Biography
Family Background and Early Years
Murong Jun came from the Xianbei Murong clan. His grandfather Murong Hui was leader of the Murong and had been enfeoffed by Eastern Jin as Duke of Liaodong. Murong Hui was said to have remarked, “I have accumulated good fortune, virtue, and righteousness; my descendants should possess the Central Plains.” Murong Jun was born in 319, the second year of Taixing, at Dajicheng in Changli Commandery, and bore the Xianbei name Helaiba. When Murong Hui saw him, he said, “This child's bone structure is not ordinary; our family's enterprise will have a successor.”
As Murong Jun grew up, he reached eight chi and two cun in height, had an imposing build, read widely, and possessed both literary talent and military skill. He once led troops against the Duan Xianbei and returned after a major victory, demonstrating his military ability. In 341, the seventh year of Xiankang, Eastern Jin invested his father Murong Huang as Prince of Yan and at the same time appointed Murong Jun Acting Bearer of the Imperial Tally, General Who Pacifies the North, Colonel of the Eastern Yi, Left Worthy King, and Heir to the Prince of Yan, formally confirming his status as successor.
Succession and Ambitions for the Central Plains
In October 348, the ninth month of the fourth year of Yonghe, Murong Huang died and Murong Jun succeeded to the title Prince of Yan. He sent envoys to Jiankang to report the mourning to Eastern Jin, appointed his younger brother Murong You Left Worthy King, and made Left Chief Clerk Yang Wu Director of the Palace Secretariat. In the first month of the following year, 349, he began counting a new first year according to the precedent of the feudal states of the Spring and Autumn period and proclaimed a general amnesty within his territory.
That same year, Shi Hu, emperor of Later Zhao, died and his sons fought over the succession, throwing the state into disorder. Murong Jun planned to seize territory in the Central Plains. He appointed Murong Ke General Who Supports the State, Murong Ping General Who Supports the Throne, Yang Wu General Who Supports Righteousness, and Murong Chui Vanguard Commander and General Who Establishes the Vanguard. He selected more than 200,000 elite troops and waited for an opportunity. The Eastern Jin court also sent envoys to invest Murong Jun as Bearer of the Imperial Tally, Palace Attendant, Grand Commander, Commander of Military Affairs in Hebei, Governor of Youzhou, Jizhou, Bingzhou, and Pingzhou, General-in-Chief, Grand Chanyu, and Prince of Yan, authorizing him, following the precedents of Murong Hui and Murong Huang, to issue appointments in the name of the Jin court.
Southern Campaign and the Move to Ji
In 350, the sixth year of Yonghe, the Later Zhao general Ran Min proclaimed himself emperor at Ye under the state name Great Wei. Taking advantage of Later Zhao's internal turmoil, Murong Jun led three armies south. He personally commanded the central army from Lulong to Wuzhong. Wang Wu, Later Zhao's Inspector of Youzhou, abandoned the city and fled, leaving his subordinate Wang Ta to defend Ji. Murong Jun captured Ji, executed Wang Ta, and moved his capital there. He accepted Murong Chui's advice not to massacre the city's surrendered soldiers, which helped win the support of people from the Central Plains.
Murong Jun intended to attack Wang Wu at Lukou, but Wang Wu's general Lu Bozao launched a night raid. Although Murong Jun ultimately repelled the attack, the sharp edge of his army was blunted and he temporarily suspended operations and returned to Ji. He then relocated people from Guangning and Shanggu to Xuwu and people from Dai Commandery to Fancheng to prevent them from returning to Later Zhao. At the same time he advanced south into Jizhou and captured Zhangwu and Hejian commanderies.
Destruction of Ran Wei and Proclamation as Emperor
In 351, the seventh year of Yonghe, Shi Zhi, emperor of Later Zhao, was besieged by Ran Min at Xiangguo and appealed to Former Yan for aid, promising the imperial transmission seal in return. Murong Jun sent Yue Wan to relieve Xiangguo. Ran Min was defeated and the siege lifted, but Yue Wan did not obtain the seal. Murong Jun then killed Zhang Ju, the Later Zhao Grand Commandant who had come seeking aid that day.
In 352, the eighth year of Yonghe, Murong Jun sent Murong Ke against Ran Min. Ran Min fled toward Changshan, and Murong Ke caught him at the Pu River. Murong Ke judged that Ran Min's forces were exhausted and difficult to use effectively and that Ran Min, though brave, lacked strategy and was merely a formidable individual fighter. He divided his army into three mutually supporting formations. When battle began, Ran Min's troops attacked the central formation as expected, while Murong Ke struck from the flanks, inflicting a major defeat, killing more than seven thousand, capturing Ran Min alive, and sending him to Longcheng for execution.
After Ye was captured, Murong Jun falsely claimed that Ran Min's wife had presented the imperial transmission seal and granted her the title Lady Who Presented the Seal. In the eleventh month of the same year, he ascended the imperial throne, adopted the era name Yuanxi, and established a full central administration. Feng Yi became Defender-in-chief, Murong Ke Palace Attendant, Yang Wu Prefect of the Masters of Writing, and Huangfu Zhen Left Assistant Director of the Masters of Writing. He posthumously honored his grandfather Murong Hui as Gaozu, Emperor Wuxuan, and his father Murong Huang as Taizu, Emperor Wenming. When an Eastern Jin envoy arrived, Murong Jun told him, “Return and tell your Son of Heaven that, because the people lacked a ruler, I was raised up by those of the Central Plains and have already become emperor.”
Large-Scale Expansion
After proclaiming himself emperor, Murong Jun continued territorial expansion. In 353, the ninth year of Yonghe, he sent Murong Ke to attack Lü Hu, who held Lukou; Lü Hu surrendered the following year. Murong Ke was then ordered to hold the Luo River region and advance into territory south of the Yellow River. In 354, the tenth year of Yonghe, Murong Jun broadly enfeoffed imperial clansmen, naming Murong Ke Prince of Taiyuan, Murong Ping Prince of Shangyong, and Murong Chui Prince of Wu.
In 355, the eleventh year of Yonghe, Sun Hei, Eastern Jin Administrator of Lanling, Gao Zhu, Administrator of Jibei, Gao Weng, Administrator of Jianxing, as well as Wang Hui, Former Qin Administrator of Henei, and Han Gao, Administrator of Liyang, surrendered their commanderies to Former Yan. In the same year, Duan Kan, who held Guanggu while nominally submitting to Eastern Jin, wrote a letter criticizing Murong Jun's imperial claim. Murong Jun sent Murong Ke against him; Guanggu fell the following year, Duan Kan was captured, and Former Yan occupied Qingzhou.
In 357, the first year of Shengping, Murong Jun sent Murong Chui and others with 80,000 troops north of the frontier against the Dingling Chile. They inflicted a major defeat, captured or killed more than 100,000, and seized 130,000 horses and immense numbers of cattle and sheep. Helaitou, Chanyu of the Xiongnu, led his people in surrendering to Former Yan. In the eleventh month of the same year, Murong Jun moved the capital to Ye.
In 358, the second year of Shengping, Zhuge You, Eastern Jin Administrator of Taishan, attacked Dong Commandery but was defeated by Murong Ke and others. In 359, the third year of Shengping, Xie Wan, Eastern Jin General of the Western Household, and Xi Tan, General of the Northern Household, launched a northern expedition. Xi Tan withdrew because of illness and Xie Wan's poor command caused panic and collapse in the Jin army. Former Yan seized the opportunity to take Xuchang, Yingchuan, Qiao, and Pei commanderies. Former Yan now stood in a three-way balance with Eastern Jin and Former Qin and was the strongest of the three states.
Later Years and Death
In 358, the second year of Shengping, emboldened by repeated victories, Murong Jun planned to destroy Eastern Jin and Former Qin. He ordered prefectures and commanderies to verify the number of adult men and initially decreed that each household retain only one male, with all others conscripted, seeking to raise a national infantry force of 1.5 million. After Liu Gui remonstrated, he altered the policy to the “three-in-five military levy” and extended the deadline for assembly by one year.
In 359, the third year of Shengping, Murong Jun fell ill. He told his younger brother Murong Ke that Crown Prince Murong Wei might lack sufficient ability to govern and proposed following the precedent of Duke Xuan of Song by passing the throne to Murong Ke. Murong Ke firmly refused and swore to assist Murong Wei. On the jiawu day of the first month of the fourth year of Shengping, February 23, 360, Murong Jun died of illness shortly after reviewing troops at Ye, at the nominal age of forty-two. In his final instructions, he named Grand Marshal Murong Ke, Prince of Taiyuan; Minister over the Masses Murong Ping, Prince of Shangyong; Minister of Works Yang Wu; and General of the Guards Murong Yugen as regents. He received the posthumous title Emperor Jingzhao and temple name Liezu. In the third month of the first year of Jianxi, he was buried at Longling Mausoleum in Longcheng, present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning.
His Family, His Appearance, and His Establishment as Heir
Murong Jun, styled Xuanying and of the Xianbei name Heilai Ba, was born at Dajicheng in Changli commandery in 319. His grandfather Murong Hui, chief of the Murong tribe and enfeoffed by the Eastern Jin as duke of Liaodong, used to say that he had accumulated blessing and benevolence and that his descendants should possess the central plain; and when Murong Jun was born he said that the child's bones were not those of an ordinary man and that the family had found its heir. Grown up, Murong Jun was "eight feet two inches tall, of stately and mighty appearance, widely read in books, with civil and military capacity," and he had once led troops against the Duan Xianbei and returned in triumph, showing military talent; and the Jin History records that when Murong Huang became prince of Yan he was made commissioner with the staff of authority, general of the pacified north, colonel of the eastern barbarians, prince of the left worthies and heir apparent to the princedom of Yan — that is, in 341 the Eastern Jin enfeoffed Murong Huang as prince of Yan and at the same time made Murong Jun commissioner with the staff of authority, general of the pacified north, colonel of the eastern barbarians, prince of the left worthies and heir to the princedom, so establishing him as the successor.
His Succession, His Preparations, and the Southern Campaign to Ji
In 348 Murong Huang died, and Murong Jun took the princely title of Yan, "following the practice of the states of the Spring and Autumn in calling it the first year" and proclaiming an amnesty in his territory; and he sent envoys to Jiankang to announce the death while making his brother Murong You prince of the left worthies and the senior secretary Yang Wu master of the palace. At that time Shi Jilong (Shi Hu) was dead and Zhao and Wei were in disorder, and Murong Jun, meaning to annex territory, made Murong Ke general of the state's support, Murong Ping general of the state's aid, Yang Wu general of the state's righteousness and Murong Chui vanguard commander and general establishing the vanguard, "choosing more than two hundred thousand picked troops to await the moment"; and the Eastern Jin emperor sent the usher Chen Shen to make him commissioner with the staff of authority, attendant, grand commander, commander of the military affairs of Hebei, governor of the four provinces of You, Ji, Bing and Ping, general-in-chief, great chanyu and prince of Yan, with authority to appoint officers as in the cases of Murong Hui and Murong Huang. In 350 he marched south with three armies, "coming out from Lulong and halting at Wuzhong"; and Shi Hu's governor of Youzhou, Wang Wu, abandoned his city and fled, leaving his general Wang Ta to hold Ji, whereupon Murong Jun stormed the city, killed Wang Ta and made it his capital, and, taking Murong Chui's advice not to bury the garrison alive, won over the gentry and people of the central plain. He afterwards moved the people of Guangning and Shanggu to Xuwu and those of Dai commandery to Fancheng to prevent their going back to Later Zhao, and attacked Jizhou in the south, taking the two commanderies of Zhangwu and Hejian. He wished to attack Lukou, held by Wang Wu, but was raided by night by his general Lu Bozao, and though he drove him off in the end his army's edge was blunted, so that he suspended operations and returned to Ji.
The Envoy Chang Wei's Answers and Murong Ke's Conquests
Alongside the fighting there took place a debate between envoys. After Ran Min killed Shi Zhi and usurped the imperial title he sent his envoy Chang Wei on a mission to Murong Jun, who brought him to the tower and had his secretary Feng Yu ask what auspices Ran Min, "a fosterling of ordinary talent who has been ungrateful and usurped," could have to justify taking the imperial title; and Chang Wei answered that heaven's way of raising a man differs in each case, "the wolf and crow being recorded for the three kings and the unicorn and dragon shown in Han and Wei," that the use of arms and the cutting off of the wicked is the great statute of wise kings, that Tang and Wu themselves did the killing and Confucius praised them, and that the Wei founder, raised among eunuchs and of unknown origin with a following of less than a brigade, yet achieved a great work; that amidst the cruelty of the savage Hu, who butchered the people, his own lord "drew his sword and destroyed them, so that the common folk were saved, and his merit reached heaven and equalled the high founder." Feng Yu then asked whether the claim that the seal was at Xiangguo, made by the envoy Zhang Ju the year before, was credible, and about Ran Min's casting of a golden image of himself that broke and could not be finished; and Chang Wei answered that on the day the Hu were destroyed almost nothing was left at Ye, so how could the seal have gone to Xiangguo, which was a mere plea for help, and that "the divine seal of heaven is in fact with my lord." Murong Jun, firmly believing Zhang Ju's words and delighted at the failure of Ran Min's casting, insisted on finding out the truth, and had firewood piled and kindled beside Chang Wei and ordered Feng Yu and the others to hint at him; but Chang Wei, unmoved, said aloud that since he came of age he had never deceived even a common man, much less a lord of a thousand chariots, and that to use cunning and empty words to save the dying was what an envoy would not do, so that to be killed for plain speaking was a death he had chosen for himself, and that to add fuel and quicken the fire would be the lord's great kindness. His attendants urged Murong Jun to kill him, and Murong Jun said that in ancient times when armies met, envoys went between them, which was the ordinary business of a subject, and released him. In this period he sent Murong Ke to take ground at Zhongshan and Murong Ping against Wang Wu at Lukou: Murong Ke halted at Tangcheng, where Ran Min's general Bai Tong and the governor of Zhongshan, Hou Kan, held out, so that he left his general Murong Biao to besiege them and went on against Changshan; Murong Ping halted at Nan'an and Wang Wu sent his general Zheng Sheng against him, whom Murong Ping met and killed, whereupon Hou Kan came over the wall and surrendered; and Murong Ke took Zhongshan and killed Bai Tong, while "Jun's orders were strict and clear and his generals did nothing unlawful." Ran Min's Zhangwu governor Jia Jian led the commandery troops against Murong Ping at Gaocheng and was taken in the field, with more than three thousand heads cut off.
The Destruction of Ran Wei, His Imperial Title, and His Institutions
In 352 Murong Jun sent Murong Ke against Ran Min, who judged Ran Min's army to be "long in the field and its soldiers worn out, so that it can hardly be used, and its commander brave but without strategy, a match for one man only," and therefore divided his force into three parts to stand like the horns of a tripod, judging that Ran Min would fling his whole strength at the centre, so that they should put on heavy armour and strengthen the ranks and wait, the other generals being told to keep the troops in order and, when the enemy engaged the centre, to strike from the flanks. When the fighting began Ran Min did indeed strike the centre, and Murong Ke attacked from the flank, broke his army heavily, killed more than seven thousand and took Ran Min alive, sending him to Longcheng to be beheaded; and Murong Ping then took Ye and captured the heir apparent Ran Zhi and others, so that Ran Wei came to an end. After Ye was taken Murong Jun falsely claimed that Ran Min's wife had presented the seal of state, gave her the title "lady who presented the seal," and in the eleventh month of the same year took the imperial throne, changing the era to Yuanxi and establishing the hundred offices: Feng Yi as grand commandant, Murong Ke as attendant, Yang Wu as president of the Secretariat and Huangfu Zhen as president of the left of the Secretariat; and he posthumously honoured his grandfather Murong Hui as emperor Wuxuan, "Gaozu," and his father Murong Huang as emperor Wenming, "Taizu." When an Eastern Jin envoy came to Yan, Murong Jun told him to go back and tell his Son of Heaven that he had taken on the hardships of the people, been raised by the men of the central plain, and was now emperor. In institutions he "changed Sizhou into Zhongzhou and set up a colonel of the capital"; he adopted the calendar of the Xia and the caps of the Zhou and made black the colour of his banners; and in letters he loved the classics, "holding discussions without cease since his accession, and beyond the business of government spending his time with his attendants on the meaning of the texts, leaving more than forty pieces of writing," and he set up a primary school at Xianxian lane for the sons of the noble houses. He also discussed with the commandant of justice Chang Wei the old rule that a man whose grandfather was unburied might not hold office at court, Chang Wei arguing that though Great Yan had made a revolution the selections at court mostly followed Wei and Jin, and that this one rule should be changed since the rites value the season, and since amid the years of disorder "orphaned grandsons and solitary sons are nine households in ten," so that men of talent "hold their gems without being able to offer them and harbour their ability without being counted, which is truly painful," and citing the edict of the wu-chen year that "the filth be washed away and the empire begin anew"; and Murong Jun said that Chang Wei was an old and eminent scholar versed in law, that what he set out was worth adopting, and accordingly abolished the rule pending a later general discussion.
His Expansion, the Suppression of Zhang Ping, and the Conscription Debate
After taking the imperial title Murong Jun continued to expand: in 353 he sent Murong Ke against Lü Hu of Lukou, who surrendered the next year; and he then had Murong Ke hold the Luo river and advance into the country south of the Yellow river. In 354 he enfeoffed the imperial kinsmen as princes, making Murong Ke prince of Taiyuan, Murong Ping prince of Shangyong and Murong Chui prince of Wu. In 355 the Eastern Jin governors of Lanling, Sun Hei, of Jibei, Gao Zhu, and of Jianxing, Gao Weng, with the Former Qin governors of Henei, Wang Hui, and of Liyang, Han Gao, all surrendered their commanderies. In the same year Duan Kan, who held Guanggu and called himself a vassal of Eastern Jin, wrote to criticize Murong Jun's assumption of the imperial title, and Murong Jun sent Murong Ke against him, taking Guanggu the next year, capturing Duan Kan and occupying Qingzhou. In 357 he sent Murong Chui with eighty thousand men north against the Dingling and Chile, breaking them heavily, killing and taking more than a hundred thousand and seizing a hundred and thirty thousand horses with countless cattle and sheep, and the Xiongnu chanyu Heilaitou brought his people over; and in the eleventh month of the same year he moved the capital to Ye. In 358 the Eastern Jin governor of Taishan, Zhuge You, attacked Dongjun and was beaten by Murong Ke; and in 359, when the Jin generals Xie Wan and Xi Tan marched north, the army broke up in panic because Xi Tan withdrew on grounds of illness and Xie Wan mishandled the command, and Yan took the occasion to seize the commanderies of Xuchang, Yingchuan, Qiao and Pei. At this time Yan stood with Eastern Jin and Former Qin as three legs of a tripod and was the strongest of the three. As to the independent forces within his territory, Shi Hu's former generals Li Li, Zhang Ping and Gao Chang had first professed vassalage to Murong Jun and sent their sons to court, and afterwards turned to Jiankang and joined Fu Jian, receiving titles and holding themselves by a slack rein, "sending tribute without ceasing but never wholly sincere"; and Zhang Ping held the country of Xinxing, Yanmen, Xihe, Taiyuan, Shangdang and Shangjun with more than three hundred ramparts and a hundred thousand households of Hu and Chinese, "appointing generals of the expeditionary and garrison commands, so as to form a tripod." Murong Jun sent his minister Murong Ping against Zhang Ping, the army commander Muyu Gen against Feng Yang, the minister of works Yang Wu against Gao Chang and the general of the pacifying army Murong Zang against Li Li: more than a hundred ramparts of Bingzhou surrendered, and he made the president of the right of the Secretariat, Yue Wan, general of the pacified west and protector of the Xiongnu with the governorship of Bingzhou to comfort them; and Zhang Ping's generals Zhuge Xiang, Su Xiang, Qiao Shu and Shi Xian brought a hundred and thirty-eight ramparts over, at which Murong Jun was delighted and restored all their ranks; and presently Zhang Ping fled with three thousand men to Pingyang, Feng Yang to Yewang, Li Li to Xingyang and Gao Chang to Shaoling, and all their followers surrendered. In 358, flushed with his victories, he planned to destroy Eastern Jin and Former Qin, and ordered the commanderies to check the adult males and their registers, keeping one adult in each household and conscripting the rest, so that his foot soldiers should reach a million and a half, to assemble the next year and advance on Luoyang. Liu Gui of Wuyi memorialized strongly against it, setting out the exhaustion of the people, the illegality of the levy and the fear that they could not bear it and that the state would crumble, with thirteen matters of current policy; and Murong Jun, pleased with the memorial, referred it to the ministers, adopted much of it, changed to taking three men in five, extended the period of preparation by a year and ordered the assembly at Ye in the last month of winter. At that time, with the great army gathered at Ye, robbers swarmed in Yan, plundering travellers every day so that the roads were cut; and Murong Jun accordingly lightened the ordinary taxes, issued new prohibitions at Ye, and offered the robbers a bargain that whoever was first to inform on the others should be made a chariot escort commandant. He soon arrested and killed the robber chief Mugu He with more than a hundred of his associates, and the robberies at Ye gradually ceased.
His Last Illness and Death
In 359 Murong Jun fell ill and told Murong Ke that his illness was sinking and he feared he would not recover, that length of life was fated and he had no complaint, but that with the two enemies undestroyed and Jingmao (the heir apparent Murong Wei) young and perhaps unable to bear many troubles, he wished to follow the example of Duke Xuan of Song and entrust the altars of state to him. Murong Ke answered that though the heir apparent was young, heaven had made him wise, and he would surely overcome cruelty and put punishments aside, so that the legitimate succession must not be disturbed; and Murong Jun in anger said that between brothers there was no room for empty courtesy, and Murong Ke answered that if the emperor thought him fit to bear the burden of the empire, could he not support the young lord; and Murong Jun said that if he would do the work of the duke of Zhou he had nothing to fear, and that Li Ji was upright and loyal and fit for great matters, whom he should treat well. He had once feasted his ministers at Puchi and, speaking of the heir apparent of Zhou, wept and said that men of talent were hard to find and that since the death of Jingxian his own hair had partly whitened, asking what they thought of the late heir apparent Murong Ye; and the senior secretary of the left of the Secretariat, Li Ji, listed eight virtues of the late heir — filial piety, intelligence, firmness, hatred of flattery and love of plain speaking, love of learning, many accomplishments, humility and love of giving — and added that the heir apparent then in attendance, Murong Wei, "has the name of the eight virtues but has not made up two defects, being fond of hunting and of music, which is what injures him"; and Murong Jun, turning to him, said that Li Ji's words were medicine and that he should take them to heart, at which Murong Wei was greatly displeased. It is also recorded that he dreamed of Shi Hu biting his arm and so opened Shi Hu's tomb, offering a hundred pieces of gold for the corpse, which a woman of Ye named Li Tu told him was to be found beneath the Dongming tower, stiff but not decaying; and Murong Jun trampled it and cursed the dead barbarian for daring to frighten a living Son of Heaven, recounted his crimes and whipped the body and threw it into the Zhang river, where it leaned against a bridge pillar and would not float away — until, when Qin destroyed Yan, Wang Meng had Li Tu executed and the body buried. There is also a record of a fine horse: Murong Hui had had a steed called Zhe Bai of strange looks and great speed, and when Shi Hu attacked Jicheng and Murong Huang would have fled, meaning to ride it, the horse neighed and bit so that no one could approach it, and Murong Huang said that it had been renowned in earlier reigns and that he had often relied on it, and that its refusal must be the wish of his late father, and so stayed; and when Shi Hu presently withdrew he thought the more of the horse. By this time it was forty-nine years old and its speed was undiminished, and Murong Jun likened it to the horse of the Bao family, had its image cast in bronze with a eulogy of his own beside it, and set it up at the eastern side gate of Ji; and in that year the image was finished and the horse died. On the jia-wu day of the first month of 360, shortly after reviewing his troops at Ye, Murong Jun died in his forty-second year, leaving as guardians the grand marshal Murong Ke, prince of Taiyuan, the minister of education Murong Ping, prince of Shangyong, the minister of works Yang Wu and the army commander Muyu Gen, with the posthumous name emperor Jingzhao and the temple name Liezu, and was buried in the third month of the first year of Jianxi at Longling near Longcheng.