历史

开国

朱全忠原为唐僖宗在位时代爆发的黄巢之乱将领，原名朱温。降唐后赐名全忠，任宣武军节度使，据汴州（今河南开封），渐渐成为唐末最强大的藩镇，并受封为梁王。天佑元年（904年）闰四月，自西京长安劫持唐昭宗李晔至东都洛阳，又于八月加害，并另立年仅13岁的李祝为帝，即唐哀帝，并发起白马驿之祸清洗官僚及杀害皇室成员，准备篡位。

唐天佑四年四月十八日（907年6月1日），朱全忠迫使哀帝禅位，以其封爵「梁王」（「梁」之得名来自其祖居砀山为战国时梁国故地）改国号为梁，建元开平，都汴（号开封府），史称后梁，是为梁太祖。根据五行相生的规律，唐朝的「土」德之后为「金」德，因此后梁以「金」为王朝德运。后梁疆土虽是中原五个王朝中最小的一个，辖地仅今河南、山东两省，陕西、湖北大部，河北、宁夏、山西、江苏、安徽等省的一部，但也是存在最久的五代朝，并得到契丹及一些藩镇（见下）的尊奉。

梁晋争霸

朱温篡唐后，很多藩镇均不承认后梁，仍用唐年号。次年（908年）蜀王王建也称帝，建立了前蜀。当时有些割据势力表示归顺后梁，朱温遂晋封湖南马殷为楚王，两浙钱鏐为吴越王，广东刘隐为静海军节度使，福建王审知为闽王。同年，太祖杀唐哀帝。开平三年（909年），幽州刘守光自称幽州节度使，建立刘燕。而位于江浙一带的淮南节度使杨行密则早在天复二年（902年）就已受封为吴王，建立吴。连同后梁，十一个割据势力并存。

由于过去朱温与李克用在公私事上均有有恩怨，所以自建国起，后梁与晋王李克用、李存勖持续战斗，直至亡国。后梁建立后发兵8万，打算收复被李克用占据的潞州，但围攻半年不下。次年初李克用死，李存勖继为晋王，亲率晋军为潞州解围，大获全胜。

梁太祖疑功臣，迫使镇州（今河北正定）王熔和定州（今属河北）王处直，于开平四年（910年）起兵反梁，并向晋王求援。乾化元年（911年）初，李存勖率晋军击梁军于柏乡（今属河北），经过一日激战后，梁军大败。晋军追击150馀里，直至邢州（今河北邢台），又连克澶州（今河南濮阳）、新乡（今属河南）等地。梁太祖亦亲自率军前往洛阳设防。柏乡之战梁军主力受损，后梁处于劣势。

次年，梁太祖趁晋攻燕，带病亲率军北上，号称50万大军。昼夜兼行，至下博（今河北深州），率军5万转攻蓨县（今景县）。其时晋军主力北攻幽州，南方空虚，仅有符存审的少量兵力镇守赵州（今河北赵县），但他用计以小部队骚扰梁军，又派数百骑兵伪装梁军，趁夜袭了梁太祖营寨，外加被晋军释放的梁军士兵，归来后传言晋王李存勖亲率大军来攻，梁太祖惊惶失措，遂烧营夜遁。

梁朝内乱

乾化二年（912年）五月，梁太祖退至洛阳，病入膏肓，同年六月，为次子朱友圭所杀。次年，朱友圭又为禁军所杀，梁太祖四子东都留守朱友贞遂在东都开封继位，是为梁末帝。后梁内乱相继，只有大将杨师厚率军与晋、赵周旋于河北。

贞明元年（915年）春，杨师厚死，梁朝廷密谋把杨师厚的领地一分为二，魏州（今河北大名县东北）军士叛降于晋，晋王李存勖乃亲征出兵太行黄泽岭（今山西左权东南），又袭德州（今属山东）、澶州，梁军连战皆败。次年春，梁末帝命王檀率军3万北上，直奔太原，企图袭取晋军基地，但为守城军击败。

贞明四年（918年）八月，晋王李存勖举兵魏州南下，想要灭梁，与梁军相持于濮州一带。十二月下旬，晋军至胡柳陂（今濮阳西南），贺瓌率梁军跟踪而至，两军激战，梁军骑军王彦章败，西逃时冲散了晋军的西线部队，晋名将周德威战死。另一名将李存审与李嗣昭、王建及率领骑兵反攻冲击梁军步兵，后梁惨败，伤亡近3万。但晋军也因此战元气大伤，梁晋战争沉寂了一段时期。

龙德元年（921年）春，晋王李存勖正拟称帝之际，镇州王熔为部下张文礼所杀。张文礼勾结后梁与契丹。晋军进围镇州时，梁军袭击晋军，却反为晋军所败，死伤2万多人。同年末，契丹南侵，晋军在望都之战，大破契丹。

灭亡

龙德三年（923年），晋王李存勖称帝，国号大唐，史称后唐。

龙德三年闰四月末，后唐乘后梁西攻泽州（今山西晋城），派将李嗣源率骑5000袭郓州（今山东东平），次日清晨占之。

后梁启用王彦章为帅，段凝为副帅，调集精兵10万北讨后唐。李存勖亲自率军与梁军苦战于杨刘（今东阿）。后王彦章兵败中都县（今山东汶上）被俘斩。923年11月19日后唐军达开封城下，开封随即降唐，梁末帝自杀，后梁灭亡。

君主

君主列表

君主世系图

名臣名将

• 敬翔

• 张全义

• 王彦章

Formation

Zhu Wen initially allied himself as Huang Chao's lieutenant. However, he took Huang's best troops and established his own power base as a warlord in Kaifeng. By 904, he had exerted control over both of the twin Tang dynasty capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. Tang emperor Zhaozong was ordered murdered by Zhu in 904 and the last Tang emperor, Ai Di (Emperor Ai of Tang), was deposed three years later. Emperor Ai of Tang was murdered in 908, also ordered by Zhu.

Meanwhile, Zhu Wen declared himself emperor of the new Later Liang in Kaifeng in 907. The name Liang refers to the Henan region in which the heart of the regime rested.

Extent of control

The Later Liang controlled most of northern China, though much of Shaanxi (controlled by the Qi) as well as Hebei (controlled by the Yan state) and Shanxi (controlled by Shatuo Turks state Jin) remained largely outside Later Liang control.

End of the dynasty

The Later Liang maintained a tense relationship with the Shatuo Turks, due to the rivalry between Zhu Quanzong and Li Keyong, a relationship that began back in the time of the Tang dynasty. After Li Keyong's death, his son, Li Cunxu, continued to expand his State of Jin. Li was able to destroy the Later Liang in 923 and found Later Tang.

Conference of the Mandate of Heaven on the Later Liang

Generally through Chinese history, it was historians of later kingdoms whose histories bestowed the Mandate of Heaven posthumously on preceding dynasties. This was typically done for the purpose of strengthening the present rulers' ties to the Mandate themselves. Song dynasty historian Xue Juzheng did exactly this in his work History of the Five Dynasties.

Several justifications were given for this, and successive Five Dynasties regimes, to be conferred the Mandate of Heaven. Among these was that these dynasties all controlled most of the traditional Chinese heartland. However, the Later Liang was an embarrassment in the brutality it employed, causing many to want to deny it this status, but doing so would break the chain through the other Five Dynasties, and thus to the Song dynasty, which itself was the successor to the last of the Five Dynasties.

Rulers

Rulers family tree