 In 951 , the Later Zhou emerged , the last of the five short @-@ lived dynasties making up the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . The founding emperor of the Later Zhou died in 954 and was succeeded by his adopted son , who would rule with the name Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou . Shizong believed that the Liao dynasty was poised to invade the Zhou , and in 958 he launched a preemptive military campaign against the Liao , aiming to take the sixteen prefectures ceded to the Liao by Emperor Gaozu of Later Jin in 938 . Emperor Shizong died in 959 , before his army had even met the Liao forces . In 960 the commander @-@ in @-@ chief of the Later Zhou palace guard , Zhao Kuangyin , usurped the throne , then occupied by Emperor Shizong 's seven @-@ year @-@ old son , and proclaimed himself the founder of the Song dynasty . 
