Min (Ten Kingdoms)

Min 閩
← 909–945 →   →   →
Capital	Changle
Language(s)	Middle Chinese
Government	Monarchy
King/Emperor
- 909-925	Wang Shenzhi
- 943-945	Wang Yanzheng
Historical era	Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
- Wang Shenzhi became the Prince	909 909
- Wang Yanjun declared himself the Emperor	933
- Independence of Yin	943
- Ended by Southern Tang	945 945

Min (閩) was one of the Ten Kingdoms which was in existence between the years of 909 and 945. It existed in a mountainous region of modern day Fujian province of China and had a history of quasi-independent rule. Its capital was Fuzhou 福州. It was founded by Wang Shenzhi (王审知).

Min (Ten Kingdoms)
Traditional Chinese	閩國
Simplified Chinese	闽国
Transcriptions Min - Hokkien POJ Bân-kok - Min-dong BUC Mìng-guók

Founding

Wang Shenzhi’s older brother Wang Chao was given the title of Surveillance Commissioner in 892. Wang Shenzhi himself was named military commissioner, and in 909, in the wake of the collapse of the Tang Dynasty two years earlier, named himself the Prince of Min. Wang Shenzhi’s son declared himself the Emperor of Min in 933. At that point, his father was posthumously named Min Taizu.

Territorial Extant

The capital of the Min Kingdom was Changle, now known as Fuzhou. The kingdom was essentially limited to modern-day Fujian Province in China’s southeast.

Administration

The territory of the Min was relatively isolated and rugged, thus not as economically prosperous as other regions of the Chinese realm. The Min court attempted to attract scholars that would assist in constructing an effective bureaucratic and tax system to bring the kingdom up to contemporary standards. Maritime trade developed over this period of time. This would set the stage for a successful regional maritime trade that could continue during future Chinese dynasties.

Yin Kingdom

In 943, one of Wang Shenzhi’s sons rebelled and declared independence from the Min in the northwest of the territory of the kingdom. The Min court asked the Southern Tang for assistance in quelling the rebellion in Yin. Rather than assisting the Min government, the Southern Tang came in and absorbed the territory into its own holdings.

Fall of the Min

Seeing the threat posed by the Southern Tang, the Min court declared its allegiance to the Wuyue kingdom to its north. However, this did not stop the Southern Tang from marching in and incorporating the remainder of the Min Kingdom into its holdings in 945

Rulers

Sovereigns in Min (Ten Kingdoms) Kingdom 909-945 (including Yin (943-945))

Temple Names ( Miao Hao)	Posthumous Names ( Shi Hao)	Personal Names	Period of Reigns	Era Names (Nian Hao) and their according range of years
Tàizǔ (太祖)	Zhōngyì Wáng (忠懿王)	Wáng Shěnzhī|王審知	909-925	Did not exist
Did not exist	Did not exist	Wáng Yánhàn|王延翰	925-926	Did not exist
Hùizōng (惠宗)	Qísù Míngxiào Huángdì (齊肅明孝皇帝)	Wáng Yànjūn|王延鈞	926-935	Lóngqǐ (龍啟) 933-935 Yǒnghé (永和) 935
Kāngzōng (康宗)	Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign	Wáng Jìpéng|王繼鵬	935-939	Tōngwén (通文) 936-939
Jǐngzōng (景宗)	Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign	Wáng Yánxī|王延羲	939-944	Yǒnglóng (永隆) 939-944
Did not exist	Did not exist	Zhū Wénjìn|朱文進	943-944	Did not exist
Did not exist	Tiāndé Dì (天德帝) (both as Emperor of Yin and Emperor of Min)	Wáng Yánzhèng|王延政	943-945	Tiāndé (天德) 943-945

References

• Schafer, Edward H. (1954). The Empire of Min. Charles E. Tuttle. 
• Mote, F.W. (1999). Imperial China (900-1800). Harvard University Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-674-01212-7. 
• "Min 閩". Chinese History - The Ten Kingdoms 十國 (902-979). http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/rulers-min.html. Retrieved 18 May 2005.