kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Han Song

1355 CE – 1366 CE · capital Bozhou

The Red Turban 'Song' dynasty of Han Lin'er, the millenarian rebel state under whose banner Zhu Yuanzhang rose to found the Ming.

Origins

Han Shantong, a White Lotus leader who preached the coming of the Buddha Maitreya and claimed descent from the Song emperors, launched the Red Turban revolt against the Yuan Dynasty in 1351 but was killed. In 1355 his general Liu Futong enthroned Han Shantong's son Han Lin'er as emperor of a restored Song at Bozhou in Anhui.

Rule and society

The state was a loose coalition of Red Turban armies rather than a settled government, inspired by Maitreya and Manichaean-influenced beliefs in a coming 'King of Light'. Liu Futong held real power and in 1358 took Kaifeng, the old Song capital, while other columns burned the Yuan summer capital Shangdu and raided into Goryeo. Zhu Yuanzhang at Nanjing was nominally one of its commanders.

Decline and legacy

Yuan forces retook Kaifeng in 1359, and in 1363 troops of Zhang Shicheng killed Liu Futong at Anfeng. Zhu Yuanzhang rescued Han Lin'er, who drowned in the Yangtze in 1366 while being brought to Nanjing, probably on Zhu's orders. Zhu soon founded the Ming Empire.

Lineage

Yuan Dynasty 1271 CE – 1368 CEHan Song

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Han Song. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/han-song
MLA
“Han Song.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/han-song. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Han Song.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/han-song.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Han Song’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/han-song (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻