Biography
Heir and the Presentation of a Horse
The "Account of Henan" in the *Book of Liang* records that the Tuyuhun leaders were first succeeded by Heluozhen and then by Fofu, and that Fofu's heir sent an envoy to present a white dragon colt to Xiao Tong, crown prince of the Liang. Another account identifies this heir explicitly as Ketazhen. Because the sentence in the *Book of Liang* does not give the heir's own name, the link between the presentation and Ketazhen must be noted as an explanation offered by another account, and the route of the tribute mission, the number of horses and the date cannot be further inferred.
Investiture by the Liang
On the jihai day of the third month of 534 (6th year of the Zhongdatong era, Nan Liang) the basic annals of the *Book of Liang* record that Emperor Wu appointed Ketazhen, acting king of Henan, as governor of the two provinces of Qin and He and king of Henan. Both other accounts record this event in full, and it is the most clearly dated event of his life. "Acting king of Henan" here is a title he already held before the appointment, and the formal confirmation as king of Henan shows that the Liang formally recognised the title; it does not by itself prove that Ketazhen ruled all the Tuyuhun groups.
Another account further states that in 534 Ketazhen joined the king of Dangchang in attacking Jincheng and sent envoys to the Northern Wei, and that he was replaced by Kualü around 535. The short entry in another account and the relevant passages of the *Book of Liang* and the *History of the Southern Dynasties* available here give no clear source for those events, and the *Book of Wei* and the *History of the Northern Dynasties* move directly from Fulianchou to Kualü. The entry therefore does not place these statements in the established timeline but preserves them as single-source records in the source comparison.