After the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, China once again was wracked by wars among contenders for the mandate of heaven. It is a period known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Five Dynasties included the Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han and Later Zhou.
Most historians tend to view the period as a great divide in Chinese history.
The era's military and political upheavals were just symptoms of deeper changes in the society. The seemingly chaotic period was in fact less chaotic than other rebellious times, except from the point of view of the aristocrats, whose status disappeared along with their large estates, usually taken over in bits by their former managers. The aristocratic dominance in Chinese history was at an end, with a new bureaucratic era about to begin with the rise of the Song Dynasty. The Zhou period is important for the establishment of some of the most enduring Chinese political concepts. Foremost is the Mandate of Heaven, in which heaven gives wise and virtuous leaders a mandate to rule and removes it from those who are evil and corrupt.