Ma Chu

Ma Chu, also called Southern Chu, was one of the Ten Kingdoms that divided China after the fall of the Tang. Its founder, Ma Yin, was appointed regional governor in 896 after campaigning against the rebel Yang Xingmi, and in 907, when the Tang dynasty ended, he declared himself Prince of Chu. The Later Tang confirmed his title in 927 and later honoured him as King Wumu. The kingdom was centred on Changsha, then called Tanzhou, and ruled modern Hunan and northeastern Guangxi. Under Ma Yin it was peaceful and comparatively prosperous: horses, silk and tea were exported, taxes on peasants and merchants were low, and silk and lead coins circulated, especially in trade with neighbouring regions that would not accept ordinary coinage. After Ma Yin's death the succession was disputed, and in 951 the Southern Tang, fresh from conquering Min, annexed the kingdom and removed the ruling family to Jinling. Chu generals rose against the Southern Tang the next year, and their warlord successors held the region until the Song conquest of 963.