The Song Dynasty was ruling the central plain and the south of China from the middle of the 10th century (c. 960 AD) to the last quarter of the 13th century (c. 1279 AD). The dynasty was established by Emperor Song Taizu 宋太祖 with his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 五代十国 period. The Song Dynasty coincided with the Liao 辽朝, the Jin 金朝, and the Western Xia Dynasty 西夏朝 and it was followed by the Yuan Dynasty 元朝. It was the first government in world history to issue national banknotes and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy.