Tuo Ba Pu Gen

Biography

Tuoba Pugen was a son of Tuoba Yituo, and his brothers included Tuoba Henu and Tuoba Gena. In the final years of the Western Jin the Tuoba still had separate leaders in different regions. When Yituo died in 305 (2nd year of the Yongxing era, Western Jin) Pugen succeeded him and governed the central division, and he should not be written as ruling the whole Tuoba people from the outset. A separate page in another account confirms the father-son relation and his position as an early leader, but its short text does not set out later political events.

The Book of Wei and the History of the Northern Dynasties record that in 316 (4th year of the Jianxing era, Western Jin) Tuoba Yilu, who led the Tuoba, was killed by his son Liuxiu. Pugen was then guarding the outer territory; when he heard of the change he led his troops back and killed Liuxiu. He thus inherited the position of leader of the people but died only a month or so later. After Pugen's death Yituo's wife installed the posthumous son born to Pugen, Shisheng, who also died soon afterwards. The full entry on the "State of Dai" in another account quotes the Book of Wei and explicitly places these events in 316; the entries there for Tuoba Liuxiu and Tuoba Yulü also record the suppression of the revolt and Pugen's accession and death in 316. The years given in the Chinese account agree with these narratives. The information card of the surviving separate entry in another account, however, lists 307 as the year of his death and even gives 305 as his whole reign, which cannot accommodate the actions of 316; the copy of that account previously kept here mixed in several other Tuoba figures and has been isolated and re-captured. The entry adopts 316, which is supported by specific events and quotations from the standard history, and preserves the variant 307.

Major Activities

Political and institutional context

The cached record places Tuo Ba Pu Gen within the institutions and conflicts of Western Jin.

Source-based record

Personal Relations

• Relationships are recorded from the cached source text and should be read together with the related entries listed below.

Historical Assessment

The History of the Northern Dynasties summarises his last deeds with the words "Pugen had been guarding the outer territory; hearing of the trouble he came and attacked and destroyed Liuxiu. Pugen reigned a month or so and died", emphasising the suppression of the revolt and his brief succession. The surviving material is scanty, and no reliable appraisal can be made of his concrete measures in governing the central division or of his political ability. The death year 307 given on the separate page of another account conflicts with the sequence of events in the standard history cited by related pages, so the text states explicitly its grounds for adopting 316.