while previously cash coins were valued based on their weights, they would now be valued based on government regulations. After the fall of the Tang dynasty Kaiyuan Tongbao coins would continue to be produced by various states of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . During the Ming dynasty , and later dynasties,

210-506: A Tang dynasty period clay mould ( traditional Chinese : 錢陶範 ; simplified Chinese : 钱陶范 ; pinyin : Qián táo fàn ) that was used to cast Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins was unearthed in Shutang , Wangcheng District , Changsha , Hunan on August 17, 1992 by Mr. Ceng Jingyi (traditional Chinese: 曾敬儀 ; simplified Chinese: 曾敬仪 ; pinyin: Céng Jìngyí ), a retired teacher and coin collector. The Kaiyuan Tongbao clay mould

315-524: A clockwise inscription. Another term that was used to denote "the currency type" in Chinese coin inscriptions was zhòng bǎo (重寶) which could be translated as "heavy currency". The first cash coin to have this inscription was the Qianyuan Zhongbao (乾元重寶) which was first produced in the year 759. The terms yuán bǎo (元寶) and zhòng bǎo (重寶) which were both established during a 138 year period of

420-463: A large number of Sogdian coins were uncovered, the Soviet numismatist Smirnova listed in her catalogue on Sogdian coins from 1573 published in 1981 a large number of coins of which several were based on Kaiyuan Tongbao's. Sogdian coins tend to be produced independently by each city and contain tribal mint marks known as tamgha's , some cities used coins based on Persian coinages (which made up 13.2% of

525-433: A large number of treasures dating to the Tang dynasty period were uncovered at the site. Among the over 27,000 cash coins found at the temple there were 13 turtle shell cash coins with the inscription Kaiyuan Tongbao, they have a diameter of 2.75 centimeters, a thickness of 0.06 centimeters, and a weight of 24.8 grams. In Buddhism turtle shells are among the 7 treasures and these cash coins may have been made to commemorate

630-488: A market incentive to produce counterfeit cash coins to fill the demand for currency. The government of the Tang dynasty explicitly forbade coin counterfeiting and actively took measures to eliminate the bad Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins that were illegally produced. Despite their efforts, the crackdown on counterfeit cash coins proved largely to be unsuccessful. Despite the official regulations requiring government mints to cast cash coins with high copper content, examinations of

735-434: A number of factors, primarily based on the market demand for money, while the production of official cash coins was being constrained by the prohibitively high costs associated with their manufacture. The cost of casting wasn't just affected by production costs such as the volume of fuel and manpower, but also by acquisition costs relating to the scarcity of copper, as well as the cost of transportation. These factors all created

840-712: A second short-lived East Turkestan Republic in 1944 based in Yining . The Soviet Union withdrew its support in June 1946. A separatist movement drawing on the legacy of the short-lived East Turkestan Republics continues today. During China's land reform movement (which began after the defeat of the Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War and continued in the early years of the People's Republic of China),

945-559: A very special occasion. Likely by the order of a Tang dynasty emperor to honour a sacred relic of Gautama Buddha that was located at the Famen Temple. "《佛說陀羅尼集經》中曰：“其七寶者：一金二銀三珍珠四珊瑚五玳瑁六水晶七琉璃”. This tantra states that there are seven "treasures" or precious things: (1) gold, (2) silver, (3) pearl, (4) coral, (5) turtle shell , (6) crystal, (7) colored glaze." - Dharani Samuccaya Sutra (佛說陀羅尼集經, Fú shuō tuóluóní jí jīng ), translated into English by Gary Ashkenazy (加里·阿什凱納齊) from

1050-467: A year, mainly due to the shortage of copper. Forgeries using lead and tin alloys were produced. Due to the fact that this continued to be produced for two centuries by various mints all over China there are several hundred varieties of the Kaiyuan Tongbao that can be distinguished from each other due to slight differences. The Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins that were first cast until the height of

1155-415: Is classified as a Chinese " national treasure " (traditional Chinese: 國寶級 ; simplified Chinese: 国宝级 ; pinyin: Guóbǎo jí ). Up until the unearthing of this clay mould in the year 1992, no moulds were known to exist for the casting of Tang dynasty coinage. The discovery of this clay mould has made it unclear as to what process was actually used to cast the Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins. While

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1260-772: Is further reflected in there being 13 sects in Chinese Mahayana Buddhism , 13, floors at the Tibetan Potala Palace and that the Famen Pagoda (where the coins were found) also had 13 floors. As of 2021 these were the oldest known turtle shell coins found anywhere in the world. The maximum annual output of mints during the Tang dynasty was 327.000 strings (327.000.000 cash coins). Counterfeit cash coins (traditional Chinese: 惡錢 ; simplified Chinese: 恶钱 ; pinyin: È qián ; lit. 'Bad money') were rampant during

1365-724: The Old History and the New History . Written from the northern viewpoint, these chronicles organized the history around the Five Dynasties (the north), presenting the Ten Kingdoms (the south) as illegitimate, self-absorbed and indulgent. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period turned away from the international cultural mood of the Tang dynasty and appears as a transition towards the solidified national culture of

1470-452: The jiedushi , the regional military governors. The An Lushan (755–763) and Huang Chao rebellions weakened the imperial government, and by the early 10th century the jiedushi commanded de facto independence from its authority. In the last decades of the Tang dynasty, they were not even appointed by the central court anymore, but developed hereditary systems, from father to son or from patron to protégé. They had their own armies rivaling

1575-586: The Central Plain , and more than a dozen concurrent dynastic states, collectively known as the Ten Kingdoms, were established elsewhere, mainly in South China . It was a prolonged period of multiple political divisions in Chinese imperial history. Traditionally, the era is seen as beginning with the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 and reaching its climax with the founding of the Song dynasty in 960. In

1680-854: The Later Han fell to the Han Chinese-led Later Zhou in 951. With the protection of the powerful Liao dynasty, the Northern Han maintained nominal independence until the Song dynasty wrested it from the Khitans in 979. The smallest of the southern states, Jingnan (924–963), was founded by Gao Jichang , a former general of Liang. It was based in Jiangling and held two other districts southwest of present-day Wuhan in Hubei . Gao

1785-709: The Later Zhou founder Guo Wei fought in Li Keyong's army and Guo served under Liu Zhiyuan. The father of Song founder Zhao Kuangyin served in the armies of Later Tang, Later Han, and Later Zhou. Zhao, also a professional soldier, rose through the ranks of the Later Zhou before seizing the throne in the Chenqiao Mutiny in 960, which ended the era of the Five Dynasties. The Qing historian Wang Fuzhi (1619–1692) wrote that this period could be compared to

1890-505: The Nanling region were most seriously affected by counterfeit cash coins. The introduction and circulation of counterfeit cash coins negatively affected the economy by causing inflation and reducing social stability. The emergence of coin counterfeiting in China is rooted in the development of the commodity economy and the scarcity of money. The counterfeiting of cash coins prevailed due to

1995-521: The Primal Trek – a journey through Chinese culture website. As no mention of these turtle shell Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins exist in any historical records or text both Chinese archaeologists and numismatists were surprised with the find. Experts do note that the number of the coins (13) is considered auspicious in Buddhism, which may be related to the fact that there are 13 turtle shell coins. This

2100-416: The Song dynasty . Throughout the period, there was marked cultural and economic growth, rather than decline. Several Northern dynasties originated in the northeast, and centralisation of the north led to a migration of provincial elites into the capital, particularly northeasterners, creating a new metropolitan culture. After the unification of China by the Song dynasty, the culture, arts and literature of

2205-444: The yuán bǎo (元寶) inscription. The reason that the Kaiyuan Tongbao also inspired the yuán bǎo legend is because the Chinese people themselves had trouble figuring out the correct character order, as the inscription is read in what was referred to as the "standard order" (top-bottom-right-left) some people accidentally read it in the wrong order as they had assumed that the inscription was read clockwise as Kaitong Yuanbao (開通元寶), this

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2310-534: The "palace armies" and amassed huge wealth, as testified by their sumptuous tombs. Due to the decline of Tang central authority after the An Lushan Rebellion, there was a growing tendency to superimpose large regional administrations over the old districts and prefectures that had been used since the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). These administrations, known as circuit commissions, would become the boundaries of

2415-429: The "varied landscape" of China was inspired by Taoism . It emphasized the sacredness of mountains as places between heaven and earth and depicted the natural world as a source of harmony. In later tradition, the Five Dynasties is viewed as a period of judicial abuse and excessive punishment. This view reflects both actual problems with the administration of justice and the bias of Confucian historians, who disapproved of

2520-436: The 5th year of this epoch (845) Emperor Wuzong ordered the casting of new coins with the inscription Kaiyuan Tongbao to be manufactured of bronze acquired by melting confiscated statues, copper bells, gongs, incense burners, and other copper items from Buddhist temples. These local mints were under the control of the provincial governors. The New Tang History states that Li Shen , governor of Huainan province, requested that

2625-456: The An Lushan rebellion. With their administration under local military control, these provinces never submitted tax revenues, and governorships lapsed into hereditary succession. They engaged in occasional war with the central government, or against each other, and Youzhou seemed to conduct its own foreign policy. This meant that the culture of these northeastern provinces started diverging from

2730-482: The Chinese numismatic society believed that the government regulations requiring high copper content in the official alloys were only introduced to curb the cash coin counterfeiting. Japanese "Fuhonsen" and later the Wadōkaichin were modelled after the Tang dynasty's Kaiyuan Tongbao coin using similar calligraphy. During excavations in the historically Sogdian cities of Afrasiab (old Samarkand ) and Pendjikent

2835-632: The Communist Party encouraged rural women in achieving a "double fanshen" - a revolutionary transformation as both a peasant and a feminist awakening as a woman. The progress of Hui women in Northwestern China was promoted as by the Party as an example of such a success. Through the rural movement, Hui women were said to have not just received land, but also "freedom over their own bodies." Hui women embraced political participation and

2940-549: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms regimes was Northern Han , which held out until Song conquered it in 979. For the next several centuries, although the Song controlled much of South China, they coexisted alongside the Liao dynasty, Jin dynasty, and various other regimes in China's north, until finally all of them were unified under the Yuan dynasty . Towards the end of the Tang dynasty, the imperial government granted increased powers to

3045-577: The Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins could have been cast in the traditional manner from moulds made of clay, stone, or bronze as was the case since the Warring States period , it was believed that cash coins during this period were being cast in sand using "mother coins" (母錢) to make the impressions where the circulation cash coins would later be produced from. With the discovery of this unique clay mould, however, it has now been confirmed that clay moulds were still being used by mints to cast cash coins during

3150-461: The Kaiyuan Tongbao coin can be distinguished by the "元" character's second horizontal stroke (or "shoulder"): Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins also commonly have differentiating features on their reverse, these can include crescents which according to legend happened when either Empress Zhangsun or Empress Taimu or in some versions of the story Yang Guifei pressed her fingernail into a specimen Kaiyuan Tongbao coin made from wax. Other sources claim that

3255-501: The Kaiyuan Tongbao the value of a cash coin would be determined by government regulation. The government of the Tang dynasty initially set up the Money Casting Bureau , which operated mints in a total of 14 locations. Unlike earlier Chinese cash coins which had their legends based on their weight, the Kaiyuan Tongbao was notably the first Chinese cash coin to use the tōng bǎo (通寶) inscription and simultaneously inspired

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3360-646: The Kaiyuan Tongbao would become the most important cash coin to be used in traditional Chinese medicine . Under the Sui and Tang dynasties mother coins reached their definite form and were produced in moulds engraved by ancestor coins, however during this same period a casting technique called "the lost wax method" was used to cast the Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins, in this method mother coins made from wax rather than metal were used, these mother coins were produced in large quantities because they were very cheap to make, unlike metal mother coins these wax mother coins stayed in

3465-705: The Later Liang regime. Thus began the Shatuo Later Tang—the first in a long line of conquest dynasties . After reuniting much of northern China, in 924 Cunxu received the submission of Shaanxi's Qi kingdom, and in 925 Cunxu conquered the Former Shu , a regime that had been set up in Sichuan . The Later Tang had a few years of relative calm, followed by unrest. In 934, Sichuan again asserted independence. In 936, Shi Jingtang rebelled against Li Congke ,

3570-521: The Later Zhou. After the death of Guo Wei in 954, his adopted son Chai Rong succeeded the throne and began a policy of expansion and reunification. One month after Chai Rong took the throne, Liu Chong, Emperor of Northern Han , allied with Liao dynasty to launch an assault on Later Zhou. Against the advice of Minister Feng Dao, Chai Rong decided to lead his army against the incursion. When Chai Rong engaged Liu Chong at Gao Ping (in modern Jincheng), two of Chai's generals, Fan Aineng and He Hui, fled from

3675-405: The Liao came to regard the emperor as a proxy ruler for China. In 943, the Khitans declared war and within three years seized the capital, Kaifeng , marking the end of Later Jin. But while they had conquered vast regions of China, the Khitans were unable or unwilling to control those regions and retreated from them early in the next year. To fill the power vacuum, the jiedushi Liu Zhiyuan entered

3780-519: The Liao in an attempt to recover territories ceded during the Later Jin. After many victories, he succumbed to illness. In 960, the general Zhao Kuangyin staged a coup and took the throne for himself, founding the Northern Song dynasty . This is the official end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. During the next two decades, Zhao Kuangyin and his successor Zhao Kuangyi defeated

3885-465: The South, gave the South room to innovate free of tight administrative controls. The dominant northern officials had been unwilling to serve in the South during the Tang, and so southerners were recruited by the Tang to serve in a local capacity under the "Southern Selection" supplemental system. These southern officials became the administrative core of the Ten Kingdoms and later dominated the bureaucracy by

3990-529: The Southern kingdoms were able to embark on trade, land reclamation, and infrastructure projects, laying the groundwork for the Song Dynasty economic boom. This economic shift to the south also led to a vast southward migration. According to Nicholas Tackett, the three provinces of Hebei (Chengde, Youzhou, Weibo) were able to maintain much greater autonomy from the central government in the aftermath of

4095-439: The Southern states were incorporated into the new regime. The Song dynasty adopted a distinctively Southern Chinese cultural outlook. The preserved cultural traditions of Southern Tang, Wu Yue and Later Shu were used to rebuild the cultural landscape of the north. Southern libraries were transported north, Southeastern architecture was promoted in the new capital, and Southeastern Buddhist icons, clergy and relics were concentrated in

4200-520: The Tang dynasty by Wang Jian, who held his court in Chengdu . The kingdom held most of present-day Sichuan , western Hubei , and parts of southern Gansu and Shaanxi . Wang was named military governor of western Sichuan by the Tang court in 891. The kingdom fell when his son surrendered in the face of an advance by the Later Tang in 925. The Later Shu (935–965) is essentially a resurrection of

4305-456: The Tang dynasty itself they were given the nickname "pure coins" (青錢, qīng qián ) which also became the basis for the nickname (外號) of "pure coin scholar" (青錢學士, qīng qián xué shì ) which was given to Emperor Gaozong as his writings were said to resemble the coins. There also exist Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins which are differentiated by their second horizontal stroke, other than the first variant these others quite rare. The following versions of

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4410-578: The Tang dynasty period, counterfeit Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins were of inferior quality, they were typically lighter or were made with alloys containing larger percentages of cheaper metals, such as iron and lead, reducing the Intrinsic value of the cash coins in circulation. The Old Book of Tang claims that the Jianghuai region, the two capital ( Chang'an and Luoyang ) regions, the Hebei region, and

4515-653: The Tang dynasty period. The unique Kaiyuan Tongbao clay mould was placed on display at the "Exhibition of Chinese Ancient Coins" (traditional Chinese: 中國歷代錢幣展 ; simplified Chinese: 中国历代钱币展 ; pinyin: Zhōngguó lìdài qiánbì zhǎn ) which was held at the Ouyang Xun Cultural Park (traditional Chinese: 歐陽詢文化園 ; simplified Chinese: 欧阳询文化园 ; pinyin: Ōuyáng xún wénhuà yuán ) located in Shutang (traditional Chinese: 書堂 ; simplified Chinese: 书堂 ; pinyin: Shū táng ). Under

4620-523: The Tang dynasty the earlier Wu Zhu coins of the Sui dynasty would remain the standard currency, but during the fourth year of the Wu De (武德) period (or 621 of the Gregorian calendar ) Emperor Gaozu decreed that the Kaiyuan Tongbao coin be cast with a strictly enforced standard weight of 1 ⁄ 10 Liǎng (兩). The introduction of this new series of cash coins proved to be of epochal significance in

4725-587: The Tang dynasty would continue to be used on Chinese coins to the very end of the Qing dynasty in 1911. While the term tōng bǎo (通寶) was even used longer with the last Chinese cash coin, the Minguo Tongbao (民國通寶) being produced in Dongchuan , Yunnan during the early Republic of China period . Another important difference with the inscription of the Kaiyuan Tongbao compared to earlier Chinese cash coins

4830-586: The Tang period, early issues can be very accurately assigned to their time of casting and archeological evidence from Tang era tombs indeed prove that the first stroke of the character "元" are shorter than later versions, for this reason these coins are referred to as "short one yuan" (短一元, duǎn yī yuán ) versions. A lesser quantity of these early Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins are made from what the Chinese call "white copper" (白銅, bái tóng ) and are subsequently referred to as "White Copper/Baitong Kaiyuan Tongbao coins" (白銅開元通寶, báitóng kāiyuán tōng bǎo ) today, however during

4935-531: The Tian Bao period had an officially set copper alloy however some Kaiyuan coins from this period were blue or white it's likely that other alloys were also used. In 739, ten mints were recorded, with a total of 89 furnaces casting some 327,000 strings of cash a year. 123 liang of metal were needed to produce a string of coins weighing 100 liang . In the late 740s, skilled artisans were employed for casting, rather than conscripted peasants. Despite these measures,

5040-470: The battlefield along with their troops. At this critical moment, Chai Rong risked his life to break through the defense and crushed Liu's forces. After this campaign, Chai Rong consolidated his power. Between 956 and 958, forces of Later Zhou conquered much of Southern Tang , the most powerful regime in southern China, which ceded all the territory north of the Yangtze in defeat. In 959, Chai Rong attacked

5145-468: The calligraphic style of the Kaiyuan Tongbao. Every early Vietnamese cash coin that has a reverse inscription is based on the Kaiyuan Tongbao. Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period ( Chinese : 五代十國 ) was an era of political upheaval and division in Imperial China from 907 to 979. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in

5250-439: The capital is said to have executed suspects without inquiry. The Tang code of 737 was the basic statutory law for this period, together supplemental edicts and collections. The Later Liang promulgated a code in 909. This code was blamed for delays in the administration of justice and said to be excessively harsh with respect to economic crimes. The Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Zhou also produced recompilations. The Later Han

5355-411: The capital. Many of the elites in post-Tang China, including the future emperors of the Song dynasty, came from this region. The administrations of the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty shared a pattern of being disproportionately drawn from the families of military governors in northern and northwestern China ( Hebei , Shanxi , Shaanxi ), their personal staff, and the bureaucrats who served in

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5460-480: The capitals of the Five dynasties. These families had risen to prominence due to the unraveling of central authority after the An Lushan Rebellion, despite lacking esteemed ancestry. The historian Deng Xiaonan argued that many of these military families, including the Song imperial family , were of mixed Han Chinese-Turkic- Kumo Xi ancestry. The term "Five Dynasties" was coined by Song dynasty historians and reflects

5565-467: The chemical composition of official Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins reveal higher tin and lead contents that don't match the official alloy compositions mentioned in the historical records. A 2004 analysis revealed that officially produced Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins were on average 70.21% copper, 17.85% lead, and 8.64% tin, the researchers hypothesised that counterfeit cash coins were probably those with exceptionally high lead content (>36 wt%). Researcher Liu of

5670-504: The clay moulds and when the mould heated up they would melt away leaving a cavity for the molten metal to pour into forming the coins. This technique was also used for casting other bronze items however it was only used for casting coinage during the Sui and Tang dynasties and its sudden discontinuation pointed out to the fact that it was probably inefficient for mass producing small items such as coins. The world's only known authentic specimen of

5775-413: The coinage continued to deteriorate. In 808, a ban on hoarding coins was proclaimed. This was repeated in 817. Regardless of the rank of a person, they could not hold more than 5,000 strings of cash. Cash balances exceeding this amount had to be expended within two months to purchase goods. This was an attempt to compensate for the lack of cash in circulation. By 834, mint output had fallen to 100,000 strings

5880-484: The coinage due to forgery had become a problem. The regulations were reaffirmed in 718, and forgeries suppressed. In 737, the first commissioner with overall responsibility for casting was appointed. 1 furnace that produced 3.3 million Kaiyuan Tongbao coins a year during the Tian Bao period between 713 and 756 would need 21220 jin of copper, 3709 jin of tin, and 540 jin per regulation of lead and had an average waste of 23,5 %. The Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins produced during

5985-403: The control of the central government. In common with other periods of fragmentation, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period resulted in a division between northern and southern China . The greater stability of the Ten Kingdoms, especially the longevity of Wuyue and Southern Han, would contribute to the development of distinct regional identities within China. The distinction was reinforced by

6090-414: The crescents were added due to foreign influence. Today it is widely believed that these crescents were marks of quality used by various mints. Other than crescents, there were several Kaiyuan Tongbao coins with other reverse decorations, these include: Early Kaiyuan Tongbao coins are easily identified due to their deeply cut characters that never touch the rim of the coin, these are called "separate from

6195-431: The decentralization and militarization that characterized this period. While Tang procedure called for delaying executions until appeals were exhausted, this was not generally the case in the Five Dynasties. Other abuses included the use of severe torture. The Later Han was the most notorious dynasty in this regard. Suspects could be tortured to death with long knives and nails. The military officer in charge of security of

6300-463: The earlier Warring States period of ancient China, remarking that none of the rulers could be described as " Son of Heaven ". The Five Dynasties' rulers, despite claiming the status of emperor , sometimes dealt with each other on terms of diplomatic equality out of pragmatic concern. This concept of "sharing the Mandate of Heaven" as "sibling states" was the result of the brief balance of power. After

6405-531: The eighteenth year of the Song dynasty , when Qian Shu surrendered to the expanding dynasty. The Min (909–945) was founded by Wang Shenzhi, who named himself the Prince of Min with its capital at Changle (present-day Fuzhou ). One of Shenzhi's sons proclaimed the independent state of Yin in the northeast of Min territory. The Southern Tang took that territory after the Min asked for help. Despite declaring loyalty to

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6510-454: The emperor's authority. Li Keyong was the jiedushi for the Hedong circuit in present Shanxi, forming a polity called Jin (晉). His son Li Cunxu and Liu Shouguang fiercely fought the regime forces to conquer northern China; Li Cunxu succeeded. He defeated Liu Shouguang (who had proclaimed a Yan Empire in 911) in 915, and declared himself emperor in 923; within a few months, he brought down

6615-528: The empire might cast coins bearing the name of the prefecture in which they were cast, and this was agreed. These Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins differed from earlier variants due to the fact that they had the character chāng (昌) on their reverse side, other mints in China then adopted this and soon 23 mints produced Kaiyuan Tongbao coins with their own mint marks. Huichang Kaiyuan Tongbao coins are also of inferior workmanship compared to earlier coins and are diminutive in size. When Emperor Emperor Xuanzong ascended to

6720-669: The era's name. Some historians, such as Bo Yang , count eleven, including Yan and Qi but not the Northern Han , viewing it as simply a continuation of Later Han. This era also coincided with the founding of the Liao dynasty in the north, and the Dali Kingdom in the southwest. Other regimes during this period include Zhao , Yiwu Circuit, Dingnan Circuit , Wuping Circuit, Qingyuan Circuit , Yin , Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom , Guiyi Circuit and Xiliangfu . The Yang Wu (902–937)

6825-571: The following 19 years, Song gradually subdued the remaining states in South China, but the Liao dynasty still remained in China's north (eventually succeeded by the Jin dynasty ), and the Western Xia was eventually established in China's northwest. Many states had been de facto independent long before 907 as the late Tang dynasty's control over its numerous fanzhen officials waned, but

6930-695: The form of Qingyuan Jiedushi and Wuping Jiedushi  [ zh ] for many years after. With this, Southern Tang became the undisputedly most powerful regime in southern China. However, it was unable to defeat incursions by the Later Zhou between 956 and 958, and ceded all of its land north of the Yangtze River . The Song dynasty, established in 960, was determined to reunify China. Jingnan and Wuping Jiedushi were swept away in 963, Later Shu in 965, Southern Han in 971, and Southern Tang in 975. Finally, Wuyue and Qingyuan Jiedushi gave up their land to Northern Song in 978, bringing all of southern China under

7035-601: The fourth emperor of the Later Tang. Shi Jingtang, a Shatuo jiedushi from Taiyuan , was aided by the Khitan -led Liao dynasty in his rebellion. In return for their aid, Shi Jingtang promised annual tribute and the Sixteen Prefectures (modern northern Hebei and Beijing ) to the Khitans. The rebellion succeeded, and Shi Jingtang became emperor in this same year. Not long after the founding of Later Jin,

7140-471: The government was only able to exercise loose control in the Northwest. In 1933, Pan-Islamic and Pan-Turkic separatists declared an Islamic Republic of East Turkestan based on constitutionally-enshrined Sharia law. The short-lived separatist Islamic Republic was not recognized by any other countries and was suppressed after three months of existence. With Soviet Union backing, separatists declared

7245-539: The imperial capital in 947 and proclaimed the advent of the Later Han , establishing a third successive Shatuo reign. This was the shortest of the five dynasties. Following a coup in 951, General Guo Wei , a Han Chinese , was enthroned, thus beginning the Later Zhou . However, Liu Chong , a member of the Later Han imperial family, established a rival Northern Han regime in Taiyuan and requested Khitan aid to defeat

7350-470: The key event was their recognition as sovereign by foreign powers. After the Tang collapsed, several warlords of the Central Plain crowned themselves emperor. During the 70-year period, there was near-constant warfare between the emerging kingdoms and the alliances they formed. All had the ultimate goal of controlling the Central Plain and establishing themselves as the Tang's successor. The last of

7455-471: The known variants), while others preferred Chinese cash coins which were influenced by the Tang dynasty's western expanse during the seventh century (cash style coins also made up the majority of Sogdian coins and accounted for 86.7% of all known variants), as well as hybrid coins which feature an image based on a square hole on one side of the coin and a portrait of the King in the other side (these made up 0.7% of

7560-525: The known variants). A number of Sogdian coins even imitate the Kaiyuan Tongbao inscription directly, but on their reverses have added Sogdian tamgha's on the right or left side of the hole as well as the Sogdian word for "lord". The modern era these Sogdian Kaiyuan Tongbao coins are reproduced in large numbers by forgers in Hong Kong , these forgeries have proven to be very difficult to differentiate from

7665-535: The later Southern regimes; many circuit commissioners became the emperors or kings of these states. The historian Hugh Clark proposed a three-stage model of broad political trends during this time period. The first stage (880–910) consists of the period between the Huang Chao Rebellion and the formal end of the Tang dynasty, which saw chaotic fighting between warlords who controlled approximately one or two prefectures each. The second stage (910–950) saw

7770-407: The leadership of Liu Yan seized the territory. In the waning years of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the region was ruled by Zhou Xingfeng . In 963, the region was annexed by Song dynasty. Though considered one of the ten kingdoms, the Northern Han was based in the traditional Shatuo stronghold of Shanxi . It was founded by Liu Min ( 劉旻 ), formerly known as Liu Chong ( 劉崇 ), after

7875-486: The mid-Song. North China South China During the Tang dynasty, the warlord Zhu Wen was originally a member of Huang Chao 's rebel army, he took on a crucial role in suppressing the Huang Chao Rebellion. For this function, he was awarded the Xuanwu Jiedushi title. Within a few years, he had consolidated his power by destroying neighbours and forcing the move of the imperial capital to Luoyang , which

7980-641: The monetary history of China as the new coin started the "Baowen coinage" system (together with the Ban Liang cash coins introduced during the Qin period and Wu Zhu cash coins introduced during the Han period, making them the three major coinage systems in monetary history of China), which influenced the Chinese coinage system for over a millennium. The Kaiyuan Tongbao also changed the way that cash coins were valued, as before they were dependent on their weight but starting from

8085-856: The monetary history of China, the coins grew bigger and heavier during the reign of the dynasty. The New Book of Tang states that the imperial government specified the alloy ratio for Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins upon their introduction at 21,200 jin of copper, 3700 jin of pewter, and 500 jin of black tin (equivalent to 83% Cu and 17% Pb + Sn) per mint. At first, mints were set up in Luoyang in Henan, and also in Peking, Chengdu, Bingzhou (Taiyuan in Shanxi), and then Guilin in Guangxi . Minting rights were also granted to some princes and officials. By 660, deterioration of

8190-463: The most powerful of the southern states. Wuyue was known for its learning and culture. It was founded by Qian Liu , who set up his capital at Xifu (modern-day Hangzhou ). It was based mostly in modern Zhejiang province but also held parts of southern Jiangsu . Qian Liu was named the Prince of Yue by the Tang emperor in 902; the Prince of Wu was added in 904. After the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, he declared himself king of Wuyue. Wuyue survived until

8295-581: The neighboring Wuyue , the Southern Tang finished its conquest of Min in 945. The Southern Han (917–971) was founded in Guangzhou by Liu Yan . His brother, Liu Yin , was named regional governor by the Tang court. The kingdom included Guangdong , Guangxi , and Hainan . It was finally conquered by the Song dynasty. The Ma Chu (927–951) was founded by Ma Yin with the capital at Changsha . The kingdom held Hunan and northeastern Guangxi . Ma

8400-420: The new capital so as to reintegrate these traditions into the imperial culture. This was distinct from the five Northern dynasties, who never supported extended monastic lineage networks but instead typically sought to restrict them and draw on their economic and military resources. Although short, the period saw cultural innovations in different areas. Pottery saw the appearance of "white ceramics"/ In painting,

8505-533: The original coins and are abundant in quantity. Vietnamese cash coins produced from the Đinh until the late Trần dynasty tend to be heavily based on the Chinese Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins, an example would be the Lý dynasty era Thiên Tư Nguyên Bảo (天資元寶) cash coins cast under Emperor Lý Cao Tông which uses two distinct styles of Chinese calligraphy, one of them is a native Lý dynasty style and

8610-471: The other is based on the Kaiyuan Tongbao, often the Chinese character "Nguyên" (元) on older Vietnamese coins is copied directly from Chinese Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, particularly how the left hook of the character moves upwards, although variants of the characters in "pure Vietnamese styles" were cast simultaneously. Like many Kaiyuan Tongbao coins many of these early Vietnamese cash coins would add reverse crescents or mint marks which were often wholly borrowed from

8715-443: The other remaining regimes in South China, conquering Northern Han in 979, starting the Song dynasty era in 982. Unlike the dynasties of northern China, which succeeded one another in rapid succession, the regimes of South China were generally concurrent, each controlling a specific geographical area. These were known as "The Ten Kingdoms" (in fact, some claimed the title of Emperor, such as Former Shu and Later Shu ). Each court

8820-499: The previous Shu state that had fallen a decade earlier to the Later Tang . Because the Later Tang was in decline and Li Cunxu was killed in a revolt, Meng Zhixiang found the opportunity to reassert Shu's independence. Like the Former Shu, the capital was at Chengdu and it basically controlled the same territory as its predecessor. The kingdom was ruled well until forced to succumb to Song armies in 965. The Southern Tang (937–975)

8925-513: The region has historically been influenced by the Silk Road . Chinese dynasties from the Qin (221 BC to 207 BC) to the Qing period (1644 CE to 1911 CE) placed high priority on maintaining stability and security in the region, motivated by concerns about potential threats from the Northwest. Security concerns have continued under modern governments. During the Republic of China period,

9030-453: The reunification of China by the Song dynasty, the Song embarked on a special effort to denounce such arrangements. The Southern regimes generally had more stable and effective government during this period. Even the rulers of the Southern states were almost all military leaders from the North with their key officers and elite forces also hailing from the North since the bulk of the Tang army

9135-465: The rim" Kaiyuan Tongbao coins (simplified Chinese: 隔轮開元通宝 ; traditional Chinese: 隔輪開元通寶 ; pinyin: gélún kāiyuán tōng bǎo ), while the reverse of these coins tend to have uniform and clear rims. Later variants of the Kaiyuan Tongbao often have excess metal between the strokes of the Hanzi characters and even later variants have characters with strokes so long that they touch the rim, meanwhile

9240-413: The rims on the reverse side of these Kaiyuan Tongbao coins tend to be irregular and relatively flat. Huichang Kaiyuan Tongbao ( simplified Chinese : 会昌開元通宝 ; traditional Chinese : 會昌開元通寶 ; pinyin : huìchāng kāiyuán tōng bǎo ) cash coins are a series of Kaiyuan Tongbao coins produced under Emperor Wuzong who was a devout Taoist and used the reign era name of huìchāng (會昌), during

9345-498: The southern regions had prospered in the late Tang. Guangdong and Fujian were the sites of important port cities trading exotic goods, the middle Yangtze and Sichuan were centers of tea and porcelain production, and the Yangtze delta was a center of extremely high agricultural production and an entrepot for the other regions. The regions were economically interdependent. Sui and Tang's policies, while paying little attention to developing

9450-494: The throne in the year 846, the aforementioned policy was reversed, and the new coins were recast to make Buddhist statues. The following mint marks could be found on Huichang Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins: 13 Kaiyuan Tongbao turtle shell coins (traditional Chinese: 玳瑁幣 ; simplified Chinese: 玳瑁币 ; pinyin: Dàimào bì ), made from Hawksbill sea turtle shell, were discovered at the Famen Temple in 1987. In 1987

9555-404: The various warlords stabilize and gain enough legitimacy to proclaim new dynasties. The third stage (950–979) saw the forceful reunification of China by the Later Zhou dynasty and its successor the Song dynasty, and the demilitarisation of the provinces. Southern China, divided into several independent dynastic kingdoms, was more stable than the North which saw constant regime change. Consequently,

9660-578: The view that the successive regimes based in Kaifeng , controlled the Central Plain and possessed the Mandate of Heaven . The first of the Five Dynasties was founded by Zhu Wen , the rebel defector turned warlord who ultimately ended the Tang dynasty. The rest of the Five Dynasties as well as the Song dynasty all emerged from a military organization originally led by Shatuo Turks whose commanders replaced each other in frequent coup d'état . The Later Tang

9765-490: Was a center of artistic excellence. The period is noted for the vitality of its poetry and for its economic prosperity. Commerce grew so quickly that there was a shortage of metallic currency. This was partly addressed by the creation of bank drafts, or "flying money" ( feiqian ), as well as by certificates of deposit. Wood block printing became common during this period, 500 years before Johannes Gutenberg 's press. The Ten Kingdoms were: Only ten are traditionally listed, hence

9870-568: Was also because rather than having the first two characters spell out the period title (which was Wu De when the Kaiyuan Tongbao was introduced), they had a different inscription. However this mistake in how the legend was read inspired the Northwest Chinese rebel Shi Siming to cast his own cash coins with the inscription Shuntian Yuanbao (順天元寶, shùn tiān yuán bǎo ) cash coins first issued in Luoyang in 759, this coin however does have

9975-839: Was based in the North. The founders of Wu and Former Shu were 'rogues' from Huainan and Xuchang respectively, the founder of Min was a minor government staffer from Huainan, the founder of Wuyue was a 'rogue' from Hangzhou , the founder of Chu was (according to one source) a carpenter from Xuchang, the founder of Jingnan was a slave from Shanzhou and the founder of Southern Han was a southern tribal chief. The Southern kingdoms were founded by men of low social status who rose up through superior military ability, who were later scorned as "bandits" by future scholars. However, once established, these rulers took great pains to portray themselves as promoters of culture and economic development so as to legitimize their rule; many wooed former Tang courtiers to help administer their states. The economies of each of

10080-478: Was established in modern-day Jiangsu , Anhui , and Jiangxi . It was founded by Yang Xingmi , who became a Tang dynasty military governor in 892. The capital was initially at Guangling (present-day Yangzhou ) and later moved to Jinling (present-day Nanjing ). The kingdom fell in 937 when it was taken from within by the founder of the Southern Tang . The Wuyue was the longest-lived (907–978) and among

10185-423: Was formally absorbed into the Song dynasty. Although more stable than northern China as a whole, southern China was also torn apart by warfare. Wu quarreled with its neighbours, a trend that continued as Wu was replaced with Southern Tang. In the 940s Min and Chu underwent internal crises which Southern Tang handily took advantage of, destroying Min in 945 and Chu in 951. Remnants of Min and Chu, however, survived in

10290-446: Was founded by Li Cunxu , the son of Shatuo leader Li Keyong , who was the main military rival to Zhu Wen in the late Tang. The Later Jin founder Shi Jingtang was the son of a Shatuo commander in Li Keyong's army and became the son-in-law of the Later Tang general and emperor Li Siyuan , who was himself an adopted son of Li Keyong. The Later Han founder Liu Zhiyuan was a Shatuo officer under Li Siyuan and Shi Jintang. The father of

10395-471: Was in power too briefly to make a mark on the legal system. Northwest China Northwestern China ( 西北 ) is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Shaanxi , Gansu , Qinghai , Ningxia , and Xinjiang . The region is characterized by a (semi-)arid continental climate . It has a diverse population including significant minorities such as Hui , Uyghurs and Tibetans . Culturally,

10500-518: Was in the service of the Later Liang (the successor of the Tang in North China). Gao's successors claimed the title of King of Nanping after the fall of the Later Liang in 924. It was a small and weak kingdom, and thus tried to maintain good relations with each of the Five Dynasties. The kingdom fell to advancing armies of the Song in 963. Former Shu (907–925) was founded after the fall of

10605-473: Was named regional military governor by the Tang court in 896, and named himself the Prince of Chu with the fall of the Tang in 907. This status as the Prince of Chu was confirmed by the Southern Tang in 927. The Southern Tang absorbed the state in 951 and moved the royal family to its capital in Nanjing , although Southern Tang rule of the region was temporary, as the next year former Chu military officers under

10710-421: Was punishable by death. For the first time we find regulations giving the prescribed coinage alloy: 83% copper , 15% lead , and 2% tin . Previously the percentages used seem to have been on an ad hoc basis. Actual analyses show rather less copper than this. The standard weight of the Kaiyuan Tongbao was 1 mace , but a notable thing about the cash coins of the Tang dynasty is, that for the first and only time in

10815-423: Was that it was not written in seal script but rather in the more plain calligraphic clerical script . The Emperor asked one of China's most well-known calligraphers, Ouyang Xun to write down the legend of the cash coin. This was also the first time in Chinese history that a famous calligrapher wrote the characters for a Chinese cash coin. Minting and copper extraction were centrally controlled, and private casting

10920-410: Was the successor state of Wu as Li Bian (Emperor Liezu) took the state over from within in 937. Expanding from the original domains of Wu , it eventually took over Yin, Min, and Chu, holding present-day southern Anhui, southern Jiangsu, much of Jiangxi, Hunan, and eastern Hubei at its height. The kingdom became nominally subordinate to the expanding Song in 961 and was invaded outright in 975, when it

11025-441: Was within his region of influence. In 904, he executed Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and made Zhaozong's 13-year-old son Emperor Ai of Tang a subordinate ruler. Three years later, he induced the boy emperor to abdicate in his favour. He then proclaimed himself emperor, thus beginning the Later Liang . In the final years of the Tang dynasty, rival warlords declared independence in the provinces they governed—not all of which recognized

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