Later Shu

Later Shu was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China from 907 to 960. It was located in present-day Sichuan with its capital in Chengdu.

Founding

The original Kingdom that was founded in 907 from the ashes of the Tang Dynasty was conquered by the Later Tang Dynasty, the second of the five dynasties that ruled the north during this period of time.

Meng Zhixiang commanded elements of the Later Tang Dynasty in the conquered territories of the Kingdom. He was named military governor in 925, but had plotted to make himself emperor, an action he took in 934 as, Li Siyuan, emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, had seen relations with their powerful neighbors to the north, the , sour by his rule.

Territorial Extent

The Later Shu Kingdom held essentially the same territory as the Former Shu kingdom. The kingdom held most of present-day Sichuan, along with southern Gansu and Shaanxi, western Hebei and all of present-day Chongqing. As with the Former Shu, the capital of the kingdom was at Chengdu.

Succession

Meng Zhixiang died the year following his self-declaration of ascending to the position of emperor of the Shu. His son, Meng Chang ruled very ably for thirty years until the kingdom was incorporated into the expanding Song Dynasty from the north in 965.

Rulers