Later Shu

Later Shu (simplified Chinese: 后蜀; traditional Chinese: 後蜀; pinyin: Hòu Shǔ) was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China from 934 to 960. It was located in present-day Sichuan with its capital in Chengdu. It was the fourth and latest state of this name on the same territiory.

Founding

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

Meng Zhixiang commanded elements of the Later Tang in the conquered territories of the Shu 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, had seen relations with their powerful neighbors to the north, the Khitan, 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 Hubei and all of present-day Chongqing. As with the Former Shu, the capital of the kingdom was at Chengdu.