Fu Jian

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Fu Jian was born into a family of Di tribal chiefs in Linwei, Lüeyang, and was Fu Hong's third son. Near the end of the Western Jin, his mother, Lady Jiang, was said to have conceived after dreaming of a great bear. On the night Fu Jian was born, Fu Hong dreamed that the ancestor Pu Jian appeared and pointed to the infant, saying that the child would glorify the family and that his own name could later be used as the child's courtesy name. Fu Hong therefore named his son Pu Pi and gave him the courtesy names Shijian and Jianye. Later, because the maternal grandfather of Later Zhao emperor Shi Hu was named Zhang Pi, Pu Pi's name violated a naming taboo and was changed to Fu Jian.

In 329, the fourth year of the Xianhe era, Later Zhao ruler Shi Le captured Liu Yao of Former Zhao and sent the Prince of Zhongshan, Shi Hu, to pacify Qinzhou and Yongzhou. More than three thousand princes, nobles, and officials of Former Zhao were killed, while more than nine thousand surviving civil and military officials, migrants from east of the passes, and great families of Qin and Yong were moved to Xiangguo. Later Zhao also buried alive more than five thousand Tuge Xiongnu at Luoyang and moved 150,000 households of Di and Qiang tribes east of the passes. Many western magnates and Di and Qiang groups, including Fu Hong and his sons, were transferred to Sizhou and Jizhou.

In 333, the eighth year of Xianhe, Shi Le died. Shi Hu deposed and killed Shi Hong, usurped power, styled himself Heavenly King of Great Zhao, and inaugurated the Jianwu era. Fu Jian, then seventeen, was greatly favored by Shi Hu and Shi Hu's sons. As he grew older he became known for courage and decisiveness, skill in horsemanship and archery, a willingness to assist the weak, and an ability to serve others. Shi Hu was very fond of him. He was first appointed Commandant of the Wing Army, an office Shi Hu created specifically for him, and was later promoted to General Who Pacifies the Army.

During the Jianwu era of Later Zhao, the Fu clan repeatedly distinguished itself in campaigns against the Duan Xianbei. After the fighting, Shi Hu promoted Fu Hong to General of Illustrious Valor and soon afterward granted him the credentials of an envoy, command over military affairs of the Six Yi, the title Champion General, and the fief of Duke of Xiping Commandery. More than two thousand of Fu Hong's subordinates were granted the title Marquis Within the Passes, and Shi Hu appointed Fu Hong Commander of the Marquis Within the Passes. This aroused the jealousy of Later Zhao clansman Shi Min, who warned Shi Hu that Fu Hong was exceptionally capable, inspired his soldiers to fight to the death, had talented sons, and commanded more than fifty thousand strong troops near Ye; he argued that the Fu family should secretly be eliminated for the security of Great Zhao. Shi Hu replied that he intended to rely on the father and sons to destroy Eastern Wu and Bashu and saw no reason to kill them, after which he treated Fu Hong even more generously. The eminent monk Fotucheng also warned Shi Hu that the Fu clan had the aura of emperors and should be destroyed early. Shi Hu eventually became intent on killing Fu Hong, who protected himself by claiming illness and ceasing to attend court. Although Shi Hu outwardly continued to honor the Fu clan, he remained deeply suspicious of them and later secretly killed Fu Jian's elder brothers while refusing to harm Fu Jian himself.

In 348, the fourth year of Yonghe, Shi Hu appointed Fu Jian to command a campaign against Eastern Jin, and Fu Jian's army advanced to the major Jiangzhou stronghold of Jingling Commandery. In 349, the fifth year of Yonghe, Shi Hu died. His sons fought one another for the Later Zhao throne, throwing the state into disorder. Before his death, Shi Hu had issued a final order placing Yongzhou and Qinzhou under Fu Hong's control.

Inheriting His Father's Position and Planning the Entry into Guanzhong

In 350, the sixth year of Yonghe, Duke of Wuxing Shi Min advised Later Zhao emperor Shi Zun that Fu Hong was an outstanding man and that if he were allowed to guard Guanzhong, Qinzhou and Yongzhou might cease to belong to Great Zhao. Although Shi Hu's dying order had placed Fu Hong in charge of Guanzhong, Shi Min argued that the new emperor should change the policy. Shi Zun accepted the advice and removed Fu Hong's authority as commander over Yongzhou and Qinzhou while leaving his other offices and privileges unchanged. Enraged, Fu Hong returned to Fangtou and sent an envoy to submit to Eastern Jin. Migrants from Qinzhou and Yongzhou wished to return west to their homelands and flocked to the Fu clan, while western magnates jointly acclaimed Fu Hong as their leader. Fu Jian and others were still hostages in the Later Zhao capital of Ye. On hearing that his father had become independent, Fu Jian led men in breaking through the gates of Ye and reached Fangtou. The Eastern Jin court, hearing of disorder in the Central Plains and intending to launch a northern expedition, promoted Inspector of Yangzhou Yin Hao to General of the Central Army with delegated authority and command over military affairs in Yang, Yu, Xu, Yan, and Qing provinces. It also sent envoys to appoint Fu Hong as General Who Conquers the North, commander of military affairs north of the Yellow River, Inspector of Jizhou, King of the Di, and Duke of Guangchuan Commandery. His heir Fu Jian was granted delegated authority, appointed General of the Right and supervisor of forward expeditionary forces north of the Yellow River, and enfeoffed as Duke of Xiangguo.

Both Fu Hong and Yao Yizhong aspired to control the western regions. Yao Yizhong sent his son Yao Xiang with fifty thousand troops against Fu Hong, but Fu Hong defeated him, killing or capturing more than thirty thousand. Fu Hong then styled himself King of the Three Qin, Chief Commander, Great General, and Chanyu, established a staff and subordinate offices, and planned to seize Guanzhong. At this time Later Zhao general Ma Qiu was leading his followers east toward Ye. Fu Hong sent Fu Xiong to attack him, defeated and captured Ma Qiu, and appointed him General as Military Adviser. Ma Qiu, however, plotted to take over the Fu clan's followers and secretly poisoned King of the Three Qin Fu Hong during a banquet. Fu Jian immediately arrested and executed him. Before dying, Fu Hong told Fu Jian and Fu Xiong that he had refrained from entering the passes because he thought the Central Plains could be pacified, but had now been treacherously poisoned by Ma Qiu. The disorders of the Central Plains, he said, were not yet something the brothers could settle; after his death they should enter the passes quickly and establish their enterprise there. Fu Hong then died. As heir to the King of the Three Qin, Fu Jian inherited his father's followers and prepared to occupy Guanzhong.

After succeeding his father, Fu Jian first abolished the title King of the Three Qin and resumed the Eastern Jin offices previously granted to him: General Who Conquers the West, commander of military affairs west of the passes, and Inspector of Yongzhou. He sent an envoy to Jiankang, the Eastern Jin capital, to report Fu Hong's death and declared his willingness to obey the Jin court.

Seizing Chang'an and Founding Former Qin

In August 350, the sixth year of Yonghe, Du Hong, a former Later Zhao general from Jingzhao, occupied Chang'an with his followers and styled himself Eastern Jin General Who Conquers the North and Inspector of Yongzhou. Many Hu and Han inhabitants of Guanzhong and Longxi submitted to him. Fu Jian secretly intended to seize Guanzhong and feared that Du Hong might discover his plan. At that time Later Zhao emperor Shi Zhi sent envoys to win over Fu Jian and Yao Xiang. Shi Zhi appointed Yao Xiang General of Agile Cavalry and Inspector of Yuzhou and enfeoffed him as Duke of Xinchang. He also appointed Fu Jian commander of military affairs in Henan, General Who Guards the South, Holder of the Palace Credentials with Equal Ceremonial Rank to the Three Excellencies, and Governor of Yanzhou, and enfeoffed him as Duke of Lüeyang Commandery.

Fu Jian pretended to accept Shi Zhi's offices. At Fangtou he repaired palace buildings and ordered his followers to sow wheat, creating the impression that he had no intention of marching west. A man in the army who knew the plan and refused to sow was immediately executed as a warning. Soon afterward Fu Jian styled himself Eastern Jin General Who Conquers the West, commander of military affairs in Guanzhong, and Inspector of Yongzhou, and mobilized his entire force to march west. He built a pontoon bridge at Mengjin to cross the Yellow River, sent his younger brother Fu Xiong with five thousand infantry and cavalry through Tong Pass, and sent his nephew Fu Jing through Zhiguan into Hedong Commandery. Holding Fu Jing's hand, Fu Jian said that if their great enterprise failed, Fu Jing would die north of the Yellow River and he himself south of it, and that they would not meet again except in the underworld. After the main force had crossed the Yellow River, Fu Jian burned the pontoon bridge and followed Fu Xiong westward with the army.

Du Hong sent his subordinate Zhang Xian to intercept Fu Jian at Tong Pass, but Fu Jian defeated him. Despite the victory, Fu Jian wrote to Du Hong and sent fine horses and valuables, asking to enter Chang'an to support Du Hong as emperor. Du Hong concluded that Fu Jian's expensive gifts and flattering words were an attempt to lure him into a trap and therefore summoned all the troops of Guanzhong to resist. Fu Jian cast the Yijing and obtained the hexagram Tai changing to Lin. He told his followers that "the small departs and the great comes" was auspicious: when their people had gone east their numbers were small, but now as they returned west they were great, and nothing could be more favorable. He compared it to the auspicious sign by which Gaozu of Han destroyed the violent Qin. At the same time many stars appeared to move westward along both sides of the Milky Way, which diviners interpreted as a sign that the people would return west.

Fu Jian advanced in force and encamped at Chishui, sending Fu Xiong to occupy the north bank of the Wei River. The Di leader Mao Shou was stationed in Gaoling County, Xu Cuo at Haozhi County, and the Qiang leader Bai Du at Huangbai City, each commanding tens of thousands of followers. Du Hong sent envoys to win them over, but all independently killed his envoys, sent their sons as hostages, and surrendered to Fu Jian. Fu Jing defeated Zhang Xian at Yinpan and captured him. By the ninth lunar month, communities wherever Fu Jing passed submitted, and the Three Capital Districts near Chang'an had all been pacified by the Fu clan. In the tenth lunar month, Fu Jian reached Chang'an, while Du Hong and Zhang Ju fled with their followers to Sizhu County.

After occupying Chang'an, Fu Jian saw that the population remained inclined toward Jin. He therefore sent a victory report to Eastern Jin and established friendly relations with Huan Wen, Eastern Jin's General Who Conquers the West. Both minority peoples and Han residents of Qinzhou and Yongzhou submitted to Fu Jian. He also destroyed Shi Ning, the Later Zhao Inspector of Liangzhou who held Shanggui and refused to surrender.

In 351, the seventh year of Yonghe, Chief Clerk Jia Xuanshuo proposed following Liu Bei's precedent as King of Hanzhong and submitted a memorial asking that Fu Jian be made commander of military affairs in Guanzhong, Great General, Chanyu, and "King of Qin." Fu Jian feigned anger, saying he had no ability to be King of Qin and that the envoy sent to Eastern Jin had not yet returned, so how could his followers know what offices and ranks the court might give him. Soon, however, he hinted to Jia Xuanshuo and the others that they should offer him a higher title. After repeatedly declining, he assumed the positions of Heavenly King and Chanyu on the bingchen day of the first lunar month (March 4, 351). He broadly enfeoffed imperial relatives and his sons as dukes, named the state Great Qin, inaugurated the Huangshi era, and formally established Former Qin. On the xinmao day of the first lunar month of the following year (February 2, 352), Fu Jian proclaimed himself emperor, promoted the dukes to princes, and transferred the position of Chanyu to Crown Prince Fu Chang.

Consolidating Guanzhong and Longxi and Late Disorders

In 351, the first year of Huangshi, Du Hong, who had been driven out by the Fu clan, brought Eastern Jin Inspector of Liangzhou Sima Xun to attack Former Qin. Fu Jian led troops and repelled them at Wuzhangyuan. After Sima Xun withdrew in defeat to Hanzhong, Du Hong was killed by his subordinate Zhang Ju. Fu Jian soon led twenty thousand men to destroy Zhang Ju, sent troops to raid east of the passes, helped Later Zhao Inspector of Yuzhou Zhang Yu defeat Eastern Jin general Xie Shang, and later seized Zhang Yu and his followers and brought them to Chang'an, where he appointed Zhang to office. Zhang Yu later rebelled unsuccessfully, triggering resistance in Yongzhou led by Kong Te and others; Fu Jian's forces ultimately suppressed these uprisings.

In 353, the third year of Huangshi, after Eastern Jin general Yin Hao's northern expedition failed, he attempted to coordinate with Lei Ruo'er and Liang An to assassinate Fu Jian. The two pretended to agree and asked Yin Hao to send troops to support them. Yin Hao then failed in another northern expedition and was demoted by the Eastern Jin court to commoner status. In the same year, Fu Jian took Zhang Yu's stepmother as Zhaoyi and joked to Zhang, "Zhang Yu, I am your father." Deeply humiliated, Zhang Yu plotted with the palace attendant Liu Huang to assassinate Fu Jian. The Former Qin court then sent Liu Huang away on official business. Deprived of his support, Zhang Yu attempted the assassination but was captured and killed by the palace guards.

In 354, the fourth year of Huangshi, Huan Wen launched a northern expedition, personally leading the main army through Wuguan toward Chang'an while ordering Sima Xun to attack Longxi. Former Qin suffered initial defeats, and Huan Wen reached Bashang, southeast of Chang'an, forcing Fu Jian to prepare all thirty thousand elite troops for battle outside the city. Huan Wen, however, did not attack immediately, and Fu Jian harvested the ripened wheat before the Jin army could seize it. Huan Wen was ultimately forced to withdraw, and Fu Jian pursued and heavily defeated the Jin army. Crown Prince Fu Chang, however, died from a serious arrow wound, and Fu Jian's younger brother Fu Xiong also died in the war. Fu Jian became so enraged that he vomited blood and lamented that Heaven seemed unwilling to let him unify the realm, asking why it had taken away his finest talents.

Fu Jian was diligent in government and frequently summoned high officials to discuss the principles of rule. He reversed the harsh and extravagant style of Later Zhao, reduced taxes, practiced frugality, particularly promoted Confucian learning, and treated elders with courtesy, winning praise from the people.

In 354, Crown Prince Fu Chang was wounded while pursuing Huan Wen and died of his wounds that same year. In the following year, 355, because a prophetic text contained the phrase "three sheep and five eyes," Fu Jian made the Prince of Huainan, Fu Sheng, crown prince. In the sixth lunar month Fu Jian fell ill, with Fu Sheng attending him in his chambers. Fu Jing, Duke of Pingchang and Grand Commandant, mistakenly believed Fu Jian had died and led troops directly into the palace, intending to kill Fu Sheng and establish himself. When Fu Jing reached the eastern side gate, Fu Jian learned of the uprising and personally appeared at Duanmen, deploying troops in self-defense. Seeing that Fu Jian was still alive, Fu Jing's followers panicked and dispersed. Fu Jian arrested and executed Fu Jing. Soon afterward he appointed Grand Preceptor Yu Zun, Chancellor Lei Ruo'er, Grand Tutor Mao Gui, Minister of Works Wang Duo, Prefect of the Masters of Writing Liang Leng, Left Vice Director of the Masters of Writing Liang An, Right Vice Director Duan Chun, and Minister of Personnel Xin Lao as regents. He nevertheless told the crown prince that if chiefs of the Six Yi or powerful ministers disobeyed his orders, they should be eliminated immediately. On the yiyou day of the sixth lunar month (July 10), Fu Jian died of illness at the age of thirty-nine. He was posthumously titled Emperor Ming with temple name Shizong; later his posthumous title was changed to Emperor Jingming and his temple name to Gaozu.

The Fu Clan amid the Troubles of the Later Zhao

After Shi Le died, Shi Hu deposed Shi Hong as Prince of Haiyang, imprisoned him in the Chongxun Palace, killed him and took the throne himself as Great King of Zhao, changing the era to Jianwu; Fu Jian, then seventeen, was much favoured by Shi Hu and his sons. In the Jianwu years the Fu won repeated merit against the Duan Xianbei, and Shi Hu made Fu Hong general of bright valour and then, successively, holder of the tally, commander of all the six barbarian forces, champion general and Duke of Xiping, more than two thousand of his men receiving the rank of marquis within the passes. This stirred the envy of the imperial kinsman Shi Min, who told Shi Hu that Fu Hong was outstanding in ability, that his men would die for him, that his sons were all men of uncommon talent, and that with fifty thousand seasoned troops quartered near the capital they should secretly be removed for the safety of the state; Shi Hu answered that he meant to rely on father and sons to take Wu and Shu, and treated them the more generously. The monk Fotucheng also warned Shi Hu that "the Pu have the aura of kings, and should be destroyed at once", so that Shi Hu conceived the intent to kill; Fu Hong pleaded illness and stayed from court, and Shi Hu, while outwardly courteous, secretly killed Fu Jian's elder brothers but would not harm Fu Jian himself. In 348 Shi Hu sent Fu Jian to lead a campaign against the Eastern Jin, pressing as far as Jingling; the next year Shi Hu died, leaving by testament Fu Hong in charge of Yong and Qin, and his sons fell to fighting so that the Zhao fell into chaos. In 350 Shi Min told Emperor Shi Zun that if Fu Hong held the passes "Qin and Yong will cease to belong to the state", and Shi Zun, following the advice, stripped him of his command; Fu Hong in anger returned to Fangtou and sent envoys to submit to Jin, whereupon the refugees of Qin and Yong turned westward and, passing through Fangtou, made him their leader, their numbers reaching a hundred thousand. Fu Jian, then a hostage at Ye, heard that his father had made himself independent, broke through the city gate and reached Fangtou. The Jin court, appointed Yin Hao commander and gave Fu Hong the titles of King of the Di, general of the north and governor of Jizhou, and Fu Jian those of acting bearer of the tally, general of the right and Duke of Xiangguo. Yao Yizhong sent his son Yao Xiang with fifty thousand against Fu Hong, who defeated him and took over thirty thousand heads; Fu Hong then styled himself King of the Three Qin, grand commander and great shanyu, appointing officers under him. When the Zhao general Ma Qiu marched east and was captured by Fu Xiong, Fu Hong made him general and counsellor; Ma Qiu, meaning to absorb the Fu troops, poisoned Fu Hong at a banquet, and Fu Jian at once arrested and killed him. Fu Hong's last words to Fu Jian and Fu Xiong were that "the Central Plains are beyond the power of you brothers to settle; when I die, enter the passes at once".

Taking Chang'an

After succeeding his father, Fu Jian laid aside the title of King of the Three Qin, styled himself, by the Jin titles he had held, general of the west, commander of the passes and governor of Yongzhou, and sent envoys to Jiankang with news of the death, professing obedience to Jin. Du Hong then held Chang'an as Jin's general of the north and governor of Yongzhou, with the Di and Han of the passes mostly following him; Fu Jian, wishing to seize the passes without his knowledge, accepted the offices Shi Zhi of Zhao offered — commander of Henan, general of the south, Duke of Lüeyang — repaired palaces at Fangtou and set his men to sowing wheat to show no westward intent, beheading on the spot any who knew the truth and would not sow. He then declared himself Jin's general of the west, commander of the passes and governor of Yongzhou, moved all his forces west and bridged the Yellow River at Mengjin, sending his brother Fu Xiong with five thousand through the Tong Pass and his nephew Fu Jing with seven thousand through the Zhi Pass; at parting he held Fu Jing's hand and said that if the enterprise failed, "you will die north of the river and I south of it, and we shall not meet again". The bridge was burned behind them. Du Hong's officer Zhang Xian met them north of the Tong Pass with thirteen thousand and was routed; Fu Jian, though victorious, wrote to Du Hong with fine horses and treasures, asking him to come to Chang'an and be emperor, and Du Hong, saying that "his gifts are precious and his words sweet; this is surely a trap", called out all the troops of the passes. Fu Jian divined and obtained the Zhun hexagram changing to Lin, telling his men that "the small departs and the great comes, auspicious", calling it "the moment when the Han founder overthrew Qin"; the stars then streamed westward on both sides of the Milky Way, which the diviners took as a sign of the people's westward return. Advancing to the Red Water, he sent Fu Xiong to take the north bank of the Wei, and the Di chiefs Mao Shou, Xu Cuo and the Qiang chief Bai Du, each with tens of thousands, beheaded Du Hong's envoys, sent their sons as hostages and submitted; Fu Jing took Zhang Xian at Yinpan. By the ninth month the three metropolitan commanderies had submitted, and in the tenth Fu Jian advanced to Chang'an, Du Hong and Zhang Ju fleeing to Sizhu. The chief secretary Jia Xuanshuo and others, following the precedent of Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei, memorialised that Fu Jian be made King of Qin; Fu Jian angrily answered that "the weight of my office is not for such as you to know", and then secretly prompted them to offer him the higher title. In the first month of 351 he took the titles of Heavenly King and Great Shanyu, founded the state of Great Qin, took the era name Huangshi, built ancestral temples and altars and set up his officials at Chang'an; he posthumously honoured Fu Hong as Emperor Huiwu with the temple name Taizu, his mother Lady Jiang as empress dowager, his wife Lady Qiang as empress and his son Fu Chang as heir, and made Fu Xiong chancellor and commander of all military affairs inside and outside, general of chariots and cavalry and governor of Yongzhou.

The Wars of the Huangshi Years

The new state was not yet secure. Du Hong, in flight, called in the Jin governor of Liangzhou, Sima Xun, who entered the Qin river plain with thirty thousand foot and horse in the fourth month of the first year and captured and killed the Qin minister Zhao Kun, casting out his body; Fu Jian met him in person at Wuzhang Plain and defeated him repeatedly, driving him back to Nanzheng. Zhao Kun's son Zhao Huan, seeking his father's body without success, wailed aloud until a flock of crows came crying from the hills and returned to them; following the birds into the hills he at last found the corpse. Du Hong was then killed by his officer Zhang Ju, who made himself King of Qin with officers of state; Fu Jian attacked and beheaded him at Yiqiu with twenty thousand foot and horse, and on the way back climbed the Shi'an Plain and sighed that "how fair this plain is", musing that he might end his days there. He afterwards sent Fu Xiong and Fu Jing to raid east of the passes, relieving the Zhao governor of Yuzhou, Zhang Yu, at Xuchang and defeating the Jin general Xie Shang on the Ying River at Chengqiao, where fifteen thousand of the Jin army died; Xie Shang fled to Huainan, and Fu Xiong, pursuing to the gate of the camp, took Zhang Yu and his men to Chang'an, moving fifty thousand households of Chen, Ying, Xu and Luo into the passes and making Yang Qun governor of Yuzhou at Xuchang. Fu Xiong also attacked Wang Zhuo in Longshang, driving him to Liangzhou; Zhang Chonghua made him general of the east and sent him with Zhang Hong and Song Xiu against Qin, but Fu Xiong and Fu Jing defeated them and sent the two officers to Chang'an. At Pingyang the western-region Hu Liu Kang, falsely claiming to be a son of Liu Yao, gathered a following and called himself King of Jin, and was taken by the general of the left guard, Fu Fei. Beyond campaigns, Fu Jian sent envoys everywhere to ask after the people's hardships and seek out men of worth, lightening the crushing taxes, lifting the bans on the detached palaces, abolishing useless instruments and discarding lavish dress, doing away with every harsh Zhao measure inconvenient to the people.

Troubles Within and Without

In the third year of Huangshi (353) Zhang Yu came over from Xuchang, and Fu Jian took his stepmother, Lady Han, as a consort of honour, often saying to Zhang Yu before others that "you are my son", at which Zhang Yu, shamed and resentful, drew the generals of the passes to bring Yongzhou over to Jin and plotted with the eunuch Liu Huang to attack Fu Jian by night; the plot was discovered and he was killed. Thereupon Kong Te rose at Chiyang, Liu Zhen and Xiahou Xian at Hu, Qiao Jing at Yong, Hu Yangchi at Sizhu and Huyan Du at Bacheng, each with tens of thousands, all sending envoys to Huan Wen and Yin Hao for aid. Fu Xiong and the others reduced them in turn, taking Chiyang and killing Kong Te, and the Prince of Qinghe, Fu Fa, with Fu Fei, took Hu and killed Liu Zhen and Xiahou Xian. On the Jin side, Yin Hao had secretly induced the Qin ministers Liang An and Lei Ruo'er to kill Fu Jian and promised them the passes; they pretended to agree and asked for troops in support, and Yin Hao, thinking the deed done, marched north from Shouchun with seventy thousand in the tenth month to take Luoyang and restore the imperial tombs. The minister of personnel Wang Biaozhi warned the Prince of Kuaiji, Sima Yu, that Lei Ruo'er and the others might be deceiving them and that Yin Hao should not advance rashly, but was not heeded; taking Yao Xiang as his vanguard, Yin Hao was lured by a pretended night flight into an ambush at Shansang, was routed, abandoned his baggage and fled to Qiaocheng, so that Qin reaped the fisherman's profit. After Yao Yizhong died, Yao Xiang concealed the death, moved sixty thousand households south against Yangping, Yuancheng and Fagan, took them and camped at Qiao'ao Ford; defeated by Qin he lost over thirty thousand households, and only at Xingyang did he announce the mourning; fighting again with the Qin generals Gao Chang and Li Li at Matian, his horse was killed by a stray arrow and only his brother Fu Chang's giving him a mount saved him. Yao Xiang's officer Yin Chi fled to Qin, which made him governor of Bingzhou at Puban.

Huan Wen's Northern Expedition and the Heir's Death

In the second month of 354 Huan Wen set out from Jiangling with forty thousand foot and horse, his fleet up the Han to Nanzhong and his infantry by way of Xichuan to the Wu Pass, while Sima Xun marched by the Ziwu road and Wang Zhuo attacked Chencang in support. Huan Wen took Shangluo and captured the Qin governor of Jingzhou, Guo Jing, then broke the Qin at Qingni. Fu Jian sent his heir Fu Chang, Chancellor Fu Xiong, the Prince of Huainan Fu Sheng, the Prince of Pingchang Fu Jing and the Prince of Beiping Fu Shuo with fifty thousand to Yaoliu. On the jiaji day of the fourth month they fought at Lantian, where Fu Sheng charged the enemy line alone a dozen times, killing many Jin officers, and though Huan Wen pressed the attack and routed the Qin, Huan Chong defeated Fu Xiong at Bailuyuan and Huan Wen advanced to Bashang, where the three metropolitan commanderies mostly submitted to him. Fu Jian held the small city of Chang'an with six thousand old and weak, sending out thirty thousand picked troops as a flying column under the grand commander Lei Ruo'er to join Fu Chang, and detached Fu Xiong with seven thousand horse to surprise Sima Xun in the Ziwu valley and drive him back. Huan Wen had meant to feed his army on the Qin wheat, but Fu Jian, foreseeing it, had the wheat cut and the countryside cleared, so that the Jin army went hungry; in the sixth month Huan Wen withdrew, moving three thousand households of the passes back with him, and at the Tong Pass was repeatedly beaten by Fu Chang, while Sima Xun fled to Hanzhong and Wang Zhuo to Lüeyang, the Qin thus dissolving the Jin and Liang offensive. In the fighting the heir Fu Chang was struck by a stray arrow and died of the wound in the tenth month, being given the posthumous name Heir Xian'ai. Chancellor Fu Xiong also died in camp while attacking Qiao Bing, and Fu Jian, hearing it, wept and spat blood, crying that Heaven did not mean him to pacify the four seas and had taken his Yuan Cai too soon; he granted him the posthumous title Prince Jingwu of Wei, with funeral rites after the model of the Jin Prince Xian of Anping.

Omens, His Last Years and Death

In the second month of the fifth year of Huangshi (355) locusts rose throughout Qin from Huaze to Mount Long, eating every plant bare, while horses and cattle gnawed one another's hair and tigers and wolves devoured people, so that the roads were deserted; Fu Jian at once remitted the people's taxes, reduced his table, put away the instruments of music and in plain white garments avoided the main hall. At Xinping a "tall man" appeared, telling the commoner Zhang Jing that "the Fu have received Heaven's mandate and now there shall be peace"; asked his name, he did not answer and vanished. The magistrate reported it and Fu Jian, thinking it sorcery, imprisoned Zhang Jing; then came heavy rain, the Yellow River and Wei overflowed, and the supervisor of the Pujin ford took from the river a great wooden shoe seven feet three inches long whose toe-print was a foot long and an inch deep. Fu Jian sighed that "in the compass of heaven and earth, what is there that does not exist? What Zhang Jing saw is surely no illusion", and pardoned him. He had a favoured general, Fu Jing, made Prince of Pingchang and grand commandant; when Fu Jian fell ill, Fu Jing led troops into the Eastern Palace to kill the heir Fu Sheng and take the throne, and, believing Fu Jian dead, turned to attack the eastern side gate. Fu Jian, hearing of it, rose from his sickbed to array his guards at the Duan Gate, and Fu Jing's men, seeing him alive, threw down their arms and scattered; Fu Jian seized Fu Jing, and having enumerated his crimes, put him to death, asking no more of the others. In the sixth month he made the Prince of Wudu, Fu An, commander of all military affairs at home and abroad, and called the grand preceptor Yu Zun, Chancellor Lei Ruo'er, the grand tutor Mao Gui, the censor-in-chief Wang Duo, the director of the secretariat Liang Leng, Liang An and Duan Chun and the minister of personnel Xin Lao to receive his testamentary charge, telling the heir Fu Sheng that "of the chiefs of the six barbarians and the ministers who hold power, any who will not obey you should be removed one by one". He died in the Taiji front hall on the yiyou day of the sixth month (10 July 355) at thirty-nine, was buried at Yuanling and given the posthumous name Emperor Ming with the temple name Shizong, later changed to Emperor Jingming with the temple name Gaozu.

The Dream Bestowal of the Dragon-Soaring Title and the Clansmen

As Fu Jian entered the passes he dreamed that a heavenly god sent an envoy in crimson robes and red cap, commanding him to make his nephew Fu Jian (the future emperor) general of the dragon-soaring title. The next day he built an altar at Quwo and conferred the title, saying through tears that "your grandfather and father won their merit in this office, and now the gods command me to pass it to you; you must strive". Fu Jian was deeply moved, brandished his sword and struck his horse, and the soldiers under him were awed. Among the clansmen was Fu Rong, son of Fu Xiong, handsome and accomplished in both letters and arms, beloved of his uncle; in the Huangshi years Fu Jian wished to make him Prince of Anle, but Fu Rong petitioned to decline, and the emperor, finding it remarkable, said that "I shall let my boy keep the integrity of one who withdraws from office", and the enfeoffment was dropped. The chancellor Wang Duo, styled Ansheng, of Bacheng in the capital region, was broadly learned and of great ability, versed in astronomy and the prophetic writings; Fu Hong had made him his adjutant and trusted the prophecy that "the Fu shall be kings", and as chancellor he showed unflinching integrity, so that Fu Jian would say in court that "if all the officials in the realm were like Director Wang, would not yin and yang be in harmony?" and held him in high regard.

His Writings and the Fu Family Style

There survive from Fu Jian the "Decree Seeking Worthies" and the "Oath by the River to His Brother Xiong and His Nephew Jing". The oath is terse and unadorned, expressing a resolute will in little more than ten characters; the decree required that from the nobles down each should yearly recommend one man of worth and goodness, uprightness, filial conduct and integrity, clear talent, broad strategy, wide learning, talent or exceptional conduct, and that writings of remonstrance or statements of the sovereign's faults should reach him "without regard to noble or base". Scholars hold that these texts bear out his decisiveness; and that in the family's migration from Longyou to the passes and the Central Plains, its inheritance of Chinese classical culture, its borrowing from the Buddhist culture of the western regions and its reception of the new metaphysical currents of the day were exemplary, its enterprising spirit and cultural openness influencing later ages.

The Balance of Powers around Early Qin

Under Fu Jian, most of the Later Zhao generals holding provinces sent envoys to submit to Yan, which made Wang Zhuo governor of Yizhou, Kui Yi of Qinzhou, Zhang Ping of Bingzhou, Li Li of Yanzhou, Gao Chang general of the west and Liu Ning general of chariots and cavalry; and the Qin governors of Henei and Liyang, Wang Hui and Han Gao, took their commanderies over to Yan. This shows that in the first years of Qin the Yan were already dominant east of the passes, while Qin concentrated on securing the passes and Long. In the same period, during Huan Wen's expedition most of the commanderies of the passes submitted to him, and Fu Jian starved him out by cutting the wheat and clearing the countryside; afterwards he sent officers to put down the resistance of Kong Te and others in Yongzhou, and the passes grew calm. It is recorded that he "did away with the harsh government of Zhao and lightened taxes and corvee", so that the people of the passes saw peace under Qin; scholars also note that he broke with the tradition of exalting agriculture and suppressing commerce by making "the opening of frontier markets and the attraction of distant merchants" an important policy for restoring the economy of the passes and meeting the needs of state and army. That Wang Hui and Han Gao dared take their commanderies to Yan only after his death shows how firmly he held the passes while alive.

Major Activities

Founding Former Qin

After inheriting his father's position, Fu Jian took advantage of Later Zhao's collapse and the power vacuum in Guanzhong. He decisively marched west, showing a determination comparable to "burning the boats and breaking the cooking pots," seized Chang'an, and in 351 assumed the titles Heavenly King and Chanyu, named his state Great Qin, and inaugurated the Huangshi era. He proclaimed himself emperor the following year. This marked the beginning of Former Qin and laid the foundation for Fu Jian's later unification of northern China.

Political Measures

After establishing Former Qin, Fu Jian comprehensively abolished Later Zhao's harsh policies, eliminated unnecessary institutions, reduced corvée labor and taxes, and sought to share hardship with the people. In official recruitment he issued the Edict Seeking Worthy Men, recommending talent without regard to family background and allowing capable men from poor families to enter government, breaking with the Wei-Jin tradition summarized by the saying that no poor family could reach the highest ranks. Economically, he departed from customary policies that privileged agriculture and suppressed commerce, opening markets at Fengyangchuan to attract merchants and improve both state revenue and livelihoods. Culturally, he promoted Confucian learning and established reception halls to conciliate different peoples.

Military Activities

Fu Jian spent much of his life in military service. In his early years he followed his father in campaigns against the Duan Xianbei and repeatedly distinguished himself. In 348, on Shi Hu's orders, he campaigned against Eastern Jin and advanced to Jingling Commandery. After inheriting his father's position, he led his followers west, defeated Zhang Xian, and pacified the Three Capital Districts. After founding Former Qin, he repelled Sima Xun's Eastern Jin attack, destroyed Zhang Ju, and suppressed resistance led by Kong Te and others. When Huan Wen launched a northern expedition in 354, Fu Jian responded calmly, secured the ripened wheat first, forced Huan Wen to withdraw, and then pursued and heavily defeated the Jin army.

Travels and Places of Activity

In his early years Fu Jian was moved with his father east of the passes and later lived for extended periods at Ye and Fangtou. In 350, he led his followers west, crossed the Yellow River at Mengjin, entered through Tong Pass and Zhiguan, and ultimately established his capital at Chang'an.

Interactions with Contemporaries

Fu Jian maintained close relations with Shi Hu and his sons of Later Zhao and enjoyed their trust. He competed with Yao Yizhong and Yao Xiang for control of the western regions. He established friendly relations with Eastern Jin general Huan Wen before later fighting Huan Wen's northern expedition. He struggled with Du Hong, Zhang Ju, and others for control of Guanzhong and maintained complex relations with Later Zhao figures such as Shi Zhi and Shi Min.

The Decree Seeking Worthies and the Selection of Officials

In the first month of the spring of the third year of Huangshi (353) Fu Jian issued a decree that "from the nobles and ministers down, each shall every year recommend one man of worth and goodness, of uprightness, of filial conduct and integrity, of clear talent, of broad strategy, of wide learning, of talent and of exceptional conduct; and if any offer a writing of remonstrance or state my faults to my face, let all be made known to me, without regard to noble or base". Thus every year the officials were to recommend men of each kind, and anyone who could memorialise advice or name the sovereign's faults might reach him whatever his birth. This was rare in an age when "no cold house stands in the upper grade, no noble house in the lower"; his successor Fu Jian continued it, rewarding those who recommended good men and punishing those who recommended bad, so that none dared recommend recklessly, patronage ceased, scholars spurred themselves on, and even kinsmen and consort families without ability were set aside, greatly improving the quality of Qin's officials. Besides selection he attended to institutions: he established five grades of enfeoffment and gave the title of Great Shanyu to his heir Fu Chang, holding that "the shanyu's office, meant to unite the hundred barbarians, is not for the Son of Heaven to hold".

The Frontier Commandants

Before the Fu founded their state, the tribal chiefs of the Di and Qiang and other peoples were strong and often swayed events. Fu Jian began to apply Han institutions, but with tribal power so entrenched he set up frontier commandants to garrison the localities — officers appointed "to station troops and commanders over the tribal divisions in the barbarian settlements", a military administration created among the settlements of non-Han peoples to hold them in order, standing beside the civil administration as a local military authority and, where no magistrate was appointed, governing the people as well. In the metropolitan region of the passes alone there were commandants at Fuyi, Tumen, Tongguan, Sanyuan and Fengyi, an important means by which Qin controlled the various peoples and steadied the localities.

Economy and the Frontier Markets

Fu Jian attended to economic recovery, advocating thrift and lightening the people's burdens. In every disaster he remitted their taxes and cut the palace table, showing that he would share the calamity with them, so that under his rule the people of the passes were "each household well provided". He gave particular weight to trade: after Fu Jing had taken Shangluo he established a Jingzhou at Fengyang valley with the infantry commandant Guo Jing as its governor, using the position between Qin and Jin to "draw in southern gold, rare goods, bows and poles, lacquer and wax, open frontier markets and attract distant merchants", so that "the state's needs were met and rare goods piled up". He set up a hostel for distant guests at the Pingshuo Gate to conciliate the peoples of far parts, raised a terrace at the Du Gate, made a covenant of three articles with the people, kept taxes light and palaces low, attended to government, treated the aged with courtesy and promoted Confucian learning, so that the people of the right of the passes "hailed him as their deliverer"; and since his princes abandoned the Zhao princes' exploitation of the people for a rule of tolerance, thrift and care for scholars and people, "the people of Qin were pleased with him".

Relations with the Liang

Under Fu Jian the powers of the western passes interlocked. When Huan Wen entered the passes, Wang Zhuo sent word to the king of Liang, Zhang Zuo, that Huan Wen was skilled in war and his designs unfathomable; Zhang Zuo, in fear and dreading Wang Zhuo's defection, sent an assassin against him, and when the plot was discovered grew more afraid still and raised a great levy, proclaiming an eastern campaign while meaning to secure Dunhuang in the west, stopping only on hearing that Huan Wen had withdrawn. He then sent the governor of Qinzhou, Niu Ba, with three thousand against Wang Zhuo and defeated him. In the eleventh month Wang Zhuo surrendered with his troops and lands to Qin, and Fu Jian, forgetting former enmity, made him a minister and appointed the general Dan Tie governor of Qinzhou. In the twelfth month his uncle, the Prince of Wudu, Fu An, returning from the Eastern Jin, was captured by Yao Xiang on the way and forced to be governor of Luozhou; escaping back to Qin, he was made grand commander, general of crowned cavalry and governor of Bingzhou at Puban. These arrangements gradually gave Qin the advantage between the passes and the Hexi corridor.

The Collapse of the Later Zhao and the Fu Opportunity

The Fu founded their state just as the Later Zhao fell apart. While Shi Min was its chancellor he "scattered the storehouses to buy private favour and warred with the Qiang and Hu every month"; the millions of people of Qing, Yong, You and Jing transplanted by Zhao, and of Di, Qiang, Hu and Man, returned each to their own lands as the Zhao prohibitions broke down, the roads thronged with mutual killing and plunder, so that only two or three in ten reached home; the Central Plains fell into chaos and, with famine and plague, "men ate one another and none tilled". Shi Min was routed near Xiangguo, escaping to Ye with a dozen riders, while his officer Hu Mu and the ministers Shi Pu, Xu Ji and Lu Chen with over a hundred thousand officers and men died; and Yao Yizhong, angry that his son Yao Xiang had not taken Shi Min, had him beaten a hundred strokes. It was against this background that the passes lay empty and no leader was found, so that Fu Jian could move west; and as it was said of Fu Hong that "he lingered at Fangtou with the ambition of a tiger seizing the Central Plains", so his son Fu Jian "took the passes in the west, absorbed Yao Xiang, repelled Huan Wen, and thus became a strong state".

Qin's Management of the Passes

Entering Chang'an, Fu Jian saw that the people's hearts turned to Jin, so he reported his victories east and made peace with Huan Wen, the Jin general of the west, while destroying the Zhao governor of Liangzhou, Shi Ning, who held Shanggui and would not submit. Once his state was founded he abolished the harsh Zhao measures and cut away useless offices, set up frontier commandants to hold the tribal settlements, and established a Jingzhou at Fengyang valley with frontier markets to increase revenue. Under father and son, Qin became one of the most sinicised of the Sixteen States, never discriminating against Han Chinese and cooperating with Han landowners in promoting sinicisation; these measures laid the basis for Fu Jian the nephew's later unification of the north. As for Huan Wen, Fu Jian first made peace with him and later fought him; it was recorded that "when Fu Jian heard Huan Wen was coming he cut the wheat and cleared the countryside to await him, so that Huan Wen's army went hungry", a stratagem showing his readiness to strike the unprepared.

His Testament and the Succession

On his deathbed Fu Jian told the heir Fu Sheng that "of the chiefs of the six barbarians and the ministers who hold power, any who will not obey you should be removed one by one", and appointed Yu Zun, Lei Ruo'er, Mao Gui, Wang Duo, Liang Leng, Liang An, Duan Chun and Xin Lao, eight men in all, to guide the young sovereign — a charge that was at once a guardianship and an incitement to kill. Fu Sheng on the throne proved cruel and bloodthirsty, and several of the eight were put to death in turn, so that the relation between Fu Jian's last words and his heir's conduct has been much discussed by later historians. Fu Jian was succeeded by Fu Sheng, who was displaced two years later by Fu Jian the nephew; his temple name was at first Shizong, and in 357 (first year of Yongxing) he was given the posthumous name Emperor Jingming and the temple name Gaozu.

Personal Relations

• Father: Fu Hong (Emperor Huiwu); mother: Lady Jiang (Empress Dowager Jiang); younger brother: Fu Xiong (Emperor Wenhuan); nephew: Fu Jian (Emperor Xuanzhao); sons: Fu Chang, Fu Jing, Fu Sheng, Fu Di, Fu Fang, Fu Shuo, Fu Teng, Fu Liu, Fu Tong, Fu Sou, Fu Wu, and Fu You; consorts: Lady Qiang (Empress Dowager Qiang) and Lady Han (stepmother of Zhang Yu)
• Shi Hu (Later Zhao emperor who greatly favored Fu Jian); Fotucheng (eminent monk who once advised Shi Hu to eliminate the Fu clan)
• Shi Le (Heavenly King of Later Zhao); Shi Hong (Later Zhao emperor); Shi Zun (Later Zhao emperor); Shi Zhi (Later Zhao emperor); Shi Min/Ran Min (Later Zhao clansman who later established his own regime); Du Hong (former Later Zhao general who held Chang'an); Zhang Ju (subordinate of Du Hong); Yu Zun, Lei Ruo'er, Mao Gui, Wang Duo, Liang Leng, Liang An, Duan Chun, and Xin Lao (Former Qin regent officials)
• Ma Qiu (poisoned Fu Hong and was executed by Fu Jian); Yao Yizhong and Yao Xiang (rivals for the western regions); Zhang Yu (attempted to assassinate Fu Jian and was killed); Fu Jing (rebelled and was executed); Huan Wen (commander of an Eastern Jin northern expedition); Yin Hao (Eastern Jin general who unsuccessfully plotted to assassinate Fu Jian); Sima Xun (Eastern Jin Inspector of Liangzhou)

Historical Assessment

Contemporary / Near-Contemporary

The Book of Jin, "Records of the Hereditary Houses," describes Fu Jian as courageous and decisive, skilled in bow and horse, generous, and adept at serving others, affirming his personal abilities. Shi Min described Fu Hong as outstanding and able to inspire soldiers to die for him, while saying his sons all possessed extraordinary talent, showing the fear Fu clan power inspired among contemporaries. Fotucheng's statement that the Pu clan possessed "royal qi," although expressed in prophetic terms, likewise reflects the clan's contemporary reputation.

Tang Period

When Fang Xuanling and others compiled the Book of Jin, they placed Fu Jian among the records of non-Jin rulers and treated him as a ruler outside the legitimate dynasty, but they also recorded his political measures, including the abolition of Later Zhao's harsh policies and the reduction of corvée and taxes, thereby acknowledging his governing ability.

Song and Yuan Periods

Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian gives a detailed account of Fu Jian's career and especially of his entry into Guanzhong and foundation of his state, presenting his military strategy in substantial detail. Hu Sansheng's commentary on the Zizhi Tongjian discusses many of Fu Jian's military and political measures and credits his ability to seize opportunities and consolidate Guanzhong and Longxi.

Modern Period

Modern scholars generally regard Fu Jian as a capable founding ruler of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. His establishment of Former Qin and choice of Chang'an as its capital laid the groundwork for Fu Jian's later unification of the north. Measures such as abolishing Later Zhao's harsh policies, reducing corvée and taxes, and issuing the Edict Seeking Worthy Men are considered to have helped stabilize Guanzhong society and promote integration among different peoples.