Power and Politics in Tenth-Century China: The Former Shu Regime ...

regimes designed their survival strategies as well as a compelling political condition prescribing their behaviors and destinies.

Clearly, the rulers of the tenth century, including those who had claimed to be emperors, soberly acknowledged the gap between rhetoric and reality, and chose to tolerate the disparity between their glorious imperial claims and limited authority in confined domains. This pragmatic attitude in dealing with interstate relations was more observable in the first half of the tenth century before any potentially unifying forces emerged. As will be discussed in this book, Wang Jian (847–918, r. 907–918), the founder of the Former Shu, was not only incapable of but also utterly disinterested in, the heroic mission of “making the world one.” By developing a formidable military force to defend his “empire” and maintaining diplomatic relations with neighbors, he successfully challenged the most powerful regimes of his day and became one of the emperors who pragmatically shared Heaven’s Mandate with others in post-Tang China.

Tang Influence, Military Power and the Former Shu

Besides balance of power and pragmatism, a study of the regional regimes of the early Five Dynasties reveals additional issues that also contributed to the formation of the unique characteristics of tenth-century politics. Among the most important are the legacy of the Tang dynasty and the significance of the military; both constitute major themes of this book.

Built on the foundation of the military commands of the Tang, the regional regimes of the early Five Dynasties inevitably possessed the distinct imprint of the former empire. Such influence influenced the formation and political institutions of the polities of the day to a great extent. Before 907, the year that marks the nominal end of the Tang, regional polities had developed their own governmental institutions on the basis of the original Tang provincial system for years.⁴⁶ As Denis Twitchett observed, each “had an independent administrative tradition, and these diverse systems had emerged from the variety of forms of government which had grown up in the same areas in late T’ang