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Founding of Southern Tang

Type Event Region China Time 937–938

In 937 CE, Xu Zhigao (later renamed Li Bian) deposed Wu and declared himself emperor, initially founding the state of Great Qi, then changing the sta…

Timeline

  1. 935–937Jinling · NanjingXu Zhigao, son of Xu Wen, succeeded to control of Wu's military and civil power, controlling Huainan and the Jiangnan prefectures, deposed Yang Pu as a commoner, cleared obstacles to declaring himself emperor, and prepared to establish a new regime.
  2. 937Jinling · NanjingXu Zhigao declared himself emperor at Jinling, taking the state name Great Qi, adopting the era name Shengyuan, and establishing his capital at Jinling, formally ending the Yang Wu regime and founding a new Jiangnan empire.
  3. 938Jinling · NanjingLi Bian changed the state name to Southern Tang, posthumously honored his father Xu Wen as Emperor Wu, restored the Li surname, claimed descent from the Tang imperial clan, established Southern Tang as the strongest Jiangnan regime among the Ten Kingdoms, and implemented light corvée and taxes and promoted agriculture and sericulture.

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