Helian Bobo

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Helian Bobo came from the Tiefu branch of the Xiongnu. His ancestors were said to descend from the Xiongnu Right Worthy Prince Qubei, making him a clansman of Liu Yuan, the Guangwen Emperor of Former Zhao. The Tiefu were described as arising from intermixture between Xiongnu and Xianbei; northern people explained the name by saying that the father was Xianbei and the mother Tiefu. Helian Bobo's great-grandfather Liu Hu was enfeoffed as Duke of Loufan under Liu Cong, the Zhaowu Emperor of Former Zhao, and held military offices including General Who Pacifies the North. He established power in Silu River but was later defeated by Tuoba Yilu and withdrew beyond the frontier. His grandfather Liu Wuhuan regrouped the tribes, restored Tiefu strength, and received from Shi Hu of Later Zhao the titles General Who Pacifies the North, Left Worthy Prince, and Dingling Chanyu. After Liu Weichen succeeded as leader, he shifted allegiance between Former Qin and the Dai state. After Fu Jian, the Xuanzhao Emperor of Former Qin, destroyed Dai, Liu Weichen was appointed Western Chanyu and placed over the tribes west of the Yellow River, with his base at Dailai City. After Former Qin collapsed, Liu Weichen controlled Shuofang and reportedly commanded 38,000 troops.

In 391, the sixteenth year of Taiyuan, Northern Wei attacked the Tiefu. Liu Weichen sent his son Liu Lisiqi to resist, but the Wei army defeated him, crossed the Yellow River, captured Dailai City, and killed Liu Weichen. Helian Bobo, his family and polity destroyed, fled to the Xuegan, also known as the Chigan, tribe. Its chief Taixifu wanted to hand him over to Northern Wei. Taixifu's nephew Chigan Ali, then stationed at Daluochuan, hurried back when he heard of the plan and argued that even birds seeking refuge in a person's arms should be spared, much less a man whose state and family had been destroyed. Taixifu nevertheless feared Northern Wei punishment and refused. Chigan Ali secretly sent brave men to intercept the escort, free Helian Bobo, and deliver him to Moyigan, Duke of Gaoping and a Later Qin vassal. Moyigan gave Helian Bobo his daughter in marriage.

Service under Later Qin

Helian Bobo was described as eight chi five cun tall, broad in build, eloquent and intelligent, with an imposing appearance. Yao Xing, ruler of Later Qin, was greatly impressed by him, treated him with marked favor, appointed him General of Agile Cavalry and Commandant of the Imperial Carriages, and frequently included him in discussions of military and state affairs. Yao Xing's brother Yao Yong was deeply worried and warned that Helian Bobo was inhumane and difficult to trust. Yao Xing initially dismissed the concern, saying that Helian Bobo possessed the talent to rescue the age and that he intended to use his abilities in pacifying the realm. He later appointed him General Who Pacifies Distant Regions and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Yangchuan, assigning him to assist Moyigan at Gaoping and placing under him people from the Three Cities, Shuofang, various non-Han groups, and some 30,000 remnants of Liu Weichen's followers. Yao Yong continued to warn that Helian Bobo was arrogant toward superiors, cruel to troops, greedy, violent, and lacking in familial feeling, and that excessive favor would eventually turn him into a frontier disaster.

In 406, the second year of Yixi, Yao Xing appointed Helian Bobo a bearer of credentials, General Who Pacifies the North, and Duke of Wuyuan, and placed under him more than 20,000 households from several Xianbei and other groups to guard Shuofang. That year, after eight thousand horses were being sent to Yao Xing by a Hexi Xianbei leader, Helian Bobo seized them. He then gathered more than 30,000 followers under the pretext of hunting at Gaoping River, suddenly attacked and killed his father-in-law Moyigan, and absorbed Moyigan's forces.

Rebellion against Later Qin and Mobile Expansion

In 407, the third year of Yixi, Helian Bobo rebelled against Later Qin and declared himself Heavenly King and Grand Chanyu. He proclaimed a general amnesty, adopted the era name Longsheng, and established a government. Claiming the Xiongnu to be descendants of the Xia royal line, he named his state Great Xia. He appointed his elder brother Helian Youdi Dai as chancellor and Duke of Dai, his second elder brother Helian Lisiqi as grand general and Duke of Wei, and Chigan Ali as Censor-in-chief and Duke of Liang, while distributing other offices among his followers.

That same year Helian Bobo attacked three Xianbei groups including the Xuegan and accepted the surrender of more than ten thousand people. He then attacked Later Qin garrisons north of the Three Cities and killed commanders Yang Pi and Yao Shisheng. His generals urged him to occupy a fortified capital at Gaoping, but he refused. He argued that his new enterprise had too few troops to withstand the combined forces of Yao Xing if he fixed himself in one city. Instead he intended to move rapidly, strike whichever part of the enemy was left exposed, exhaust Later Qin through constant response, and wait until Yao Xing's death before gradually taking Chang'an. He predicted that Yao Hong would be easy to capture. He compared his mobile strategy to the Yellow Emperor's long period of moving without a fixed residence. Helian Bobo thereafter repeatedly raided Later Qin territory north of the passes, to the point that some cities did not open their gates by day. Yao Xing lamented that he had failed to heed Yao Yong's warning.

Wars with Southern Liang and Later Qin

Early in his independent rule, Helian Bobo sought marriage with the Southern Liang ruler Tufa Rutan. When refused, he led twenty thousand cavalry against Southern Liang, killing and plundering over a distance of more than three hundred li and carrying off tens of thousands of people and enormous numbers of livestock. Tufa Rutan pursued him. The general Jiao Lang warned that Helian Bobo was formidable and disciplined and advised crossing north to secure the river and block the route, but Tufa Rutan ignored the advice. Helian Bobo broke the ice and embedded wagon wheels to obstruct a narrow pass at Yangwu. Southern Liang archers struck Helian Bobo in the left arm, but he counterattacked and inflicted a major defeat, pursuing the enemy for more than eighty li, killing many thousands and more than ten senior Southern Liang commanders. He piled the dead into a mound that he called the “Skull Terrace” and then returned north.

Helian Bobo continued fighting Later Qin year after year. At Qingshiyuan he fought the Later Qin general Zhang Fosheng and captured or killed 5,700 men. Yao Xing sent Qi Nan with twenty thousand troops against him. Helian Bobo withdrew to the Yellow River bend; when Qi Nan allowed his soldiers to disperse for plunder, Helian Bobo ambushed them, capturing more than seven thousand men and seizing horses and weapons. As Qi Nan retreated, Helian Bobo pursued him to Mucheng, captured the city and Qi Nan himself, and took 13,000 troops and ten thousand horses. Tens of thousands of Han and non-Han inhabitants north of the passes submitted. Helian Bobo appointed officials to govern them. He then led twenty thousand cavalry through Gaogang and Wujing, seized more than seven thousand households of mixed Hu people around Pingliang, and moved to Yilichuan.

Yao Xing personally led an army to the Three Cities. Before the Qin forces could assemble, Helian Bobo attacked with cavalry. Yao Xing sent Yao Wenzong to meet him; Helian Bobo feigned retreat and prepared an ambush. When Yao Yusheng and others pursued, they were trapped and captured. At Qiqi Fort, Yao Xing's officer Wang Xi had gathered more than three thousand Qiang households. Helian Bobo attacked, but Wang Xi fought fiercely and inflicted losses. Helian Bobo dammed the water supply until those in the fort were desperate and handed Wang Xi over in surrender. Helian Bobo praised Wang Xi as a loyal minister and offered to employ him, but Wang Xi asked only for the favor of an early death and killed himself with several dozen close followers. Helian Bobo later captured Huangshi Stronghold and Woluo City, moved more than seven thousand households to Dacheng, and placed his elder brother Helian Youdi Dai in charge of Youzhou.

Building Tongwancheng and Changing the Clan Name

In 413, the first year of Fengxiang, Helian Bobo judged that his position had become secure and ordered a capital built on the steppe between the Wuding and Heishui rivers. He named it Tongwancheng, conveying his ambition to “unify the realm and rule the myriad states.” He appointed Chigan Ali as chief architect and mobilized one hundred thousand people to build it. The walls were made with specially hardened rammed earth. Chigan Ali was described as exceptionally cruel: if an iron awl could penetrate a section of wall by one inch, the worker responsible was executed and his body incorporated into the wall. Great bronze drums, winged creatures, human statues, bronze camels, dragons, and other ornaments were cast and decorated with gold for display before the palaces; the source says thousands of artisans died during the production of these objects.

In the same year, Helian Bobo argued that his ancestors had improperly taken the surname Liu through a maternal connection and changed his surname to Helian, explaining it with the phrase that his brilliant might was “joined to Heaven.” Non-imperial members of the Tiefu were ordered to take the surname Tiefa, which he explained as meaning “hard and sharp as iron, able to strike others.” Tongwancheng's four gates were named Chaosong, Zhaowei, Fuliang, and Pingshuo, expressing his ambition to dominate rival states.

Seizure of Guanzhong and Imperial Proclamation

In 415, the third year of Fengxiang, Helian Bobo captured Xingcheng from Later Qin. The following year, while Later Qin was fighting Yang Sheng of Chouchi, he captured Shanggui and Yinmi. Yao Hui abandoned Anding, and local leaders including Hu Yan surrendered the city to Xia. Helian Bobo then attacked Yongcheng and Meicheng but met resistance from Yao Shao at Meicheng and withdrew to Anding. Hu Yan and others later killed the Xia official Yang Gou'er who had been left to defend Anding and returned to Later Qin allegiance, forcing Helian Bobo back to Xingcheng.

When Helian Bobo learned that Liu Yu of Eastern Jin was preparing a northern expedition against Later Qin, he judged that Liu Yu would destroy Later Qin but soon return south, leaving younger relatives and generals to hold Guanzhong. He therefore rested his troops and avoided major battle with Later Qin. Before long he occupied Anding, and Later Qin garrisons and counties north of the passes successively surrendered, bringing the entire region under Xia. He also formed alliances with Northern Yan and Northern Liang.

In 417, the fifth year of Fengxiang, Liu Yu destroyed Later Qin and later withdrew south, leaving his son Liu Yizhen and the generals Wang Zhen'e, Shen Tianzi, Fu Hongzhi, and others to hold Guanzhong. Helian Bobo adopted the plan of Wang Maide. He sent his son Helian Gui to lead the vanguard against Chang'an, ordered Helian Chang to block Tong Pass, sent Wang Maide to cut the Qingni route, and followed with the main army. By the time Helian Gui reached Weiyang, large numbers of people were already submitting by the roadside. Infighting broke out among the Jin commanders: Shen Tianzi killed Wang Zhen'e and was in turn executed by Liu Yizhen's chief administrator Wang Xiu. Liu Yizhen drew the outside forces into Chang'an and shut the gates, while counties throughout Guanzhong surrendered to Xia. Helian Bobo occupied Xianyang and cut Chang'an's supplies. Liu Yu ordered Zhu Lingshi to replace Liu Yizhen and instructed his son to return east. Liu Yizhen's troops plundered heavily before departing; the people of Guanzhong then expelled Zhu Lingshi and welcomed Helian Bobo into Chang'an.

After entering Chang'an, Helian Bobo held a great feast for his troops and soon proclaimed himself emperor at Bashang, changing the era name to Changwu. His officials urged him to move the capital to Chang'an. He refused, reasoning that if the political center moved south, Northern Wei could easily attack Tongwancheng, which lay only about a hundred li from the frontier. He therefore regarded Tongwan as the stronger base for checking Northern Wei. In 419 he established a Southern Administration at Chang'an, left Crown Prince Helian Gui in charge, and returned to Tongwan. After the palaces at Tongwan were completed, he had a commemorative inscription carved south of the city and changed the era name to Zhenxing.

Later Years and Death

In 424, the sixth year of Zhenxing, Helian Bobo planned to depose Crown Prince Helian Gui and replace him with his younger son Helian Lun. After learning of this, Helian Gui led seventy thousand troops from Chang'an against Helian Lun and defeated and killed him at Gaoping. Helian Lun's elder brother Helian Chang then attacked and killed Helian Gui. Helian Bobo subsequently appointed Helian Chang crown prince.

In the eighth month of 425, the seventh year of Zhenxing, Helian Bobo became gravely ill. He summoned his officials in Yong'an Hall at Tongwancheng, entrusted affairs to them, and soon died at the age of forty-five. He received the posthumous title Emperor Wulie and temple name Shizu and was buried at the Jiaping Mausoleum.

His Lineage, Service under Qin, and His Break for Independence

The Record of the Jin describes Helian Bobo as "a descendant of Qubei, the wise king of the right among the Xiongnu, and of the clan of Liu Yuanhai": his great-grandfather Liu Wu, as a member of the imperial clan under Liu Cong, was made duke of Loufan and given the offices of general pacifying the north, supervisor of the Xianbei military and colonel of the Dingling, "holding the Sihu river by force," until he was beaten by Yilu, prince of Dai, and withdrew beyond the passes; his grandfather Liu Baozi gathered the tribes and again became chief of the divisions, and Shi Jilong sent envoys to make him general pacifying the north, wise king of the left and Shanyu of the Dingling; his father Liu Weichen entered within the passes, was made western Shanyu by Fu Jian, "supervising the various barbarians of Hexi and camping at Dailai city," and when Fu Jian's state fell into disorder possessed the land of Shuofang with "thirty-eight thousand men who could draw the bow." When the Wei army came against him, Liu Weichen sent his son Lishiti to fight and was beaten; the Wei crossed the river in pursuit, took Dailai and captured and killed Weichen, and Helian Bobo fled to the Chigan tribe. Chigan Toudoufu meant to send him to Wei, and his nephew Ali, then stationed at Daluochuan, galloped to remonstrate: "Even a bird that throws itself on a man should be helped and spared, and how much more Bobo, whose state is broken and family destroyed, coming to us for his life? If you cannot keep him, you should still let him go where he will. To seize and send him now is no deed of a good man." Toudoufu, fearing Wei's displeasure, would not listen, and Ali secretly sent strong men to take Bobo from the road and send him to Moyiyu, duke of Gaoping under Yao Xing, who gave him his daughter in marriage. The lineage and the marriage together show that when he entered history he still rested on the old Xiongnu Liu following in Shuofang and on the frontier command system of Yao's Qin.

According to the biography he was "eight feet five inches tall, with a waist ten spans round, quick and eloquent by nature and of fine appearance," and Yao Xing, seeing him, thought him remarkable, treated him with much courtesy, made him general of the galloping cavalry and commandant of the carriage, "often taking part in great deliberations of state and favoured beyond old servants." Yao Xing's brother Yao Yong said to him: "Bobo is by nature unkind and hard to bring near. Your favour to him is too great, and I am puzzled by it," and Yao Xing answered that "Bobo has the talent to save the age; I mean to use his skill and pacify the empire with him, and what harm is there in it?" — making him general of distant peace, marquis of Yangchuan, to help Moyiyu hold Gaoping, with thirty thousand of the mixed barbarians of Sancheng and Shuofang and of Liu Weichen's following assigned to him as scouts against Wei. Yao Yong remonstrated again, saying that Bobo "serves his superiors rudely, governs his troops cruelly, is greedy and violent without affection and light in changing allegiance, and if favoured beyond measure will in the end be a plague on the frontier," and Yao Xing desisted for a time. Presently he made Bobo commissioner with the staff, general pacifying the north and duke of Wuyuan, with more than twenty thousand tents of the five Xianbei divisions of Sanjiao and mixed barbarians, to hold Shuofang. When the Hexi Xianbei Du Lun presented eight thousand horses to Yao Xing and brought them across the Yellow River to Dacheng, Bobo detained the horses, gathered more than thirty thousand men pretending to hunt at Gaopingchuan, and attacked and killed his own father-in-law Moyiyu, taking over his troops, so that his following came to tens of thousands. In 407 he usurped the titles of heavenly king and great Shanyu, proclaimed an amnesty, took the era name Longsheng, appointed officials, and "since he held himself a descendant of the Xia sovereigns of the Xiongnu, called his state Great Xia," making his eldest brother Youdidai chancellor and his second brother Lishiti grand general and duke of Wei, Ali of Chigan censor-in-chief and duke of Liang, and the rest in due order.

His way of war shows his character and judgment best. When his generals urged him to hold a strongpoint and plant a root, he answered: "You know one thing and not the other. My enterprise is newly begun and my troops are few; Yao Xing is a hero of the age, and the Guanzhong cannot yet be attempted. Moreover his garrisons obey him; if I hold fast to one city they will surely combine against me, and my force is no match for theirs, and ruin would be at hand. But if I go like cloud and wind and strike where I am not expected, relieving their front while I attack their rear and relieving their rear while I attack their front, wearing them out with marches while I live off the country at ease, in less than ten years Lingbei and Hedong will all be mine. Wait until Yao Xing is dead, and then take Chang'an at leisure." So he raided Lingbei, so that "the gates of Lingbei were not opened by day," and Yao Xing lamented, "I did not use Huang'er's words, and have come to this." His quarrel with the Southern Liang began over a marriage: refused by Tufa Nutan, he rode against him with twenty thousand horse for more than three hundred li from Yangfei to Zhiyang, killing more than ten thousand and driving off twenty-seven thousand persons with hundreds of thousands of cattle, horses and sheep. Nutan pursued, his general Jiao Lang urging that they "form camp with the river at their back and hold the throat of the road," and his general Helian demanding a quick chase, until Nutan said: "My plan to pursue is settled; whoever remonstrates shall be beheaded." Bobo, delighted to hear it, cut the ice at the Yangwu defile and buried carts to block the road; Nutan's archers shot Bobo in the left arm, and Bobo, wheeling his host about, broke him utterly, chasing him more than eighty li, killing more than ten of his great generals and "making a mound of the dead, which he called the Skull Terrace." Afterwards he beat Zhang Fosheng at Qingshi plain, ambushed and destroyed Qi Nan's army and took Qi Nan himself at Mucheng with thirteen thousand of his officers and men and ten thousand horses, "and the Yi and Xia of Lingbei who came over numbered tens of thousands," whereupon he appointed governors and prefects to soothe them; and when Wang Xi of Chiqi fort, a man of fierce strength, wounded many of his men in close fighting, he dammed the water, so that the fort, in extremity, took Wang Xi and surrendered him. Bobo said to him, "You are a loyal minister; I am about to pacify the empire with you," and Wang Xi answered, "If I may receive the great grace of a speedy death, that will be the favour," and killed himself with several dozen of his intimates.

Major Activities

Founding the Great Xia State

In 407, the third year of Yixi, Helian Bobo rebelled against Later Qin, styled himself Heavenly King and Grand Chanyu, adopted the era name Longsheng, and named his state Great Xia because he claimed the Xiongnu were descendants of the Xia royal line. The state is generally known as Hu Xia or Helian Xia. He created a full set of offices: his elder brother Helian Youdi Dai became chancellor and Duke of Dai, his second elder brother Helian Lisiqi became grand general and Duke of Wei, and Chigan Ali became Censor-in-chief and Duke of Liang. The state relied heavily on mobile cavalry and expanded across the region north of the passes through highly flexible warfare.

Construction of Tongwancheng

In 413, the first year of Fengxiang, Helian Bobo ordered the construction of Tongwancheng between the Wuding and Heishui rivers, mobilizing one hundred thousand laborers. The city's walls were built of exceptionally hardened earth and were said to be hard enough to sharpen blades against. Its four gates were named Chaosong, Zhaowei, Fuliang, and Pingshuo, displaying his ambition to unify the realm. The ruins of Tongwancheng lie north of present-day Jingbian County, Shaanxi, where substantial wall remains survive.

Seizure of Guanzhong

In 417, the thirteenth year of Yixi, Liu Yu of Eastern Jin destroyed Later Qin. Helian Bobo predicted that Liu Yu would return south and prepared his cavalry. The next year, taking advantage of Jin infighting and Liu Yizhen's withdrawal, he moved south. Following Wang Maide's plan, he ordered Helian Gui to attack Chang'an, Helian Chang to block Tong Pass, and Wang Maide to cut the Qingni route. He ultimately captured Guanzhong and proclaimed himself emperor at Bashang. He did not transfer the capital to Chang'an, however, instead making the city the seat of a Southern Administration while returning to Tongwancheng.

Confrontation with Northern Wei

Helian Bobo's father Liu Weichen had been killed when Northern Wei destroyed the Tiefu, leaving Helian Bobo with a deep hostility toward Northern Wei. The choice of Tongwancheng as the capital reflected this concern. One reason he refused to move the capital to Chang'an was that Tongwan lay near the Northern Wei frontier and could serve as a base to check incursions from the north. Its northern gate, Pingshuo Gate, likewise expressed the ambition to “pacify the north.”

Wars with Later Qin and Southern Liang

After founding Great Xia, Helian Bobo fought Later Qin repeatedly and defeated Qin forces at Qingshiyuan, Mucheng, Qiqi Fort, Huangshi Stronghold, and Woluo City. He captured the Later Qin general Qi Nan, forced back Yao Xing's personal expedition, and seized the entire region north of the passes. In 407, after Tufa Rutan of Southern Liang rejected his marriage proposal, he invaded Southern Liang and decisively defeated its army at the lower gorge of Yangwu, killing many thousands and building the so-called “Skull Terrace” to display the victory.

Tongwan, the Change of Surname, and the Taking of the Throne in Guanzhong

His construction of a capital and of weapons is the most famous and most cruel page of the Sixteen States. In 413 he proclaimed an amnesty in his territory, took the era name Fengxiang, made Chigan Ali director of works, and "sent a hundred thousand Yi and Xia of Lingbei to build a capital north of the Shuofang river and south of the Black Water," saying, "I am about to unify the empire and rule the ten thousand states, and it may be named Tongwan, 'Ruling the Myriad.'" Ali, "most skilful by nature but cruel and violent," actually "built the walls of steamed earth, and if a awl could be pushed in an inch, the workman was killed and built into the wall," and Bobo thought him loyal and gave him the building of the capital. He also had the five kinds of weapons made, "of especial keenness," and when they were finished and presented, workmen were certain to die: "if an arrow would not pierce the armour, the bow-maker was beheaded; if it pierced, the armourer was beheaded." He had a hundredfold-forged sword made with a great dragon-and-sparrow ring, called the "Great Xia Dragon Sparrow," with an inscription on the back: "Of old the keen weapons were the Zhanlu of Wu and Chu. The dragon sparrow of Great Xia is first in name among the divine capital. It can soothe the distant and soften the fugitive. Like wind over grass it awes the nine regions." He also cast bronze drums and figures of feilian, wengzhong, bronze camels, dragons and beasts, all ornamented with gold, set in front of his palaces, "and in all he killed several thousand workmen, so that none of his vessels and implements was other than exquisite." The four gates of the capital were named Chaosome, Zhaowei, Fuling and Pingshuo; he honoured his great-grandfather Xun'er as emperor Yuan, his great-grandfather Liu Wu as emperor Jing, his grandfather Liu Baozi as emperor Xuan and his father Liu Weichen as emperor Huan with the temple name Taizu. In the same year he changed his surname by edict: on the ground that "for a son to bear his mother's surname is not in accordance with the rites," and that "the emperor is son to heaven, so that his glory is truly joined to heaven," he took the surname Helian, "and those who are not of the direct line shall all take the surname Tiefa," hoping that his clan's descendants would be "hard and keen as iron, all able to smite others," and made his wife Lady Liang queen and his son Helian Gui crown prince.

The taking of Guanzhong followed almost step by step the plan of Wang Maide. After Liu Yu destroyed the Later Qin and entered Chang'an he sent envoys with a letter to Bobo, asking for friendship and proposing to be brothers, and Bobo had Huangfu Hui, vice-minister of the secretariat, compose a reply which he secretly memorized, then called Liu Yu's envoy, dictated the letter to a secretary and sent it sealed; Liu Yu, reading it, thought him remarkable, and the envoy further said that Bobo was of a marvellous and imposing presence, heroic beyond other men, at which Liu Yu sighed: "I am not his equal." When Liu Yu left his son Liu Yizhen to hold Chang'an and went east, Bobo was delighted and asked Wang Maide for the plan of taking it, and Wang answered that Liu Yu's hurried return was "to accomplish his usurpation quickly, and he has no leisure to think of the Central Plain," and advised posting flying troops to cut the roads at Qingni and Shangluo, blocking Tong pass and the Xiao and Shan defiles, and then proclaiming to Chang'an and spreading kindness, so that "the elders of the three districts will come out with wine and food to welcome your army," and "Yizhen will sit alone in an empty city with nowhere to flee, and within ten days will come bound to your tent — what is called taking the city without bloodshed and settling it without battle." Bobo approved, sent Helian Gui as commander of the vanguard with twenty thousand horse against Chang'an and Helian Chang with troops at Tong pass. The commanderies of Guanzhong all surrendered, Helian Gui's night attack on Chang'an failed, and Bobo, occupying Xianyang, made "the roads by which Chang'an fetched firewood impassable"; Liu Yizhen plundered his way east, the people drove out Zhu Lingshi and welcomed Bobo into Chang'an, and Wang Maide took the Jin generals Fu Hongzhi, Kuai En and Mao Xiuzhi at Qingni, "piling the heads as a mound of achievement." Bobo feasted his officers and raising his cup said to Wang Maide: "Your words of other days have come true within one circuit of the year; you may be called a man who leaves nothing out of his reckoning." Afterwards his ministers urged him to take the throne, and he declined on the ground that "I have no talent to master disorder or to save the myriad people... how should the title of emperor be borne by one of my thin virtue?" and consented only when they insisted, building a terrace at Bashang and taking the imperial throne, changing the era to Changwu. When they then urged him to make Chang'an his capital he answered: "Do I not know that Chang'an is the old capital of successive emperors, with the security of mountains and rivers on four sides? But Jing and Wu are far off, and can never be a great trouble; Eastern Wei shares a border with me, and is barely a few hundred li from my northern capital, and if I made Chang'an my seat, the northern capital might not be held. While I am at Tongwan they never dare cross the river." So he set up a southern administration at Chang'an, with Helian Gui as grand general, governor of Yongzhou and keeper of the southern administration.

Personal Relations

• Father: Liu Weichen, leader of the Tiefu, killed during the Northern Wei conquest
• Mother: Lady Fu, described in the source as a woman of the Former Qin imperial house, according to one account
• Wives: a daughter of Moyigan, Duke of Gaoping under Later Qin; Empress Liang
• Sons: Helian Gui (crown prince), Helian Yan (Duke of Yangping), Helian Chang (later crown prince and emperor), Helian Lun (Duke of Jiuquan), Helian Ding (Duke of Pingyuan and later emperor), Helian Man (Duke of Henan), Helian An (Duke of Zhongshan), Helian Zhuxing, Helian Weiyidai, Helian Shegan (Duke of Shanggu), Helian Duluogu (Duke of Guangyang), Helian Wushiba (Duke of Danyang), and Helian Tugu (Duke of Wuling)
• Daughters: a Lady Helian who became empress of Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei; another Lady Helian, her sister, who became a consort of Emperor Taiwu
• Chigan Ali: Helian Bobo's rescuer; later Censor-in-chief and chief architect in charge of Tongwancheng
• Moyigan: Duke of Gaoping under Later Qin and Helian Bobo's father-in-law, later attacked and killed by Helian Bobo
• Yao Xing: ruler of Later Qin who initially favored Helian Bobo and later suffered heavily from his attacks
• Yao Yong: member of the Later Qin ruling house who early warned of Helian Bobo's ambitions
• Tufa Rutan: ruler of Southern Liang who rejected Helian Bobo's marriage proposal and was subsequently defeated by him
• Helian Youdi Dai: elder brother, appointed chancellor and Duke of Dai
• Helian Lisiqi: second elder brother, appointed grand general and Duke of Wei
• Wang Maide: strategist who proposed the plan for taking Guanzhong
• Huangfu Hui: civil official known for literary ability

Historical Assessment

Contemporary Assessments

• Yao Yong of Later Qin described Helian Bobo as arrogant toward superiors, cruel toward subordinates, greedy and violent, lacking in familial feeling, and likely to become a frontier disaster if excessively favored, as recorded in the Book of Jin, vol. 130.
• Yao Xing of Later Qin later lamented that he had failed to heed Yao Yong's warning, as recorded in the Book of Jin, vol. 130.
• Jiao Lang of Southern Liang said that Helian Bobo was naturally formidable and that his troops were disciplined, so he could not be treated lightly, as recorded in the Book of Jin, vol. 130.
• Liu Yu of Eastern Jin was said to have sighed, “I am not his equal,” after reading a reply from Helian Bobo, as recorded in the Book of Jin, vol. 130.

Tang Dynasty

• When Fang Xuanling and others compiled the Book of Jin, they included Helian Bobo in the hereditary-state narratives and described him as possessing exceptional strategic ability but being cruel and lacking in affection.
• The historical commentary in the Book of Jin condemned Helian Bobo's violence in exceptionally harsh moral language.
• Tang historians generally treated him as a ruler capable of founding a state but unable to sustain it because he governed through brutality rather than benevolence.

Song and Yuan Periods

• Sima Guang's Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance records many of Helian Bobo's brutal acts and presents him as a ruler able to establish dominance through force but lacking the humane qualities expected of a sovereign.
• Hu Sanxing's commentary on the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance similarly argued that he seized power through deception and force but could not preserve it through benevolence.
• Song and Yuan historians often grouped Helian Bobo with rulers such as Liu Cong and Shi Hu as examples of exceptionally violent rulers of the Sixteen Kingdoms era.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Wang Fuzhi's Commentary on Reading the Comprehensive Mirror argued that Helian Bobo's cruelty and cunning did not amount to grand strategic talent, but rather reflected a warlord exploiting disorder and indulging private violence.
• Gu Zuyu's Essentials of Historical Geography noted the exceptional strength of Tongwancheng's walls but argued that reliance on fortifications without humane government ultimately could not save the state from Northern Wei.
• Ming and Qing scholars commonly interpreted Helian Bobo through the moral framework that failure to practice benevolence transforms the strategic balance between offense and defense: despite strong troops and formidable terrain, his cruelty cost him popular support and his state did not last.

Modern and Contemporary Assessments

• Lü Simian, in his History of the Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, described Helian Bobo as cunning and fierce in warfare, skilled at exploiting openings, but also among the most brutal rulers of the Sixteen Kingdoms.
• Tian Yuqing's Aristocratic Politics of the Eastern Jin discusses Helian Bobo in the context of tensions between northern steppe societies and agrarian political structures during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.
• Modern scholarship generally acknowledges that although Helian Bobo is notorious for brutality, his military skill and strategic judgment cannot be ignored; his mobile warfare and the construction of Tongwancheng both demonstrate substantial governing and military capacity.