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閩 Min 909 – 945 → Capital Changle Language(s) Middle Chinese Government Monarchy King/Emperor  - 909-925 Wang Shenzhi  - 943-945 Wang Yanzheng Historical era Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period  - Wang Shenzhi became the Prince 909  - Wang Yanjun declared himself the Emperor 933  - Independence of Yin 943  - Ended by Southern Tang 945

Min 閩 was one of the Ten Kingdoms which was in existence between the years of 909 and 945. It existed in a mountainous region of modern day Fujian province and had a history of quasi-independent rule. Its capital was Fuzhou 福州. It was founded by Wang Shenzhi (王审知).

Wang Shenzhi’s father was given the title of Surveillance Commissioner in 892. Wang Shenzhi himself was named military commissioner, and in 909, in the wake of the collapse of the Tang Dynasty two years earlier, named himself the Prince of Min. Wang Shenzhi’s son declared himself the Emperor of Min in 933. At that point, his father was posthumously named Min Taizu.

The capital of the Min Kingdom was Changle, now known as Fuzhou. The kingdom was essentially limited to modern-day Fujian Province in China’s southeast.

The territory of the Min was relatively isolated and rugged, thus not as economically prosperous as other regions of the Chinese realm. The Min court attempted to attract scholars that would assist in constructing an effective bureaucratic and tax system to bring the kingdom up to contemporary standards. Maritime trade developed over this period of time. This would set the stage for a successful regional maritime trade that could continue during future Chinese dynasties.

In 943, one of Wang Shenzhi’s sons rebelled and declared independence from the Min in the northwest of the territory of the kingdom. The Min court asked the Southern Tang for assistance in quelling the rebellion in Yin. Rather than assisting the Min government, the Southern Tang came in and absorbed the territory into its own holdings.

Seeing the threat posed by the Southern Tang, the Min court declared its allegiance to the Wuyue kingdom to its north. However, this did not stop the Southern Tang from marching in and incorporating the remainder of the Min Kingdom into its holdings in 945

Mote, F.W. (1999). Imperial China (900-1800). Harvard University Press, 15-16. ISBN 0-674-01212-7. 

Min 閩. Chinese History - The Ten Kingdoms 十國 (902-979). Retrieved on 18 May 2005.