The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period was an era of political upheaval in 10^th century imperial China. Five states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, while more than a dozen concurrent states were established elsewhere, mainly in Southern China. It was the last prolonged period of multiple political division in Chinese history. Traditionally, the period starts with the fall of the Tang Dynasty 唐朝 in 907 AD and ends with the founding of the Song Dynasty 宋朝 in 960 AD. During that time, most states were de facto independent kingdoms long before 907. After the Tang had collapsed, the kings who controlled the central plain crowned themselves as emperors. War between those kingdoms occurred frequently to gain control of the entirety of the central plain for legitimacy and then over the rest of the Chinese territory. The last of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms states, the Northern Han 北韩, was not vanquished before 979.