The Continued Development of Feudal Sociaty and the Coexistence of Ethnic Regimes - Five Dynasties and Liao, Song, Xia, Jin, Yuan.

The period of Five Dynasties - Late Liang, Late Tang, Late Jin, Late Han and Late Zhou, and Ten Kingdoms - Shu, Wu, Min, Wu-Yue, Chu, Southern Han, Southern Ping, Late Shu, Southern Tang and Nothern Han, started in 907, when Late Liang Dynasty was established. It ended in 960, when Late Zhou fell and Northern Song Dynasty was established.

Northern Song was under threat for most of its existence from states set up by monority ethnic groups, such as Liao and Jin in the northeast and Western Xia in the northwest. In 1127, Jin army captured Kaifeng - Northern Song capital. Zhao Gou, the emperor, escaped to the south, and set up what is historically known as Southern Song Dynasty, with Hangzhou as its capital. In 1206, Temujin united the Mongoliang tribes and was addressed Genghis Khan. The Mongols went on to build a huge empire. In 1260, Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai founded Yuan Dynasty, with its capital in Beijing. Yuan army seized Hangzhou in 1276, and in 1279 it crushed the remaining forces of Southern Song Dynasty and united the whole of China, Yuan Dynasty continued to exist until 1368, when a rebel army led by Zhu Yuanzhang seized Beijing and established Ming Dynasty.

Trade flourished in Northern Song period, as did science and technology. In China, there appeared the earliest paper currency in the world. Firearms were widely used, and the compass assisted navigation, Moveable type was used to print large numbers of books. The territory of Yuan Dynasty was broader than that of any of the preceding dynasties, and Beijing became a world-renowned commercial metropolis. An Italian merchant named Marco Polo came to China during the reign of Emperor Shizu (1271 - 1294). He stayed for over 10 years. He described the prosperity of Dadu, which today is Beijing, and other parts of China in his book "The Travels of Marco Polo".