| After the fall of the Tang Dynasty in 907 AD the country split into lots of little feudal states again. The period is called the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 五代十国 (Wǔdài Shíguó). It lasted until 960 AD.
It was followed by the Song Dynasty 宋朝 (Sòng Cháo) 960 to 1279, then the Yuan Dynasty 元朝 (Yuán Cháo), and finally the Ming Dynasty 明朝 (Míng Cháo) in 1368. It was under the Ming Dynasty that the Xi'an area came into its own again. It had been a backwater since the fall of the Tang Dynasty. Its population dropped from around a million at the height of the Tang to a few thousand families. Under the Ming Dynasty, new walls were built, the economy recovered, and it again became a center for trade. It also received a new name - Xi'an - city of peace.
A section of the Ming Dynasty wall that surrounds the city of Xi'an is shown above. The gate is new, designed to increase the flow of traffic. The original four gates were limiting to the modern age.
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