Han 漢
951–979
The Northern Han in 951
Capital	Taiyuan
Common languages	Chinese
Religion	Buddhism,Taoism,Confucianism,Chinese folk religion
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
• 951–954	Emperor Shizu
• 954–968	Emperor Ruizong
• 968	Emperor Shaozhu
• 968–979	Emperor Yingwu
Historical era	Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
• Established	951
• Ended by theSong dynasty	979
Currency	Chinese cash,Chinese coin,copper coins etc.
Preceded by Succeeded by Later Han (Five Dynasties) Song dynasty
Today part of	China

TheNorthern Han (simplified Chinese:北汉;traditional Chinese:北漢;pinyin:Běi Hàn) was adynastic state of China and one of theTen Kingdoms during theFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded byLiu Min (Emperor Shizu) as a continuation of theLater Han dynasty founded by his brotherLiu Zhiyuan (Emperor Gaozu). The Northern Han lasted from 951 to 979, when it was conquered by theNorthern Song dynasty.

The short-lived state ofLater Han fell in 950 because ofGuo Wei, a powerful military governor'sde facto coup.Liu Min founded the Northern Han Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Eastern Han, in 951 claiming that he was the legitimate heir to the imperial throne ofLater Han. Liu Min immediately restored the traditional relationship with theKhitans, who had founded theLiao dynasty.

Sources conflict as to the origin of the Later Han and Northern Han emperors; some indicatesinicized Shatuo ancestry^[1][2] while sometraditional historical sources claim that the emperors claimed patrilineal Han Chinese ancestry.^{[note 1]}

The Northern Han was a small kingdom located inShanxi with its capital located atTaiyuan. Shanxi had been a traditional base of power since the fading days of theTang dynasty in the late ninth century and early tenth century. It was wedged between the two major powers of the day, theLiao dynasty to the north and theLater Zhou dynasty (then theNorthern Song dynasty) to the south.

The existence of the Northern Han was one of the two major thorns in relations between the Liao Dynasty and Later Zhou's successor Northern Song, the other being the continued possession of theSixteen Prefectures by the Liao Dynasty. The Northern Han had placed itself under the protection of the Liao.^[3]

EmperorTaizu of Song was successful in nearly completing the incorporation of the southern kingdoms into theSong Dynasty by his death in 976. His younger brother, EmperorTaizong wished to emulate his older brother's successes.Wuyue was brought into the realm in 978.

Emboldened by his success to the south, Emperor Taizong decided to embark on a campaign to finally destroy the Northern Han. Leading the army himself, he brought his forces to the Northern Han capital of Taiyuan, which was laid under siege in June. An initial relief force sent by the Liao was easily defeated by Song. After a two-month siege of the capital, the emperor of the Northern Han surrendered and the kingdom was incorporated into the Northern Song.

• Northern Han
• Later Han (Five Dynasties)
• Dynasties of China
• Former countries in Chinese history
• Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
• 951 establishments
• 10th-century establishments in China
• 970s disestablishments
• 10th-century disestablishments in China
• States and territories established in the 950s
• States and territories disestablished in the 970s
• Northern China
• Former kingdoms

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text
• Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text
• Articles containing Chinese-language text