The Grand Marshal proclaimed Emperor on the Battlefield. After Han Yu's death in 824 AD; China remained in a state of chaos for many years. Five small dynasties followed one another in the south of China while the Tartars conquered the north. The Grand Marshal to the last of these Emperors - a mere boy - was repelling a Tartar raid when his army vested him with the yellow robe and proclaimed him Emperor of the house of Sung. He professed surprise and reluctance; but there is little doubt that he knew of the design. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson; c.1920).