kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Jingnan

924 CE – 963 CE · capital Jiangling

The smallest of the Ten Kingdoms, a cluster of prefectures around Jiangling on the Yangtze that survived for four decades by bowing to every larger neighbour.

Origins

Gao Jixing, a former slave adopted into a household close to Zhu Wen, was appointed military governor of Jingnan at Jiangling by the Later Liang in 907. After the Later Tang took power he was made Prince of Nanping in 924, and his family ruled the region as hereditary lords.

Rule and society

With only three prefectures, Jingnan lived by diplomacy and commerce. It sat at a crossroads of Yangtze river trade, and its rulers accepted titles from the northern dynasties and from southern states such as Wu (Ten Kingdoms) and Later Shu at the same time. Other courts mocked them as 'Gao the Shameless' for seizing passing tribute and then apologising, but the policy kept the state alive.

Decline and legacy

In 963 Song Dynasty troops, sent through Jingnan on a campaign in Hunan, occupied Jiangling, and Gao Jichong surrendered without fighting. His family was treated generously, and Jingnan's fall was the first step in the Song conquest of the southern kingdoms.

Connections (2)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻