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

MAP 1. Regional regimes during the early Five Dynasties, ca. 912.

A brief examination of the political transition of the period will give us a sense of the historical situation of these regional regimes. In North China, when the ruler of the Later Liang, Zhu Wen (Zhu Quanzhong , 852–912, r. 907–912), claimed to be an emperor in 907, he immediately faced challenges from powerful rivals such as the Jin (882–923), the Wu (892–937), and the Former Shu. When the Later