Former Shu

The Former Shu was one of the Ten Kingdoms of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China, existing from 907 to 925 with its capital at Chengdu in Sichuan. It was founded by Wang Jian, a former Tang general who had made himself master of the Sichuan basin from 891 and was created Prince of Shu by Emperor Zhaozong in 903. When the Tang dynasty fell to Zhu Wen in 907, Wang Jian refused to submit to the new Later Liang and proclaimed the state of Shu, known to historians as the Former Shu. At its height the kingdom controlled Sichuan and parts of modern Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Chongqing, Guizhou and Yunnan. Wang Jian governed energetically in his early years, expanding territory, repairing irrigation works, encouraging agriculture and following a policy of resting the people, so that the kingdom became wealthy and strong. In 917 he changed the dynastic name to Han, following the precedent of Liu Bei at Chengdu, and restored the name Shu the next year. After Wang Jian died in 918, his son Wang Yan proved extravagant and cruel. In 925 the Later Tang took advantage of the misrule to invade; the Shu armies collapsed, Chengdu fell, and the Former Shu was destroyed. Wang Jian's tomb, the Yongling in Chengdu, survives.