History of China/The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (五代十國) was a period when China broke apart into various states each vying for power, and lasted from 907 to 979 AD. There were 5 states that appeared successively in the Chinese heartland and were the most powerful, constituting the Five Dynasties. Around them was a sleuth of smaller kingdoms, the ten strongest ones making up the Ten Kingdoms. The chaos in China gave a chance for the Khitans in the north to establish the Liao Dynasty, becoming a major threat later. Zhao Kuangyin, a general of the last dynasty in this period Later Zhou, was urged by his army to take the throne for himself, creating the Song Dynasty. He would then unite most of China, facing only the Liao Dynasty in the north as his rival.