Southern Tang: Map & History

Economy

The Southern Tang and its neighbors were relatively prosperous compared to regimes successively in control of the Central Plains. The greater agricultural productivity of the region created favorable conditions. Consistent tax revenues were secured with the growing disposable income of the populace. Interstate trading of specialized crafts like colored silks and salt reclaimed from the Huai River likewise was promoted by the Southern Tang.

Agricultural practices along the lower Yangtze River had undergone major modifications in the final years of the Tang dynasty. Irrigation and water management systems were more complex than in previous years. Intensive cultivation of rice was conducted in lowlands and adjacent reclaimed areas from waterways.

Culture

The majority of Southern Tang court painters with surviving documentation were natives of Jiangnan. It is likely that the area had a potent artistic tradition before the formation of the Southern Tang. While most subjects were inherited, Southern Tang painters developed relatively new genres such as "landscape, ink bamboo, and flower-and-bird painting." Additionally they developed artwork focused on marine life. Their Tang predecessors apparently did not paint fish. Dong Yuan and his students developed a unique style of landscape painting known as the Southern School, which influence artists in the Song and Yuan dynasties. Sculptures crafted with detailed pictorial reliefs became widespread and surviving examples can be found at the Qixia Temple outside Nanjing.

Decline

By the close of Li Jing's reign the Southern Tang was well on the way to obscurity. He had pursued a number of foreign adventures managed by incompetent military officers that generally ended in costly disaster. From 955 to 988 the Later Zhou successfully campaigned against the Southern Tang. Li Jing was forced to cede all prefectures north of the Yangtze River and become a Later Zhou tributary. The realm became territorially truncated and lost the economic and political relevance it enjoyed when Li Jing assumed the throne 15 years earlier.

In February 960 Zhao Kuangyin deposed Guo Zongxun and established the Song dynasty as Emperor Taizu. Li Jing quickly sent envoys to confirm his loyalty and vassalage to Taizu. Taizu pursued an expansionist agenda to unite China under his rule.

Background

Yang Xingmi was the Jiedushi of Huainan Circuit during the final years of the Tang dynasty. Throughout a series of conflicts with neighboring officials he expanded his control over most contemporary Jiangsu and Anhui, along with parts of Jiangxi and Hubei. In 902 Emperor Zhaozong recognized Yang Xingmi's conquests and granted him the title of the Prince of Wu (吳王). He ruled for three more years and died in 905. Yang Wo succeeded his father as the Prince of Wu.