Murong Chao

Biography

The Golden Knife and Return to His Uncle

After the fall of Former Yan, Murong Chao's father, Murong Na, had served Former Qin and later moved to Zhangye. In 383, after Former Qin suffered a defeat at the Battle of the Fei River, Murong Chui raised troops in Shandong to establish Later Yan. Fu Chang, the Governor of Zhangye in Former Qin, immediately executed Murong Na and the sons of Murong De. Murong Na's mother, Lady Gongsun, was spared due to her advanced age, while his wife, Lady Duan, was detained because she was six months pregnant. The jailer Huyan Ping, grateful for Murong De's past pardon of his death sentence, helped Lady Gongsun and Lady Duan escape to the Qiang region, where Murong Chao was born.

When Murong Chao was ten, his grandmother Lady Gongsun died. On her deathbed, she gave him the golden knife and instructed that if the world were at peace, he should return east to his homeland and give the knife back to his uncle Murong De. Huyan Ping then took the mother and son to seek refuge with Lü Guang of Later Liang. When Lü Long of Later Liang surrendered to Yao Xing of Later Qin, Murong Chao and his mother were moved to Chang'an. After Huyan Ping died, Murong Chao's mother, Lady Duan, to repay Huyan Ping's kindness, had Murong Chao marry Huyan Ping's daughter.

Murong Chao feared being captured by Yao Xing of Later Qin, so he feigned madness and begged. Although Yao Xing looked down on him, Yao Shao advised Yao Xing to restrain him with a noble title. Yao Xing summoned Murong Chao, saw him acting foolish and stupid, and thus no longer restricted his movements. Murong De sent people to bring him back to Southern Yan. Murong Chao left without telling his mother or wife and returned east with them. Upon arriving at Guanggu, he showed the golden knife and relayed his grandmother's dying words. Murong De stroked the knife and wept bitterly.

Ascension to the Throne

Murong Chao was eight chi tall with a waist of nine chi; his spirit was bright and his demeanor graceful. Murong De treated him with the highest respect, giving him the name "Chao," enfeoffing him as Prince of Beihai, and appointing him Palace Attendant, General of Agile Cavalry, and Inspector of the Capital, with the authority to establish a commandery and appoint assistants. Since Murong De had no sons, he intended to establish Murong Chao as his heir. Murong Chao understood his intent, showing extreme flattery internally and humility externally, earning praise from all. Soon, Murong De fell seriously ill and established Murong Chao as Crown Prince.

In 405, Murong De died, and Murong Chao ascended the throne. He issued a general amnesty and changed the era name to Taishang. He honored Murong De's wife, Lady Duan, as Empress Dowager. He appointed Murong Zhong as Commander-in-Chief of Central and External Military Affairs and Supervisor of the Affairs of the Secretariat, Murong Fa as General Who Conquers the South, Murong Zhen as Commander Unequalled in Honor and Prefect of the Masters of Writing, Feng Fu as Defender-in-chief, and Ju Zhong as Minister of Works, among others.

Disorder and Loss of Governance

In the early period of his reign, Murong Chao, fearing Murong Zhong's power, listened to the slander of Gongsun Wulou and did not adopt Feng Fu's advice that imperial clan members should not be stationed outside and low-ranking figures should not enter the court. Murong Zhong, Duan Hong, and others were dissatisfied and privately remarked, "The skin of a yellow dog will probably end up patching a fox's coat." Gongsun Wulou heard this, and the grudge deepened.

Previously, Murong Fa had mocked Murong Chao's "high natural talent" as a facade, and the two had formed a grudge. After Murong De's death, Murong Fa did not come to mourn. Murong Chao sent people to rebuke him. Fearing for his life, Murong Fa plotted a rebellion with Murong Zhong and Duan Hong. Murong Chao executed his associates Murong Tong, Murong Gen, and Duan Feng, and tore apart the Vice Director Feng Song with chariots. Subsequently, Murong Chao sent Murong Zhen to attack Qingzhou, Murong Yu to attack Xuzhou, and Murong Ning to attack Liangfu. Murong Yu captured Ju City, and Duan Hong fled to Northern Wei; Murong Ning fled to Later Qin, and Murong Fa escaped to Northern Wei; Murong Zhong killed his wife and children and then fled to Later Qin.

Murong Chao did not care about governance, preferring to go out for hunting and leisure, causing great harm to the people. He attempted to restore corporal punishment and the nine-rank system, issuing edicts citing the Lü Xing and the laws of Han, Wei, and Jin. Most ministers disagreed, and the matter was dropped.

Welcoming Back Mother and Wife

Murong Chao's mother and wife were detained by Yao Xing, who demanded that Murong Chao become a vassal and requested female singers and dancers from the Imperial Music Bureau. The Left Vice Director Duan Hui argued that imperial dignity should not be lowered for relatives and suggested raiding Jin people to give to Yao Xing; the Minister of State Affairs Zhang Hua argued that he should temporarily lower his title to show filial piety and sent Han Fan as an envoy to Later Qin. Murong Chao adopted Zhang Hua's suggestion.

Han Fan arrived in Chang'an and debated with Yao Xing, emphasizing that Yan and Qin divided the world equally, and the Prince of Yan lowering himself was for the sake of filial piety. Yao Xing appreciated his eloquence and agreed to return his mother and wife. However, Murong Ning advised Yao Xing to demand the entertainers first before returning the mother, and Yao Xing changed his mind. Murong Chao sent Zhang Hua and Zong Zheng Yuan to deliver 120 Imperial Music entertainers to Chang'an. At a banquet, Zhang Hua debated with Yao Xing's Vice Director of the Palace, Yin Ya. Yao Xing appreciated his talent and ultimately returned Murong Chao's mother and wife.

Gongsun Wulou's Monopoly of Power

On the first day of the first month, Murong Chao held a gathering in the Dongyang Hall. Regretting that the music and dance were not complete, he regretted sending the entertainers to Yao Xing and discussed invading Eastern Jin. The General of the Guards, Han [character missing], advised that he should rest and recover, but Murong Chao did not listen. He sent Hu Gu Ti, Gongsun Gui, and others to capture Suyu, raiding the people and selecting 2,500 men and women to teach music and dance.

Gongsun Wulou served as Palace Attendant and Minister of State Affairs, concurrently General of the Left Guard, monopolizing court politics. His brother Gongsun Gui, uncle Gongsun Tui, and other clan members were all in the court, and princes and officials inside and outside were all afraid. Murong Chao bestowed rewards on Hu Gu Ti and others. Murong Zhen remonstrated against rewarding Gongsun Gui, and Murong Chao was furious; from then on, the hundred officials dared not speak. The Supervisor of the Capital, Wang Yan, flattered Gongsun Wulou and was promoted; contemporaries mocked, "If you want to be enfeoffed as a marquis, serve Wulou."

Preparing for the Enemy

Murong Chao again sent Gongsun Gui and others to attack Jinan, raiding the people. Liu Yu of Eastern Jin prepared for a northern expedition, and Murong Chao summoned the ministers to discuss. Gongsun Wulou suggested holding the Great Xian Pass and cutting off the enemy's supply lines as the upper strategy; clearing the fields and fortifying walls as the middle strategy; and going out to meet the enemy as the lower strategy. Murong Chao believed the capital was wealthy, green shoots were everywhere, and the crops could not be uprooted; moreover, possessing the strength of mountains and rivers, chariots, and iron horses, even if the enemy crossed the Xian Pass, they could be defeated by cavalry.

He Lai Lu and Murong Zhen earnestly remonstrated. Murong Zhen pointed out that not holding the passes was self-destruction and predicted the state would perish. Murong Chao did not listen and imprisoned Murong Zhen. Subsequently, Murong Chao gathered the garrison troops of Ju and Liangfu, built city ditches, and prepared his elite forces.

Seeking Aid from Later Qin

In the summer of 409, Liu Yu's army advanced to Dongguan. Murong Chao sent Duan Hui, He Lai Lu, and 50,000 troops to hold Linqu. When the Jin army crossed the Great Xian, Murong Chao led 40,000 troops to join Duan Hui, intending to hold the river sources and cut off the enemy's water. Gongsun Wulou seized the terrain but was defeated by Meng Longfu. Tan Shao breached Linqu, and Duan Hui died in battle. Murong Chao fled back to Guanggu, moved the people into the inner city, sent Zhang Gang to seek aid from Later Qin, released Murong Zhen, and promoted him to Supervisor of the Affairs of the Secretariat.

Murong Zhen suggested rewarding the soldiers and fighting to the death. The Minister of Education, Murong Hui, suggested sending Han Fan to Later Qin to seek aid. Han Fan and Wang Pu arrived in Chang'an, just as Helian Bobo had greatly defeated the Qin army, and Yao Xing recalled the aid army. Han Fan sighed about the Mandate of Heaven and, after receiving Liu Yu's letter of surrender, surrendered. Liu Yu took Han Fan to patrol around the city, and the hearts of the Yan people scattered.

Fall of the State and Execution

On the first day of the first month of 410, Murong Chao ascended the Heavenly Gate and killed horses to reward the officers and soldiers. His favored consort, Lady Wei, climbed the city wall, saw the strength of the Jin army, and wept with Murong Chao. Han [character missing] remonstrated that he should not weep, and Murong Chao apologized. The Prefect of the Masters of Writing, Dong Rui, urged surrender and was imprisoned. He Lai Lu and Gongsun Wulou dug tunnels to go out and fight but were unsuccessful.

Liu Yu adopted Xuan Wen's suggestion to block the Five Dragon Mouth, causing the foundation of Guanggu city to sink. Many in the city suffered from foot weakness. The Minister Yue Shou urged surrender. Murong Chao sighed, "Rise and fall are fate. I would rather draw my sword and die than hold a jade tablet and beg for life." Zhang Gang built battering rams, flying towers, and other siege weapons for Liu Yu. Murong Chao was furious and dismembered Zhang Gang's mother. Yue Shou opened the gate to let in the Jin army. Murong Chao fled with dozens of cavalry and was captured.

Liu Yu enumerated his crimes for not surrendering. Murong Chao remained calm and only entrusted his mother to Liu Jingxuan. Murong Chao was taken to Jiankang and beheaded in a public square at the age of 26. Liu Yu pardoned the people in the city, executing only over 3,000 Xianbei princes and officials, and giving the wives and daughters of the princes as military rewards.

The Golden Knife Succession

When Murong Chao was ten, his grandmother Lady Gongsun died. On her deathbed, she gave him the golden knife and instructed that if the world were at peace, he should return east to his homeland and give the knife back to his uncle Murong De. After Murong Chao returned east, he showed the golden knife and relayed the dying words, and Murong De stroked the knife and wept bitterly.

Feigning Madness and Begging

Murong Chao feared being captured by Yao Xing of Later Qin, so he feigned madness and begged. Although Yao Xing looked down on him, Yao Shao advised Yao Xing to restrain him with a noble title. Yao Xing summoned Murong Chao, saw him acting foolish and stupid, and thus no longer restricted his movements.

Omen of the Red Rat

In 407, when Murong Chao performed sacrifices in the Southern Suburbs, a red beast appeared, as large as a horse and shaped like a rat, gathering at the edge of the altar. The Director of the Grand Historian, Cheng Gong Sui, interpreted it as: "This is caused by Your Majesty trusting treacherous ministers, killing the worthy and good, having numerous taxes and levies, and making wars and corvée labor too harsh." Murong Chao issued a general amnesty and rebuked Gongsun Wulou and others, and soon the situation returned to normal.

His Family and His Wanderings in the Guanzhong and Long Regions

Murong Chao, courtesy name Zuming, was the son of Murong Na, the prince of Beihai and brother of Murong De. After Fu Jian broke Ye he made Murong Na governor of Guangwu, and some years later Murong Na left office and settled at Zhangye; and Murong De, going south on campaign, left a golden knife behind and departed. When Murong Chui rose in arms in Shandong, the former Qin governor of Zhangye, Fu Chang, seized Murong Na and all the sons of Murong De and put them to death. Murong Na's mother, the lady Gongsun, was spared for her age, and Murong Na's wife, the lady Duan, being with child and the matter undecided, was imprisoned in the commandery jail. The jail keeper Huyan Ping had been an old officer of Murong De and had once been condemned to death, and Murong De had pardoned him; and now he fled with the lady Gongsun and the lady Duan into the country of the Qiang, and there Murong Chao was born. When Murong Chao was ten the lady Gongsun died, and at the end she gave him the golden knife, saying that if the realm were at peace and he could return east to his old country he might give that knife back to his uncle Murong De. Afterwards Huyan Ping brought Murong Chao and his mother to Lü Guang; and when Lü Long surrendered to Yao Xing, Murong Chao went with the men of Liangzhou to Chang'an. Murong Chao's mother told him that it was through the strength of the Huyan family that mother and son had been preserved, and that Huyan Ping being now dead she wished him to marry Huyan Ping's daughter in requital of the great kindness; and so he married her. Murong Chao, thinking his uncles were in the east and fearing to be enrolled by the Yao house, feigned madness and begged in the streets, and the men of Qin despised him; only Yao Shao saw him and thought him strange, and urged Yao Xing to bind him with rank. Yao Xing summoned him and spoke with him, and Murong Chao hid himself deeply, so that Yao Xing greatly despised him and told Yao Shao that the proverb about fair skin not wrapping foolish bones was a saying of no substance, and from this he could come and go without hindrance. Murong De sent envoys to fetch him, and Murong Chao returned without telling his mother and wife; and coming to Guanggu he showed the golden knife and told all the grandmother's dying words, and Murong De held him and wailed.

Made Prince of Beihai and Heir

Murong Chao was eight chi in height with a waist of nine spans, his spirit bright and his bearing fine. Murong De treated him with the greatest courtesy, first named him Chao, enfeoffed him as prince of Beihai and made him palace attendant, general of the chariots and cavalry and colonel of the capital, with a staff and clerks. Murong De had no son and wished to make Murong Chao his heir, and so built him a mansion inside the Wanchun gate and watched him morning and evening; and Murong Chao, deeply understanding Murong De's mind, was all joy and service within and bowed his person to scholars without, so that all within and without praised him; and presently he was made heir apparent.

His Accession and the Feud within the Clan

When Murong De died Murong Chao usurped the throne in the first year of Yixi, proclaimed a general amnesty within the realm, changed the era to Taishang, and honoured Murong De's wife the lady Duan as empress dowager. He made Murong Zhong commander of all armies within and without and president of the secretariat, Murong Fa general of the southern expedition and commander of the military affairs of Xu, Yan, Yang and Nanyan, Murong Zhen master of works with equal honours to the three excellencies and master of the secretariat, Feng Fu grand commandant, Ju Zhong master of works, Pan Cong grandee of the left of brilliant emolument, and Feng Song left vice-president of the secretariat, the rest being enfeoffed and appointed variously. Afterwards he made Murong Zhong shepherd of Qingzhou, Duan Hong inspector of Xuzhou, and Gongsun Wulou general of the guards and colonel of the garrison cavalry, taking part in the government within. Feng Fu told Murong Chao that he had heard that the five great should not be on the frontier nor the five small in the court, that Murong Zhong was the clan minister on whom the altars of state rested and Duan Hong a consort kin of fair fame looked up to by the worthy, and that both should take part in and assist the hundred offices and should not be sent far to hold the outer quarters, and that with Zhong and the rest sent out as a screen and Wulou assisting within he was privately uneasy. Murong Chao, newly on the throne and dreading the pressure of Murong Zhong's power, asked Gongsun Wulou about it, and Gongsun Wulou, wishing to monopolise the government and not wishing Zhong and the rest in the court, spoke divisively again and again, so that Feng Fu's words were never heeded. Murong Zhong and Duan Hong both showed displeasure and said to one another that the skin of the yellow dog would end by patching the fox fur; and Gongsun Wulou, hearing it, gradually came to a feud with them. Earlier, when Murong Chao came from Chang'an to Liangfu, Murong Fa was then in Yanzhou, and the chief clerk of the southern garrison, Yue Shou, said to Murong Fa that he had just seen the prince of Beihai's son, whose gifts were great and noble and whose spirit was lofty and far, and that only now did he know that the imperial clan was full of marvels and the jade forest all treasure; but Murong Fa answered that long ago Cheng Fangsu had falsely claimed to be the heir of Wei and none could tell true from false, and asked whether this was the imperial clan again. Murong Chao heard it and hated Murong Fa, showing it in his words and looks; and Murong Fa too was angry and lodged Murong Chao in an outer house, and so the grudge was formed. When Murong De died Murong Fa did not come to mourn, and Murong Chao sent to reproach him; and Murong Fa, ever fearing that calamity would come, therefore plotted rebellion with Murong Zhong, Duan Hong and the rest. Murong Chao learned of it and summoned them, and Murong Zhong pleading illness did not come; so he seized their party, the palace attendant Murong Tong, the right guard Murong Gen and the cavalier attendant in ordinary Duan Feng, and put them to death, and tore the vice-president Feng Song in pieces at the eastern gate, while the general of the western household troops Feng Rong fled to Wei. Feng Rong gathered robbers and raided Shisai city and killed the general of the west Yu Yu, and the men of Qingzhou were much afraid and every man had other thoughts. Murong Ning plotted to kill Han Fan and attack Guanggu; Han Fan learned of it and attacked Murong Ning, who fled to Liangfu, and Han Fan, taking over his troops, attacked and took Liangfu, whereupon Murong Ning fled to Yao Xing and Murong Fa to Wei. Murong Zhen took Qingzhou, and Murong Zhong killed his own wife and children and got out of Qingzhou by a tunnel, riding alone to Yao Xing; and the inspector of Xuzhou, Duan Hong, fled to the Northern Wei.

His Neglect of Government, His Hunting, and the Monopoly of Gongsun Wulou

At that time Murong Chao did not care for government and loved to go out hunting, so that the people suffered much; and his vice-president Han Chen remonstrated earnestly and was not heeded. On the first day of the first month Murong Chao held a great assembly of his ministers in the Dongyang hall, and hearing the singing and dancing begin he sighed that the music and dances were incomplete and regretted having given the performers to Yao Xing, and so took counsel to invade. The commander Han Chen remonstrated, saying that the late emperor, because the old capital was lost, had hidden himself in the three Qi, and that if the times did not allow it a wise man would not move; that the emperor should now keep to the established order, close the gates and rest his officers and men to await Heaven's hour, and should not take up a grudge with the southern neighbour and plant enemies on every side. Murong Chao answered that his mind was made up and he would bandy no more words; and he sent the great generals Huguti and Gongsun Gui with horsemen to invade and take Suyu, seizing the grand administrators of Yangping, Liu Qianzai, and of Jiyin, Xu Ruan, plundering greatly and withdrawing, and choosing two thousand five hundred men and women to be given to the grand music office to teach singing and dancing. At that time Gongsun Wulou was palace attendant and master of the secretariat, holding also the office of general of the left guard, monopolising the government; his brother Gongsun Gui was champion and duke of Changshan, and his uncle Gongsun Tui general of the guards and duke of Xingle, and the clansmen and brothers of Gongsun Wulou were all about Murong Chao assisting in the government, so that none of the princes or ministers within or without did not fear Gongsun Wulou. When Murong Chao reckoned the merit of the attack on Suyu, Huguti and the rest were all enfeoffed as dukes of commandery and county. Murong Zhen remonstrated that he had heard that a price was posted awaiting the meritorious and that the man without merit did not get a fief, that Gongsun Gui had brought calamity and gone to war and harmed the people, and that to reward him seemed to him not right; that honest words were harsh to the ear and none but a near man would speak them, and that though he was stupid and worn out he was shamefully a prince of the imperial kin and must exhaust his loyalty and begged the emperor to consider his words. Murong Chao was much angered and gave no answer, and from then on the hundred officials all kept silence and dared say nothing more. The clerk of the secretariat Wang Yan flattered Gongsun Wulou and was raised to gentleman of the secretariat and sent out as grand administrator of Jinan, afterwards returning as left assistant of the secretariat, and men of the time said of him that to get a fief one served Wulou.

Posthumous Honours, the Sacrifice, and Portents

In the third year of Taishang Murong Chao honoured his father Murong Na posthumously as emperor Mu, made his mother the lady Duan empress dowager and his wife the lady Huyan empress, and then sacrificed in the southern suburb. As he was about to mount the altar some beasts as large as horses and shaped like rats but red gathered at the edge of the altar and presently vanished no one knew where; and soon a great wind rose, heaven and earth were darkened, and all the feathered standards of the travelling palace were broken. Murong Chao was much afraid and secretly asked the grand astrologer Cheng Gongsui, who answered that this came of the emperor's trusting and employing treacherous ministers, killing the worthy, laying on heavy taxes and making war and corvée too hard; and Murong Chao, greatly afraid, proclaimed a general amnesty and reproved Gongsun Wulou and the rest, but presently returned to his old ways. In that year there was an earthquake at Guanggu, a flood at Tianqi, wells overflowed, the river Nü ran dry, and the Yellow River and the Ji froze over while the Mian did not.

Liu Yu's Northern Campaign and the Fall of Guanggu

In the fifth year of Yixi, when Liu Yu was about to lead an army against Murong Chao, Murong Chao summoned his ministers in the Dongyang hall to discuss resisting the Jin. Gongsun Wulou said that the men of Wu were light and swift and resolute, good at fighting, and that at the first their edge was fierce and keen and could not be matched; that they should hold Mount Xian and not let them in, protracting time and breaking their keenness, and then slowly choose two thousand picked horsemen to go south along the sea and cut their grain transport, and separately order Duan Hui with the troops of Yanzhou to come down eastward along the hills and strike them in the flank and back, which was the best plan; that the officers of the several places should hold their strong points, and beyond the stores reckoned as needed they should burn all the rest and destroy the crops in the fields so that the enemy had no supply, walling up and clearing the country and awaiting the hour, which was the middle plan; and that to let the robbers through Mount Xian and come out of the city to fight was the worst plan. Murong Chao answered that the capital region was rich and populous and could not at once be garrisoned, that the green crops covered the fields and could not all be destroyed, and that he would not destroy the grain to hold the capital and save his life; that they held the land of five provinces with the strength of mountains and rivers, ten thousand chariots and countless armoured horses, and that even if the enemy passed Mount Xian and came to the plain they would slowly attack them with picked horsemen and take them captive. Helai Lu remonstrated earnestly and Murong Chao would not hear, and Helai Lu, coming out, told Gongsun Wulou that the emperor would not use his plan and would soon be destroyed. Murong Zhen said that if it were as the decree said, then horses would be convenient on the plain and they should go out beyond Mount Xian to fight, and if they could not win they could still fall back, and that they should not let the enemy into Mount Xian and seek their own distress, for long ago Lord Cheng'an had failed to hold the Jingxing pass and been taken at last; and that he held Heaven's hour to be less than the advantage of ground, and that to hold Mount Xian was the best plan. Murong Chao would not hear; and Murong Zhen, coming out, told Han Chen that the sovereign could neither destroy the crops nor hold the pass, nor would he move the people to avoid the enemy, and that this year the state would perish and he would surely die for it, while they, men of the Middle Kingdom, would again tattoo themselves like the men of Wu and Yue. Murong Chao, hearing of these words, was much enraged and had Murong Zhen seized and put in prison. Murong Chao then gathered the garrisons of Ju and Liangfu, dug moats, chose his officers and men, and husbanded his strength to await the enemy. In the summer of that year Liu Yu's troops entered Dongguan, and Murong Chao sent the general of the left Duan Hui and the general of the state Helai Lu, six in all, with fifty thousand foot and horse to occupy Linqu. Presently the Jin army passed Mount Xian, and Murong Chao, afraid, led forty thousand men to Linqu to join Duan Hui and the others, telling Gongsun Wulou that they should occupy the springs, for when the Jin came they would have no water and could not fight; and Gongsun Wulou with horsemen hurried to seize the springs. The general of Liu Yu's van broke Linqu with picked troops, and Murong Chao, much afraid, rode alone to Duan Hui south of the city; and Duan Hui's army was beaten again and Liu Yu's troops killed Duan Hui. Murong Chao fled back to Guanggu and moved the people of the outer city into the inner city to hold it, and sent his gentleman of the secretariat to beg help of Yao Xing. He released Murong Zhen and advanced him to president of the secretariat and commander of all military affairs within and without, and summoning his ministers he apologised to Murong Zhen, saying that he had inherited the great work his forebears had founded but had failed to employ the worthy and had been obstinate in his own way, and that the water spilled could not be gathered again and his regret was too late; that men of ability showed their plans in the hour of danger and loyal ministers established their integrity when disaster came, and he begged them all to exhaust their minds for strange devices and pass the peril together. Murong Zhen said that the people's hearts were all on the emperor alone, and that the emperor having himself led the army and first fled from the field, the ministers had lost confidence and officers and people alike were downcast, so that the situation within and without had no reliance left; that if the later Qin had troubles of its own it would hardly spare troops to save another, and that they should fight one more battle to contend for Heaven's mandate, and that the scattered troops returned were still several tens of thousands, and they should bring out all the gold, silk and palace women to reward them and so lead and command them to fight. The minister over the masses Murong Hui said it was not so: the Jin army came on the crest of victory with overbearing spirit, and they, beaten generals, could not withstand them; that though the later Qin had its own standoff it was not yet a danger, and that since Qin and Yan were leagued against the enemy and were as lips and teeth, with this outer trouble the later Qin would surely come to the rescue, and that since of old no great host came for the asking unless a great minister were sent. So Han Fan and Wang Pu were sent to beg troops of Yao Xing. Presently Liu Yu's army invested Guanggu on every side. Someone secretly told Liu Yu's army that if Zhang Gang were got to attack the city it could be taken; and that month Zhang Gang returned from Chang'an and went over to Liu Yu, who had him ride round the city crying aloud that Helian Bobo had greatly broken the Qin army and that no relief would come to them; and Murong Chao, enraged, shot at him with a hidden arrow and Zhang Gang withdrew. The right vice-president Zhang Hua and the assistant censor-in-chief Feng Kai were both taken by Liu Yu's troops, and Liu Yu had Zhang Hua and Feng Kai write to Murong Chao urging him to surrender early; and Murong Chao sent Liu Yu a letter asking to be made a vassal with Mount Xian as the border and offering a thousand horses to open good relations, and Liu Yu would not agree. Reinforcements from Jiangnan came one after another. The master of the secretariat Zhang Jun returned from Chang'an and also surrendered to Liu Yu, telling him that the reason the men of Yan held out was that they relied on Han Fan without, hoping for help from Qin; that Han Fan was a man of fame and an old friend of Yao Xing, so that if Helian Bobo were beaten the men of Qin would surely come to save Yan; and that they should write a secret letter to lure Han Fan with promise of great profit, for once Han Fan was drawn over the men of Yan would despair and surrender of themselves. Liu Yu followed him, memorialised to make Han Fan cavalier attendant in ordinary, and wrote to lure him. At that time Yao Xing had already sent his general Yao Qiang with ten thousand foot and horse with Han Fan to Luoyang to gather forces and join in saving Yan; but Helian Bobo having greatly broken the Qin army, Yao Xing recalled Yao Qiang to Chang'an, and Han Fan sighed that Heaven meant to destroy Yan. It happened that Han Fan then received Liu Yu's letter and surrendered to him. Liu Yu asked him why, wishing to establish such merit, he had come back empty-handed; and Han Fan said that from his late grandfather the master of works his house had for generations received the favour of the lords of Yan, and so he had wept in the Qin court and begged for help, hoping to save Yan in its calamity, but that meeting with Qin's many troubles his sincerity had borne no fruit, and that it might be said Heaven meant to destroy Yan and help the lord Ming, and that a wise man moved with the hour and he dared not not come. The next day Liu Yu took Han Fan round the city, and so the men of Yan lost heart and feared, and had no mind left to hold out. In that year bloody rain fell at Donglai and ghostly cries were heard by night at the gate of Guanggu. On the first day of the first month of the sixth year of Taishang Murong Chao climbed the Heaven gate, summoned his ministers on the wall, killed horses to feast the officers and men, and advanced and enfeoffed the civil and military officers. Murong Chao's favoured concubine, the lady Wei, climbed the wall with him and seeing the strength of the Jin army took his hand and wept with him face to face. Han Chen remonstrated, saying that the emperor in his extremity should be straining every nerve and instead was weeping before a woman, which was most vulgar; and Murong Chao wiped his eyes and apologised to him. His president of the secretariat Dong Rui urged him to surrender, and Murong Chao was much enraged and had him seized and put in prison. Helai Lu and Gongsun Wulou went out by a tunnel to fight the imperial army and failed. A man of Hejian, Xuan Wen, persuaded Liu Yu that long ago when the men of Zhao attacked Cao Yi the diviners held that the Mian river girdled the city and it could not be stormed, but that if the Five Dragons mouth were blocked the city would fall of itself, and that Shi Hu had followed the advice and Cao Yi asked to surrender; that afterwards Murong Ke besieging Duan Kan had done the same and Duan Kan surrendered, and that soon after the Five Dragons mouth had been shaken open again, and that the old foundation was still there and could be blocked. More than half of the men and women in the city were afflicted with weakness of the feet. The president of the secretariat Yue Shou told Murong Chao that Heaven and earth were unkind and helped the robbers to do cruelty, that the soldiers were sick and dwindling day by day, that they held a poor city with no hope of relief without, and that the hour of Heaven and the affairs of men could be known from this; that if the dynasty's course were run out he should follow the track of Xu and Zheng and preserve the continuity of the ancestral house. Murong Chao sighed and said that rise and fall were fate, and that he would rather brandish his sword and die than bite the jade and beg for life. At that time Zhang Gang made Liu Yu siege carriages covered with plank houses and draped with hide and fitted with cunning devices, so that the fire, stones and arrows on the wall were of no use, and made flying towers, hanging ladders and wooden screens to approach the wall from afar. Murong Chao, in great fury, hung up Zhang Gang's mother and dismembered her. Those who came out of the city to surrender came one after another, and Liu Yu attacked on four sides, and Yue Shou opened the gate and let the imperial army in. Murong Chao with several dozen riders about him fled the city and was taken by Liu Yu's troops. Liu Yu reproached him with his refusal to surrender, and Murong Chao, unmoved in countenance, said nothing at all, only entrusting his mother to Liu Jingsu. He was sent to the market of Jiankang and beheaded, being twenty-six.

Major Activities

Political Measures

• Attempt to Restore Legal Codes: After ascending the throne, he attempted to restore corporal punishment and the nine-rank system, issuing edicts citing ancient laws, but it was dropped due to opposition from the ministers.
• Purge of the Imperial Clan: Due to suspicion of the imperial clan, he executed Murong Tong, Murong Gen, and Duan Feng, and tore apart Feng Song with chariots, leading to the rebellion or flight of imperial clan members such as Murong Zhong, Murong Fa, and Duan Hong to enemy states.
• Favoring Powerful Ministers: He heavily relied on Gongsun Wulou, leading to corruption in court politics, silence among the hundred officials, and the situation of "If you want to be enfeoffed, serve Wulou."

Military Actions

• Raiding Eastern Jin: He repeatedly sent troops to raid the people on the borders of Eastern Jin, such as Suyu and Jinan, provoking Liu Yu and triggering the northern expedition.
• Defense of Guanggu: Facing Liu Yu's northern expedition, he refused to hold the Great Xian Pass, leading to the collapse of the defensive line. After Guanggu was besieged, he blocked water sources and manufactured siege weapons, but the city eventually fell and he was captured.

Diplomatic Activities

• Vassalage to Later Qin: To welcome back his mother and wife, he became a vassal to Yao Xing of Later Qin, sent 120 Imperial Music entertainers, and successfully welcomed back his mother Lady Duan and his wife Lady Huyan.
• Failed Aid Request: When Guanggu was besieged, he sent Han Fan to Later Qin to seek aid, but due to Helian Bobo's attack on Qin, the aid army did not arrive, and Han Fan surrendered to Liu Yu.

The Proposal to Restore Corporal Punishment and the Revision of the Yan Code

Murong Chao once meant to restore corporal punishment and the nine grades of office, and issued a decree within the realm saying that calamity had come upon them again and again and Yongkang had been full of disaster; that since the northern capital fell the statutes had been lost and the law and ordinances had nothing left; that governing the realm was the root, and that since the people could not be led by virtue they must be corrected by punishment; that the late emperor, restoring the state, had founded the great work amid ceaseless war and had no time to frame a code; and that he himself, ashamed of his small virtue, had inherited the throne and lacked good means of soothing and controlling, so that brothers had killed and contended and war had risen in the fields and the statutes and rites had fallen into disuse; that now, with no trouble on the four frontiers, the code should be revised and the secretariat should summon the ministers to settle it. As for a man like Feng Song, unfaithful and unfilial, beheading and exposure were not enough to express hatred of him, and he should be given the punishments of boiling and tearing apart, and this too might be appended to the statutes and entered under the capital offences. Corporal punishment, he said, was the constant law of the ancient sages and could not be changed; Emperor Wen of Han had changed it and so lost the measure of light and heavy. Now offenders were more numerous and the dead grew many; corporal punishment, as to transforming men, relieved and nourished widely and punished with peculiar severity, and in the Guangshou and Jianxing periods the ancestral and the generational emperors had already thought of restoring it and died before they could act. He ordered those from the erudites upward to consult former matters and, following the laws of Han, Wei and Jin, to add or reduce and to deliberate a Yan code. In the same decree he said that the five punishments had three thousand articles, and that no crime was greater than unfiliality; that Confucius had said that without the sages there would be no law and without filial piety no kin, which was the way of great disorder; and that the two punishments of tearing apart and boiling, though not among the five grades, had been practised since antiquity.

The Recovery of His Mother and the Business of the Grand Music Performers

Murong Chao's mother and wife were at first in Chang'an, imprisoned by Yao Xing, who required Murong Chao to acknowledge himself his vassal and demanded the singers and dancers of the grand music office, and if this were not done required a thousand men of the Eastern Jin to be sent him. Murong Chao decreed that his ministers should consider the matter in full. The left vice-president Duan Hui argued that the emperor, having now inherited the throne, should not lower the imperial dignity for the sake of his own kin, and that the singers of the grand music being performers of a former age, they should not be given to change their customs, and that it were best to plunder men of Jin and give them. The master of the secretariat held otherwise, saying that to raid the Jin frontier would surely breed the enmity of a neighbouring state, and that as they could invade them so they could invade us, and that unending war was no blessing to the state. Others urged that expedience was approved in the classics and that the emperor should for the time lower his title to show a perfectly sincere filial heart. Murong Chao was greatly pleased and said that the master of the secretariat Zhang understood his mind, and had Han Fan go to Yao Xing to open friendly relations. Yao Xing asked Han Fan whether, when the prince of Yan came, he and the emperor had used equal ceremony, and he, coming now, had meekly submitted, and whether this was because by the Spring and Autumn the small should serve the great, or because he bent solely for the sake of his mother. Han Fan answered that the ranks of Zhou were five and the grades of duke and marquis differed, and hence the rite of the small serving the great arose; that the emperor was a newly risen and renowned sovereign holding western Qin, and his own lord inherited the work his ancestors had left and founded his kingly rule in eastern Qi, dividing the realm with the emperor and both styling themselves kings and emperors; that the prince of Yan, treating with the emperor, honoured the great principle of yielding, and that if he were arrogant and wantonly humbled an envoy it would be like Wu and Jin contending for the leadership of the league or Teng and Xue for the higher seat, which would hurt the lofty fame of great Qin and injure the majestic beauty of the imperial Yan, to the profit of neither. Yao Xing said in anger that if it were as he said, then it was not for the sake of serving the great as the small. Han Fan answered that it was indeed for the principle of serving the great as the small, but also because their lord's pure and deep filial heart surpassed that of Shun, and he begged the emperor to consider the principle of honouring one's kin and to grant compassion abundantly. Yao Xing said that he had long not seen a Jia Yi and thought himself his superior, but now saw he was not; and he gave Han Fan the ceremony of an old friend and talked over their lives with him, and promised to return Murong Chao's mother and wife. Afterwards a man who came from Liangfu to join Yao Xing told him that the prince of Yan's submission was not meant to uphold a lord of high virtue but was only to bend for the time for his mother's sake; that the ancient emperors would send armies to demand hostages, and that he could not simply return the mother for nothing, for once she returned Murong Chao would submit no longer; and that he should first require the performers to be sent and then return the mother. Yao Xing then changed his mind and sent envoys to greet Murong Chao. Murong Chao sent his vice-president Zhang Hua and others to Chang'an, giving Yao Xing a hundred and twenty performers of the grand music; and Yao Xing was pleased and feasted Zhang Hua. When the wine was deep and the singing and dancing began, Yao Xing's yellow-gate vice-director Yin Ya said to Zhang Hua that in the days when a certain state was about to fall its music masters went over to Zhou, and that now that imperial Qin's virtue flourished the music of Yan had come into the palace, so that the signs of decline and rise could be seen in this. Zhang Hua answered that the emperors of antiquity had each their different way and that the principle of cunning and deceit was to accomplish the work, and that therefore Laozi had said that to take a thing one must first let it go; that now that the Zongzhang office had gone west it would surely come east again like the insect gold, and that the proof of fortune and misfortune was here the omen. Yao Xing said angrily that long ago Qi and Chu had argued with one another and brought on years of war, and asked how as a subject of a small state he dared bandy words with a court officer. Zhang Hua answered modestly that when he had received his commission he had truly hoped to be on good terms with the superior state, but that the superior state having cast off the subject of a small state and insulted his lord and his country, what mind could he have that he should not exchange a few words with them. Yao Xing admired him greatly and returned Murong Chao's mother and wife.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather**: Murong Huang (Emperor Wenming of Former Yan)
• Grandmother**: Lady Gongsun (of the Gongsun clan of Liaodong)
• Father**: Murong Na (Prince of Beihai of Former Yan, posthumously honored as Emperor Mu)
• Mother**: Lady Duan (of the Duan Xianbei, Empress Mu)
• Wife**: Lady Huyan (daughter of Huyan Ping, Empress)
• Favored Consort**: Lady Wei
• Uncle**: Murong De (Emperor Xianwu of Southern Yan)
• Powerful Minister**: Gongsun Wulou
• Adversary**: Liu Yu (Powerful Minister of Eastern Jin)

Historical Assessment

• Book of Jin: Evaluated that he inherited the foundation but neglected governance and law, indulged in hunting, excluded the loyal and good, and approached slanderers and flatterers, leading to the scattering of the imperial clan and the rapid decline of the state's fortune, ultimately resulting in the ruler and ministers becoming captives and the ancestral temples being destroyed. It was considered a result of human planning not being cultivated, rather than unfortunate fate.
• Zhu Jingze: Criticized Murong Chao for not personally attending to governance, likening him to a lowly slave.
• Feng Fu: Condemned him as a ruler like Jie and Zhou.
• Zhu Yuanzhang: Cited the omen of the red rat, believing that the appearance of monsters was actually caused by human disaster (trusting treacherous ministers, killing the worthy and good, and heavy taxation), using it to warn himself that he would not employ people like Gongsun Wulou.
• Xiong Ding: Pointed out that Murong Chao, due to trusting treacherous ministers, led to the retreat of the worthy and good and the attachment of treacherous ministers.
• Wang Fuzhi: Believed that although Murong Chao was a Xianbei, his lack of virtue led to his destruction, which was not worth discussing. However, when his mother was detained by Later Qin, Murong Chao, disregarding dignity, offered entertainers and received the edict facing north to welcome back his mother. This action aligned with the peace of human hearts and the attainment of heavenly principle, embodying the heart of not bearing to part with a parent, surpassing Shun's view of the world as a weed, and displaying the ethical radiance of humanity that transcends political legitimacy.