Liu Yuan (Xiongnu)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liu Yuan († 310) was a ruler of the southern Xiongnu from 304 to 310 .

After the southern Xiongnu had submitted to the Han dynasty in the middle of the 1st century AD , large parts of them were settled in Shanxi , where they took on military protection tasks. After the fall of the Han dynasty in the early 3rd century, power struggles between local warlords broke out in China, which shattered the state. Under the Jin dynasty , China was reunited for a short time, but the weakness of the imperial central government again allowed local rulers to rise (period of the sixteen empires ).

One of these new rulers was the sinized Xiongnu ruler Liu Yuan. This propagandist proclaimed an ideal successor to the Han dynasty, to which he was distantly related (due to the heqin policy of the Han emperors). This was also indicated by the adopted name Liu, the family name of the Han emperors. Liu Yuan rose to the rank of King of Han ( Han-Zhao ) in 304 , creating the first empire established by external invaders on Chinese soil. He chose the city of Pingyang as his residence .

Liu Yuan renewed the tradition of the Xiongnu title Chanyu , but at the same time closely linked to Chinese rule traditions and rituals. He apparently wanted to present himself as a legitimate ruler in the succession of the Han emperors, who would restore order to the quarreling empire. The sources also testify that he was deeply connected to the Chinese cultural tradition and was therefore by no means a violent “ barbarian ”. In 308 he proclaimed himself emperor and also organized the administration of his dominion on the model of the Han emperors. Liu Yuan was able to record considerable successes, expand his domain and consolidate his position. A first foray into the imperial residence of Luoyang , where he was probably brought up himself, in 308 was unsuccessful.

Liu Yuan died in 310, after which his son Liu Cong became the new ruler.

literature

  • Otto Franke : History of the Chinese Empire . Volume 2. De Gruyter, Berlin / Leipzig 1936, p. 40 ff.
  • David A. Graff: Medieval Chinese warfare, 300–900. Routledge, London et al. 2002, p. 48 ff.
  • David B. Honey: Sinification as Statecraft in Conquest Dynasties of China: Two Early Medieval Case Studies. In: Journal of Asian History 30, 1996, pp. 115-151.
  • David B. Honey: The Rise of the Medieval Hsiung-nu: The Biography of Liu Yüan. Bloomington 1990.

Remarks

  1. ^ Rafe de Crespigny : Fire over Luoyang. A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23-220 AD. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 418ff.
  2. ↑ See Mark Lewis: China between Empires. The Northern and Southern Dynasties. Cambridge (Mass.) 2009, p. 28 ff.
  3. ↑ David B. Honey: Sinification as Statecraft in Conquest Dynasties of China: Two Early Medieval Case Studies. In: Journal of Asian History 30, 1996, here p. 118.
  4. ↑ David B. Honey: Sinification as Statecraft in Conquest Dynasties of China: Two Early Medieval Case Studies. In: Journal of Asian History 30, 1996, here p. 119 ff.
  5. ↑ David B. Honey: Sinification as Statecraft in Conquest Dynasties of China: Two Early Medieval Case Studies. In: Journal of Asian History 30, 1996, here p. 128 f.
  6. ↑ Cf. Otto Franke: History of the Chinese Empire. Volume 2. Berlin / Leipzig 1936, p. 41.
  7. ↑ Otto Franke: History of the Chinese Empire. Volume 2. Berlin / Leipzig 1936, p. 44.
personal data
SURNAME Yuan, Liu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ruler of the southern Xiongnu (304-310)
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century
DATE OF DEATH 310