Qi (Li Maozhen's state)

Qi was a short-lived principality in the Guanzhong region of China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Its only ruler, Li Maozhen, established himself at Fengxiang, in what is now Shaanxi province, and at its height the state controlled parts of modern Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan. As the power of the Tang dynasty collapsed and the Later Liang dynasty took its place in 907, Li Maozhen maintained a separate regime based on Fengxiang. Over time his territory shrank to the immediate area around the capital. Li Maozhen eventually submitted to the Later Tang, the dynasty that replaced the Later Liang in 923, and he died in 924. His son Li Congyan continued to govern Fengxiang until 926, when the Later Tang emperor Li Cunxu removed him from power. Qi is remembered as one of the smaller regional states that emerged from the fragmentation of China at the end of the Tang period, and its history illustrates the fluid loyalties of the Five Dynasties era.