kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Liang (Liang Shidu)

617 CE – 628 CE · capital Shuofang

A rebel state on the Ordos frontier founded during the collapse of Sui, which survived as a client of the Eastern Turks until 628, the last regime to resist the Tang.

Origins

Liang Shidu, a local officer in Shuofang commandery on the northern bend of the Yellow River, killed the Sui governor in 617 and proclaimed himself emperor of Liang. To survive he accepted vassal status and a title from the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, whose cavalry protected him.

Rule and society

Little is recorded of its administration. It held a thinly populated frontier zone of steppe and farmland and served the Turks as a base for raids into the Tang heartland. Its dependence on the khaganate meant its fortunes rose and fell with Turkish power.

Decline and legacy

When the Eastern Turkic Khaganate weakened in the late 620s, Tang armies besieged Shuofang in 628. Liang Shidu was killed by his cousin Liang Luoren, who surrendered the city, completing the Tang reunification of China two years before the Turkish khaganate itself fell.

Lineage

Sui Dynasty 581 CE – 618 CELiang (Liang Shidu)

Connections (2)

More states of China, Tibet and Mongolia →

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻