kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Later Zhou

951 CE – 960 CE · capital Kaifeng

The last of the Five Dynasties, whose able emperor Chai Rong began the reunification of China completed by the Song.

Origins

Guo Wei, a leading general of the Later Han, was forced into rebellion when Emperor Liu Chengyou plotted to kill him in 950. After the emperor's death he took the throne at Kaifeng in 951 as founder of the Zhou dynasty, the first non-Shatuo ruler of the north for decades.

Rule and society

Guo Wei lightened taxes and punishments. His adopted son Chai Rong (Emperor Shizong), who succeeded in 954, defeated the Northern Han and Khitan at Gaoping, reorganised the palace army, closed thousands of Buddhist monasteries and melted bronze images for coin. He took the lands between the Huai and Yangtze from Southern Tang in 958 and recovered two of the Sixteen Prefectures from the Liao dynasty in 959.

Decline and legacy

Chai Rong died in 959, leaving a child emperor. In 960 the palace army commander Zhao Kuangyin was proclaimed emperor by his troops at Chenqiao and founded the Song Dynasty, which built on Later Zhou's army and policies.

Lineage

Later Han 947 CE – 951 CELater ZhouSong Dynasty 960 CE – 1279 CE

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻