Native Name: | 大殷 |
Conventional Long Name: | Great Yin |
Common Name: | Yin (Ten Kingdoms) |
Era: | Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period |
Status: | Empire |
Empire: | Late Liang dynasty |
Government Type: | Monarchy |
Year Start: | 943 |
Year End: | 945 |
Event Start: | Rebellion of Yin by Wang Yanzheng |
Event End: | Ended by Southern Tang |
P1: | Min Kingdom |
S1: | Southern Tang |
Image Map Caption: | Map of Yin, 943 |
Image Map2: | File:Min Kingdom, 945 v2 (zh-hans).svg |
Map Caption2: | Map of Yin, early 945 |
Capital: | Jian Prefecture (modern Jian'ou) |
Common Languages: | Middle Chinese Medieval Min Chinese |
Leader1: | Wang Yanzheng |
Year Leader1: | 943–945 |
Title Leader: | Emperor |
Today: | China |
The Yin, officially the Great Yin (大殷), was a short-lived kingdom during China's Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period which lasted from 907 to 960 and bridged the time between the fall of the Tang dynasty and the foundation of the Song dynasty.
The Min kingdom was founded in 909 after the Tang dynasty collapsed. However, after the founder of the kingdom, Wang Shenzhi, died in 925, the sons squabbled with one another. In 943, that led to an all out rebellion as one of Wang Shenzhi's sons, Wang Yanzheng, rebelled and carved out the Yin Kingdom out of the northwestern part of the Min kingdom.
The Yin kingdom was rather small, occupying an area in present-day northern Fujian and southern Zhejiang. It was bounded by Wuyue to the north, Min to the south and east and the Southern Tang to the west.
In 944, Wang Yanzheng's brother and rival as the Emperor of Min, Wang Yanxi, was assassinated. Wang Yanxi's general Zhu Wenjin claimed the Min throne. In 945, Zhu was assassinated, and his army pledged allegiance to Wang Yanzheng as the Emperor of Min and asked him to return to the Min capital Changle. Wang Yanzheng claimed the Min throne, ending Yin's existence as a separate state, but did not return to Changle; rather, he remained at his base of Jian Prefecture, which Southern Tang besieged later in the year, forcing his surrender.[1] [2]