Liu Yao

Biography

Under Liu Yuan and in the wars against Jin

Liu Yao lost his father as a child and was brought up by his kinsman Liu Yuan. Sources name his father Liu Lü, while other accounts leave the given name unspecified; this account follows the former. Liu Yao studied military writings and calligraphy. As a young man he reportedly evaded a Jin pursuit and later lived in seclusion on Mount Guancen. Accounts of extraordinary bodily features and a sword that changed color are biographical marvels, not evidence for his political career.

Liu Yuan founded his Han state in 304 (first year of Han Yuanxi), and Liu Yao led attacks on Bing Province. He continued to command armies under Liu Cong. Luoyang fell in 311 (fifth year of Western Jin Yongjia); Emperor Huai was captured and residents were killed or seized. The killing by Liu Yao's troops described in the Book of Jin cannot be concealed behind a simple claim of military achievement. Liu Yao then held Chang'an, briefly abandoning it after a Jin counterattack. He returned and besieged it in 316 (fourth year of Western Jin Jianxing). Emperor Min surrendered when food ran out; Liu Yao received further honors and remained in Guanzhong.

Jin Zhun's coup and the new state name

Liu Cong died in 318 (first year of Former Zhao Guangchu), and Liu Can succeeded him. Jin Zhun soon staged a coup and killed Liu Can and the imperial clan members at Pingyang. Liu Yao marched east from Chang'an and was acclaimed emperor at Chibi by Huyan Yan, Zhu Ji, and others. After Jin Zhun's own men killed him, Liu Yao accepted the surrender of people from Pingyang but destroyed the Jin clan. Shi Le took Pingyang; disputes over command, settlement, and titles then drove the two men apart. In 319 (second year of Former Zhao Guangchu), Liu Yao established imperial ancestral and state altars at Chang'an and changed Han's state name to Zhao. Shi Le also took the title King of Zhao, so later historians distinguish Former Zhao from Later Zhao. Their split reflected both decisions made after the Pingyang coup and the forces and territory each controlled.

Rule in Guanzhong and Longyou

Liu Yao used both armies and his officials' diplomacy in the west. In 320 (third year of Former Zhao Guangchu), he executed a Ba-Di leader suspected of rebellion despite You Ziyuan's warning, prompting widespread resistance. He later adopted You's proposal to pardon ordinary participants and concentrate force on those who refused to submit. Conditions in Guanzhong gradually stabilized. His adjustment in a crisis did not erase the consequences of the original executions.

Around 322 (fifth year of Former Zhao Guangchu), Liu Yao advanced against Chouchi, inducing Yang Nandi to acknowledge his authority. Chen An then rebelled; Liu Yao and his generals attacked Longcheng, and Chen An was killed while fleeing. Zhang Mao of Former Liang sent an envoy to acknowledge Former Zhao when its army approached the river, although Former Liang retained its own regional government. Liu Yao promoted classical learning and established schools at Chang'an. At the same time, tomb and palace works required labor, and in later years he was less receptive to some remonstrances from You Ziyuan and others.

War between the two Zhao states

In 325 (eighth year of Former Zhao Guangchu), Liu Yao's side killed Shi Tuo of Later Zhao, but Liu Yue and Huyan Mo subsequently lost to Shi Hu in Henan, allowing Later Zhao to control more of Si Province. When Shi Hu attacked Puban in 328 (eleventh year of Former Zhao Guangchu), Liu Yao came with picked troops and defeated him at Gaohou. He then besieged Jinyong near Luoyang. Shi Le advanced from the east; Liu Yao failed to prevent his entry into Luoyang. In a battle west of the city, Former Zhao's army collapsed. Liu Yao fell from his horse, was wounded, and was captured by Shi Kan. Both accounts record that he drank heavily before the battle, a detail later used to explain defeat; deployment and Shi Le's converging forces also mattered.

Taken into Later Zhao territory, Liu Yao was told by Shi Le to write to Crown Prince Liu Xi and urge surrender. His letter instead told Liu Xi to preserve the state. He was subsequently killed. Liu Xi and the remaining Former Zhao forces continued resisting until Later Zhao destroyed the state. Liu Yao had planned a Shouling tomb southwest of Baling, but stopped construction after remonstrance; his actual burial place is unknown.

His Birth, His Early Years, and the Name of "Divine Archer"

Liu Yao lost his father in childhood and was raised by his clansman Liu Yuan. It is recorded that his father was named Liu Lü, though another account gives only Liu so-and-so, and this article follows the former. He was clever as a child and of uncommon bearing: at eight, hunting in the western hills with Liu Yuan, he took shelter under a tree from the rain when a sudden thunderbolt shook it, so that those about him fell down in terror while Liu Yao remained unmoved, and Liu Yuan admired him for it and called him the "thousand-li colt of our house." He loved reading, but sought breadth rather than close reading of phrases, delighting especially in books of war, most of which he read through; he was also good at composition and calligraphy. He was besides powerful and martial, skilled with the bow, able to shoot an arrow through a plate of iron more than an inch thick, and was called the divine archer, often comparing himself to the famous commanders of old. At twenty he travelled to Luoyang, where he was condemned to death for some offence and fled to Korea, returning only when a general amnesty came; and thinking his appearance unlike other men's and fearing he would not be accepted by the world, he withdrew for a time to the Guancen mountains. The traditions also record that two youths presented him with a sword whose colour changed with the four seasons, and that later ages connected both his style Yongming and the dynastic name Zhao with this tale; but such wonders and the changing sword belong to the anecdotes of his biography and cannot be used as facts of his political career.

General of the Han State, and the Taking of Luoyang and Chang'an

In 304, when Liu Yuan founded the Han state, Liu Yao was already prominent as its general of martial awe, taking one place after another in Bingzhou and at Zhongdu and laying a firm basis for the Han state there. In 308, after Liu Yuan took the imperial title, he sent Liu Yao with Liu Cong and Wang Mi twice against Luoyang, both times without success; and in 310, after Liu Cong came to the throne, Liu Yao drove deep into the Luo plain, contending with the Jin armies in Henan, storming more than a hundred of their ramparts and investing Luoyang. In the assault on Luoyang Liu Yao had his men burn the wards and markets of the city and killed more than thirty thousand princes and officials and below; and in 311 Luoyang fell and Emperor Huai was taken, the officials and people being killed and plundered — the slaughter of Liu Yao's army at Luoyang recorded in the Jin History cannot be covered over by calling it the merit of destroying Jin. After Sima Mo surrendered, Liu Cong made Liu Yao general of the chariots and cavalry, commissioner with equal ceremonial to the three excellencies and governor of Yongzhou, and changed his title to prince of Zhongshan, holding Chang'an.

The Repeated Loss of Chang'an, the Battle at Jinyang, and the Death of Fu Wu

Liu Yao's fighting in Guanzhong was not always successful. The Jin general of the pacified south and the magistrate of Pinyang, Liang Su, with fifty thousand men attacked him, and the governor of Fufeng, Liang Zong, with Qu Te and Zhu Hui and a hundred thousand more joined in; Liu Yao sent Liu Ya and others against them, Zhao Ran and the rest were beaten, and he himself with all the picked troops of Chang'an fought the enemy at Huangqiu, where he was struck by a stray arrow and fell back on Ganqu. Though he afterwards took Chiyang and carried off more than ten thousand people to Chang'an, Qu Te and the others pressed the siege and he was beaten again and again, until he carried off more than eighty thousand men and women and withdrew to Pingyang. The battle at Jinyang was graver still: when Liu Can and Liu Yao attacked it, the governor of Taiyuan and Liu Kun's adjutant Hao Yu surrendered it to Liu Can and Liu Kun abandoned the city; and Liu Kun, who had sworn brotherhood with the prince of Dai, Tuoba Yilu, asked him for help, and Yilu sent his sons and a general with several tens of thousands against Jinyang, so that Liu Yao fought Bin Liuxu at the Fen east, was thrown from his horse, took a stray arrow and received seven wounds. His general Fu Wu gave him his own horse, and Liu Yao said that this was the moment of greatest danger when every man thought of saving himself, that his wounds were heavy and he reckoned he must die there; and Fu Wu wept and said that he was a small man whom the prince had raised by his favour to his present place, that he had always thought how to serve him and that now was the time, and that with the state but newly founded and a great enemy before them the empire could not be without the prince for a single day. So Fu Wu helped him onto the horse and drove it across the Fen river, himself turning back to die in the fighting. Liu Yao entered Jinyang again, and at night plundered the people with Liu Can and crossed Mount Meng to escape, and Yilu with his cavalry pursued and fought them again at Lan valley, where Liu Can and the rest were beaten. On the Chang'an side, Zhao Ran once advised that with Qu Yun's great army in the field Chang'an was empty and could be taken, and that if it were taken Huangbai city would submit of itself, asking that the prince hold the main force there while he took Chang'an with light troops; and Liu Yao accordingly made him vanguard commander-in-chief and general of the pacified south by his own authority and gave him five thousand picked cavalry. Zhao Ran entered the outer city of Chang'an by night, so that Emperor Min fled to the Sheyan tower, and burned the Longwei and the several camps, killing and plundering more than a thousand before withdrawing at dawn to Xiaoyao garden; but Qu Yun attacked Liu Yao and beat him repeatedly, and Liu Yao entered the Su garden and returned to Pingyang. When Zhao Ran was afterwards beaten he laid the blame on his chief of staff Lu Hui and killed him, and Liu Yao, hearing of it, said that to be narrow-minded and unable to bear with others described such a man as Zhao Ran. Liu Yao afterwards took eight hundred thousand hu of grain at Huaicheng and set three camps to guard it, crossed the Meng ferry to attack Henan and forced Li Ju to send a hostage and submit, and attacked Chang'an several times without success before withdrawing; and in the second year of Jianyuan (316) he broke the outer city of Chang'an, Emperor Min came out and surrendered, and the Western Jin came to an end.

The Revolt of Jin Zhun, His Accession at Chibi, and the Change of the Dynastic Name to Zhao

In 318 Liu Cong died and Liu Can succeeded, and Jin Zhun at once made his coup, killing Liu Can and the Liu kinsmen at Pingyang — "all the Xiongnu Liu of Pingyang, old and young alike, being beheaded in the eastern market" — and calling himself grand general and heavenly king of Han and sending envoys to declare himself a vassal of the Eastern Jin. Liu Yao was then chancellor of state and commander of military affairs at home and abroad, holding Chang'an after the destruction of the Western Jin; and hearing of the revolt at Pingyang he led his army from Chang'an against it, and reaching Chibi met the grand guardian Hu Yanyan and the grand tutor Zhu Ji, who had fled from Pingyang and who urged him to take the exalted title, so that he took the throne and changed the era to Guangchu, the year being 318. He made Zhu Ji president of the Secretariat and Hu Yanyan minister of works, restored Fan Long and the others to their former offices, sent the generals Liu Ya and Liu Ce against Fenyin, and made Shi Le grand general to act with him as the horns of a tripod against Pingyang. Presently Jin Zhun was killed by his own officer Jin Ming, whose followers made him their chief, and Jin Ming sent the seal of state to Liu Yao and prepared to surrender; but Shi Le in a rage sent his main force against Pingyang, and Jin Ming asking Liu Yao for help, Liu Yao sent Liu Ya and Liu Ce to receive him, fifteen thousand men and women of Pingyang coming over with Jin Ming, after which Liu Yao beheaded Jin Ming and the males and females of his clan; and soon afterwards Pingyang was taken by Shi Le. Liu Yao and Shi Le being now at daggers drawn, but Liu Yao's footing in Guanzhong being insecure and his rear exposed, he did not dare break with Shi Le at once, and instead made him grand steward, general-in-chief with special honours and prince of Zhao over the twenty-four commanderies of Henei, "after the manner of Cao Cao's support of the Han," meaning thereby to steady Shi Le for the moment and free his hands against the hostile forces in Guanzhong. In 319 Liu Yao set up the ancestral temple and the altars of state at Chang'an and changed the dynastic name from Han to Zhao, while Shi Le also called himself prince of Zhao, so that later ages distinguish Former Zhao from Later Zhao. The division had to do both with the handling of the Pingyang coup and with the fact that each of the two held his own army and territory.

His Rule in Guanzhong and the End of the War between the Two Zhaos

Liu Yao's government of Guanzhong used both military campaigns and the conciliation of his subordinates. In 320, having put to death the chief of the Ba Di on suspicion of treason against You Ziyuan's advice, he provoked a large-scale revolt; and he afterwards adopted You Ziyuan's proposal of amnesty for the ordinary participants while concentrating his forces against those who would not submit, so that order in Guanzhong was gradually restored — which shows both that he could change course in a crisis and what his earlier killings had cost. About 322 he marched against Chouchi and forced Yang Nandi to profess vassalage; then Chen An rebelled, and Liu Yao and his generals attacking Longcheng, Chen An was killed in flight; and when Zhang Mao of Former Liang saw the Former Zhao army at the river he sent envoys to profess vassalage, though his government kept its local rule. At Chang'an Liu Yao promoted Confucian learning and set up schools, while on the other hand he levied labour for tombs and palaces, and in his later years was less ready to take the advice of You Ziyuan and others than in his early days. In the war between the two Zhaos, in 325 his side killed the Later Zhao general Shi Tuo, but Liu Yue and Hu Yanmo were then beaten in Henan by Shi Hu, so that Later Zhao controlled more of Sizhou; and in 328, when Shi Hu again attacked Puban, Liu Yao came to its relief with picked troops, beat Shi Hu at Gaohou and turned to besiege the Jinyong city of Luoyang. Shi Le came up from the east to relieve it and Liu Yao could not prevent his entering Luoyang, and in the decisive fight west of the city the Former Zhao army broke, Liu Yao was thrown from his horse and wounded and was taken by Shi Kan — all the accounts recording that he drank heavily before going out, which historians have often used to explain the defeat, though the outcome also turned on the disposition of the armies and on Shi Le's concentration of his forces. Liu Yao was sent into Later Zhao territory, where Shi Le demanded that he write to the heir apparent Liu Xi to surrender; and Liu Yao in his letter charged him to maintain the altars of state and did not comply, and was afterwards killed. Liu Xi and the remnant of Former Zhao still resisted and were then destroyed by Later Zhao. Liu Yao had meant to build a longevity tomb southwest of Baling, the work being stopped for a time at his ministers' remonstrance, and his actual burial place is unknown.

Major Activities

The end of Western Jin and the western campaigns

Liu Yao helped lead Han Zhao's campaigns against Luoyang and Chang'an, in which the two Western Jin emperors Huai and Min were captured. He was therefore a major military figure in the loss of Western Jin's political centers. The sieges also involved extensive killing and plunder, which must be considered alongside his victories. As ruler, he gained an advantage in Guanzhong and Longyou through campaigns against Chouchi and Chen An and through Former Liang's acknowledgement of his authority; this did not turn Former Liang into a directly administered province.

Former Zhao and rivalry with Later Zhao

Liu Yao moved the capital to Chang'an and renamed the state Zhao in 319 (second year of Former Zhao Guangchu), asserting continuity with the Han Zhao dynasty. Shi Le founded his own Zhao polity in the east that same year. Their divided commands became open rivalry. Liu Yao's victory at Gaohou brought him to Luoyang, but he was captured during Later Zhao's counterattack. The political split in northern China cannot be reduced to that final battle.

Appointments and internal policy

You Ziyuan's conciliation of Di and Qiang groups provides an example of a change in court policy. Schools in Chang'an likewise show Liu Yao's attempt to administer Guanzhong through Chinese literary institutions. His killing of the Jin clan and the Ba-Di leader and his refusal to stop some labor projects show limits to that policy. Military expansion, the cost of rule, and intergroup conflict were all present in his reign.

Military Merit Set beside the Cost of Rule, His Use of Men, and the Division of Opinion

Liu Yao's historical place may be measured in three ways. The first is the destruction of Jin and the expansion in Guanzhong: he took direct part in the Han-Zhao campaigns against Luoyang and Chang'an, capturing the Western Jin emperors Huai and Min, and was a principal figure in the successive loss of the Jin political centres; and after taking the throne his campaigns against Chouchi, Chen An and Former Liang gave Former Zhao the advantage in Guanzhong, though he never brought Former Liang under direct central rule. But the storming of cities was accompanied by great slaughter — at the fall of Luoyang "more than thirty thousand princes and officials and below were killed" — so that any assessment of his military merit must set out at the same time the harm the war did to the local population, which is why the Jin History's record cannot be covered over by the phrase of destroying Jin. The second is the founding of Former Zhao and the confrontation of the two Zhaos: in 319 he moved the capital to Chang'an and changed the dynastic name to Zhao to inherit the Han-Zhao imperial line, while Shi Le founded his own Zhao in the east the same year, the two passing from divided commands to open hostility; and after his great victory at Gaohou he pressed on Luoyang only to be taken when Later Zhao counter-attacked, which shows that the confrontation was a process of recomposing the politics of the north and not the product of a single battle. The third is his use of men and internal government: You Ziyuan's conciliation of the Di and Qiang is an instance of his adjusting policy, and the schools at Chang'an show him attempting to govern Guanzhong through Chinese institutions; against which stand the killing of the Jin clan, the execution of the Ba Di chief and his later refusal of advice to stop the labour levies.

As to his character and abilities the histories give a two-sided verdict: the Jin History says that "in the use of troops he was of the company of Wang Jian, and in love of killing second only to Duke Dong," acknowledging both his valour and resource and his bloodthirstiness; and later ages, noting his cruelty, his refusal of advice and his drinking, have treated him as a ruler who lost his state. The division of opinion answers to the two halves of his life: in the early period he could change his course on You Ziyuan's advice in dealing with the revolt of the Di and Qiang, and could stop work on his tomb at his ministers' remonstrance; in the later he grew lax in military and fiscal matters, and at last went out drunk west of Luoyang, so that his army broke and he was wounded and captured. Further, the case of Fu Wu, who gave up his horse and died, and that of Zhao Ran, who laid his defeat on his chief of staff Lu Hui and was mocked by Liu Yao as narrow-minded and unable to bear with others, show from two sides the kinds of conduct he admired and despised; and that after capture he refused to write and urge the heir to surrender, charging him instead to maintain the altars of state, shows there was something to be recorded of him even at the end. On the whole Liu Yao was both the man in whose time Former Zhao passed from strength to ruin and a representative case of the intertwining of military and ethnic politics in the earlier Sixteen States.

Personal Relations

• Liu Lü: father recorded in other accounts; other accounts do not specify his given name.
• Liu Yuan: kinsman who raised Liu Yao and founded Han Zhao.
• Liu Cong: Liu Yuan's son and a Han Zhao emperor who entrusted Liu Yao with long-running campaigns.
• Liu Can: Liu Cong's son and the Han Zhao ruler before Liu Yao; killed in Jin Zhun's coup.
• Jin Zhun: leader of the Pingyang coup, who called himself Heavenly King of Han before his own men killed him.
• You Ziyuan: official who opposed indiscriminate killing and was charged with conciliating rebels in Guanzhong.
• Chen An: regional power in Longyou who first submitted, then rebelled, and was defeated by Liu Yao's forces.
• Shi Le: a former participant in the campaign against Jin Zhun, later founder of Later Zhao and Liu Yao's opponent.
• Yang Xianrong: Liu Yao's empress and formerly empress of Emperor Hui of Jin; mother of Liu Xi.
• Liu Xi: crown prince who led Former Zhao's remaining forces after Liu Yao's capture.

Historical Assessment

The Book of Jin likens Liu Yao's military abilities to those of Wang Jian, while also criticizing his readiness to kill. Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian recognizes his campaigns in Guanzhong and the submission of Zhang Mao, but questions his decisions over Jin Zhun's attempted surrender, his break with Shi Le, and the battle at Luoyang. These judgments by historians of different periods should be read against the killing at Luoyang, later conciliation in Guanzhong, and the wars between Former and Later Zhao. Neither bravery nor drinking alone adequately describes his rule.