Establishment of the Later Han

Liu Zhiyuan was military governor of Bingzhou, an area around Taiyuan in present-day Shanxi that had long been a stronghold of the sinicized Shatuo. However, the Later Jin he served was weak and little more than a puppet of the expanding Khitan empire to the north. When the Later Jin finally did decide to defy them, the Khitan sent an expedition south that resulted in the destruction of the Later Jin.

The Khitan force made it all the way to the Yellow River before the emperor decided to return to his base in present-day Beijing, in the heart of the contentious Sixteen Prefectures. However, following constant harassment from the Chinese on the return route, he died of an illness in May 947. The combination of the fall of the Later Jin and the succession crisis among the Khitan resulted in a power vacuum. Liu Zhiyuan was able to fill that void and founded the Later Han.

Sources conflict as to the origin of the Later Han and Northern Han Emperors, some indicate Shatuo ancestry while another claims that the Emperors claimed patrilineal Han Chinese ancestry.

Territorial extent

Liu Zhiyuan established his capital at Bian, present day Kaifeng. The Later Han held essentially the same territory as the Later Jin. Its southern border with the southern states stretched from the East China Sea about halfway between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River before dipping south toward the Yangtze at its mid reaches before turning northwest along the northern border of Sichuan and extending as far west as Shaanxi. In the north, it included much of Shaanxi and Hebei except the Sixteen Prefectures, which were lost by the Later Jin to what was by this time known as the Liao Dynasty.

Short-lived dynasty

The Later Han was among the shortest-lived regimes in the long history of China. Liu Zhiyuan died the year following the founding of the dynasty, to be succeeded by his teenaged son. The dynasty was overthrown two years later when a Han Chinese named Guo Wei led a military coup and declared himself emperor of the Later Zhou.

Northern Han

The remnants of the Later Han returned to the traditional Shatuo stronghold of Shanxi and established the Northern Han kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Eastern Han. Under Liao dynasty protection, it was able to remain independent of the Later Zhou. The Song Dynasty emerged from the ashes of the Later Zhou in 960 and emerged as a strong, stabilizing presence in northern China. Though they had been successful in bringing the southern states under its control, a process essentially completed in 978, the Northern Han were able to hold out due to help from the Liao Dynasty. In fact, the continued existence of the Northern Han was one of the two thorns in the side of Liao-Song relations. Finally, the Song Dynasty was able to incorporate the Northern Han into its territory in 979, essentially completing the reunification of China, with the exception of the Sixteen Prefectures, which would remain in the hands of the Liao dynasty.

Rulers

Later Han and Northern Han emperors family tree

- Later Han emperors; - Northern Han emperors

政权历时

后汉政权存在只有两朝共四年，是五代十国中历时最短的政权，也被一些学者（例如钱文忠）认为是中国历史上最短命的「中央政权」。主要原因是刘知远不懂治国，朝中争斗激烈、动则族诛，最后其子隐帝怀疑大臣郭威想要造反，派郭崇前往魏州杀死郭威，导致郭威起兵讨伐隐帝，隐帝为部属郭允明所杀。郭威进入都城开封后，本想立刘知远侄子刘贇为帝，后来反悔，杀死刘贇，自己称帝，建立后周。后汉被后周郭威所篡后，后汉高祖刘知远的弟弟、镇守晋阳的河东节度使刘崇在太原继位称帝，自称延续汉祚，然政权之疆域及地位均已改变，史家一般作为新政权或残馀政权定位，列为「十国」之一，称为北汉。

杀戮四年

五代史记述：「五代乱世，本无刑章，视人命如草芥，动以族诛为事。是族诛之法，凡罪人之父兄妻妾子孙并女之出嫁者，无一得免，非法之刑，于兹极矣！而尤莫如汉代之滥。然不问罪之轻重，理之是非，但云有犯，即处极刑。枉滥之家，莫敢上诉。军吏因之为奸，嫁祸胁人，不可胜数。而此毒痛四海，殃及万方。后汉刘氏父子二帝，享国不及四年。杨邠、史弘肇、苏逢吉、刘铢等诸人亦皆被横祸，无一善终者。此固天道之报施昭然，而民之生于是时，不知如何措手足也。」

统治范围

统治范围包括今河南、山东、山西、河北南部、湖北北部、陕西北部、安徽北部。

君主

开国君主刘知远为世居太原的沙陀人，原为五代后晋河东节度使。947年，乘契丹陷开封而于太原称帝，国号汉，史家称「后汉」，以别于汉朝。自称为东汉显宗八子淮阳王刘昞之后，继承汉朝，宗庙内祭祀刘邦和刘秀。后攻克中原，定都汴京（今开封）。948年刘知远二子刘承佑嗣位，即后汉隐帝。950年李守贞等藩镇发生叛乱，汉隐帝命郭威平之。但郭威出镇天雄军时，汉隐帝猜忌郭威，欲杀之，郭威进而反叛。同年十一月二十一日（951年1月1日）刘承佑被杀，郭威与太后等商议迎立刘知远的养子，也是刘知远的弟弟河东节度使刘崇的长子刘贇。刘崇原本有意争位，以为儿子可以当皇帝便作罢。但在刘贇入京前，郭威就被部下拥立为帝，后汉亡。

郭威囚禁刘贇，不久杀之。刘崇于是在河东治所太原称帝，建立北汉，为后汉的延续，但不再是中央政权。

君主列表

君主世系图