Shi Jingtang Shi Jingtang ( 石敬瑭 ) ( 30 March 892 – 28 July 942 ) , also known by his temple name Gaozu ( 高祖 ) , was the founder and the 1st emperor of imperial China ' s short - lived Later Jin Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period , reigning from 936 until his death . Likely of Shatuo descent ethnically , he was an important military general for the Later Tang Dynasty before rebelling in 936 . To overthrow Later Tang he enlisted the help of the Khitan - ruled Liao Dynasty , not only humiliating himself as Emperor Taizong of Liao ' s son but also yielding the strategically - crucial Sixteen Prefectures to Liao after his rise to power — an event that would shape the Chinese political landscape for the next 200 years . Early life . Shi Jingtang was of Shatuo descent . His father Nieliji ( 臬捩雞 ) , also known by his Chinese name Shi Shaoyong ( 石紹雍 ) , had been a successful general under the Shatuo leaders in the Jin territory , Li Keyong and his son Li Cunxu , during the last years of the Tang Dynasty . Interested in military strategy since a young age , Shi Jingtang looked up to Li Mu and Zhou Yafu . When Li Siyuan was a Prefect of Daizhou ( 代州 ; today ' s Dai County , Shanxi ) , he married his 3rd daughter to Shi and allowed him to command his Left Archer Corps ( 左射軍 ) . During Emperor Mingzong ' s reign . In 926 , a group of soldiers who were supposed to be stationed at Waqiao - guan Pass , rebelled , and threatened Zhao Zaili into assuming leadership . They seized Ye , so Cunxu , then Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang , order Li Siyuan to suppress the rebellion . Generals who had moved away from the rebellion attempted to force Siyuan into commanding the . Shi used this opportunity to talk Siyuan into overthrowing Zhangzong , and took Bian with three hundred . Siyuan turned to the direction of Bian and Luoyang . Zhuangzong was killed in an accident amidst the chaos , and Siyuan was crowned Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang . Shi Jingtang was a high - ranking official during Mingzong ' s reign . He was the Governor ( 尹 ) of Taiyuan , Administrator ( 留守 ) of the Northern Capital ( Taiyuan ) , and " jiedushi " of Hedong ( modern Shanxi ) , and had great financial and military power . Overthrow of Later Tang . During Emperor Fei of Later Tang ' s reign , internal conflicts arose among the House of Tang . On top of that , the power of the state was declining . Shi decided to take advantage of the situation and prepare for the deposition of Tang . He moved his possessions in Luoyang to Taiyuan . Using defence against the Khitans as an excuse , he requested expansion of his military power , resulting in the troops of Bing and You being under his command . He sent his sons Shi Zhongyan and Shi Zhongyi to court to gain the positions of " youwei shangjun " ( 右衛上軍 ) and " huangcheng fushi " ( 皇城副使 ) and to use them to bribe Empress Cao ' s servants , enabling Shi to be notified of everything that Fei did . On Fei ' s accession anniversary , Shi did not attend the ball himself . Instead , his wife , the Princess of Jin , went in his place . Jin had to return to Jinyang immediately after the ball ; Fei , drunk , commented that Shi could have been plotting against Fei . Shi thought Fei had seen through his conspiracy , so he requested that he move to a different town , to test if Fei had been suspicious of him . In 936 , rumours of Shi ' s plot were widespread . This fuelled Fei ' s suspicions . Bi Wenyu , the " zhizhigao " ( 知制誥 ) , suggested removing Shi ' s threat before he had a chance to rise up . Fei took his advice and made him the Jiedushi of Tianping . Shi , who was moved to Yunzhou , asked his courtiers for advice . Liu Zhiyuan advised Shi to take advantage of the geographical features of Jiao , where he was based , and the strength of his army and overthrow the Emperor . Sang Weihan also advised him to do so , and suggested asking for help from the Liao Dynasty should it be necessary during the battle . When Fei was notified of Shi ' s rebellion , he ordered his official positions and titles to be revoked , and ordered the siege of Jiao , and deployed Zhang Jingda and Yang Guangyuan . Zhang set up his camp in Jinan and surrounded Shi ' s troops . Despite Liu ' s opposition , Shi requested help from the Liao , offering the Sixteen Prefectures and to declare himself son and subject of Emperor Taizong of Liao , who was a decade his junior . Taizong , who had been planning to expand to the south , promptly agreed . As Tang focussed on defeating Shi , they neglected to protect the state from Liao ' s forces . Before Zhang could invade Jiao , he had to face the Liao army . Fei ordered troops from all over the state to aid Zhang , and went to the battlefield himself to raise morale . Long Min suggested that Li Zanhua , Taizong ' s older brother , be crowned the Emperor of Liao and escorted to Liao , although the plan was not implemented due to obstruction from Lu Wenji , the chancellor . Yang persuaded Zhang to surrender to Taizong . Zhang was reproached and furious at the suggestion . Yang murdered Zhang and surrendered to Taizong , ending the battle . Taizong crowned Shi Emperor Gaozu of Great Jin , known historically as Later Jin , in Jinyang , to which he left his nephew Shi Zhonggui before going south with Taizong . Fei and loyal Tang soldiers fled to Luoyang , where they killed Li . Not longer afterwards , Fei , the Empress Dowager and the Empress Consort took all the treasure to Xuanwu Tower ( 玄武樓 ) , where they burnt themselves , ending the Tang Dynasty . Reign as Later Jin emperor . Gaozu moved the capital to Bian , now known as Kaifeng ( Henan ) . The Later Jin Dynasty is often derided as being a puppet of the Khitans . Following the agreement between him and Taizong , he ceded the strategically crucial Sixteen Prefectures to Liao , as well as agreeing to give tribute and even to acknowledging Taizong - who was ten years his junior - as his godfather . An Chongrong , the Jiedushi of Chengde , advised him to take advantage of Liao ' s internal conflicts and attack it . Gaozu refused . Taizong criticised Gaozu for his inability to control An An later rebelled , but was defeated . Gaozu gave Taizong An ' s head , but Taizong did not forgive him and frequently condemned Gaozu . Shi died of natural causes in 942 . The Later Jin Dynasty ( 936 – 946 ) was the third of the Five Dynasties that controlled much of northern China from 907 to 960 , and the second of three successive Shatuo Turk dynasties that made up the middle three of the Five Dynasties .