Era of the Five Kingdoms

The Era of the Five Kingdoms (Chinese: 五國時代/五国时代; pinyin: Wǔ Guó Shídài) was a period of peace and stabilly in ancient and Imperial Tseng. Lasting from about 400 BC to 1405 AD, the Five Kingdoms era was when five strong kingdoms defeated their rivals and became the dominant power. At first, the era was unstable, with frequent warfare as the kingdoms tried to annex each other. In the end, the five worked out a compromise and there was peace until the arrived, as part their, and destroyed the Five Kingdoms one by one in a huge war.

The kingdoms

 * 1) Jiang (江): Founded in 698 BC after the Early Jiang and Later Wan Kingdoms merged. Its capital and main city was Jiangming (江明). Jiang was the first kingdom to be destroyed by the Ming dynasty.
 * 2) Ning (寧): Founded in 607 BC after a rebel group declared independence from the Xia Kingdom. From 607 to 599, the two fought almost always. The Xia gave up despite decimating the Ning population because they could not take the Ning palace in Dafong.
 * 3) Xia (峽): The most powerful kingdom. Xia was the first kingdom founded, in 729 BC. Capital was Xiakou, and when the Ming dynasty invaded Xia it took the longest time, with the Xia people holding on for 5 months before falling.
 * 4) Yan (顏): The Yan was the last major kingdom founded, in 472 BC, and were known for their pottery and poetry. The capital of Yan was Yuanli. Yan was the least populous kingdom.
 * 5) Ying (銀): Also called Yin, the kingdom was founded in 532 BC. Its capital was Shanhai. Today, Shanhai is the town of Shishui, and is one of the few cities/towns that were not destroyed by the Ming invasion.

Emperors
All of the kingdoms were ruled by emperors/empresses, and all were from a royal family. The royal families were:


 * Jiang: Jiang family
 * Ning: Fu family.
 * Xia: Xia family.
 * Yan: Zi family.
 * Ying: Qian family.

For a list on these rulers, click the link of the kingdom.

Administrative divisions
Most of the kingdoms had this type of administrative division, modeled after the Xia Kingdom:

Kingdom/dynasty debate
Because the kingdoms have a royal family, some people say that the actual title should be Era of the Five Dynasties (五朝時代).