Background Shi Le was a
Jie chieftain from
Shangdang Commandery in
Bing province. The Jie was one of the miscellaneous
hu (胡; "barbarian") tribes; these tribes did not fall under the umbrella of the major ethnic groups like the
Xiongnu or
Xianbei. In 303, when a great famine broke out in Bing that displaced many of the Jie and other
hu tribes in the region, the provincial inspector,
Sima Teng, had these people captured and sold into slavery to fund his army. The Jie and
hu people were scattered throughout
Hebei and
Shandong, including Shi Le who was sold to a wealthy family in Shandong but soon attained his freedom. By 305, Shi Le had made a name for himself by becoming a bandit, and raised a personal army with his friend,
Ji Sang. Taking advantage of growing resentment against the Jin government, the two joined the rebel general
Gongshi Fan to avenge the Prince of Chengdu,
Sima Ying and later took leadership after Fan's death, going as far as to sacking the city of
Ye in 307. After their defeat, Shi Le led his forces to join the
Xiongnu-led Han state in Bing province. Under Han, Shi Le quickly rose through the ranks, attracting many Jie and
hu tribes in Hebei to his cause. Like many rebel generals who joined the state, he had full control over his army as the Han court had little actual power to assert their authority. With his peers, he raided the
North China Plain, plundering the local counties and commanderies although never capturing them and staying there for long. In 311, he massacred the 100,000 strong Jin imperial army in the
Battle of Ningping, allowing Han forces to capture
Luoyang in the
Disaster of Yongjia. Shortly after, Shi Le assassinated his rival peer,
Wang Mi, and absorbed his army. The Han court, fearing that he would rebel, could only reprimand and appease him. With Wang Mi's death, Shi Le essentially controlled the eastern parts of the empire, with the exception of Shandong. In 312, Shi Le departed from his practice of leading a roving army to cultivate a base in Xiangguo. He also expanded his territory by defeating the Jin governors,
Wang Jun and
Liu Kun. In 318, he joined forces with the prince,
Liu Yao, in quelling the coup of
Jin Zhun, who massacred the emperor and imperial family in
Pingyang.
Reign of Shi Le During the campaign, Liu Yao was instated as emperor, so Shi Le sent an envoy to congratulate him. However, Liu Yao, believing that Shi Le's rebellion was already in motion, had the envoy killed instead. Shi Le promptly declared independence as Liu Yao moved the capital to his base in
Chang’an, splitting the empire into two. In 319, Shi Le proclaimed himself the King of Zhao, a title he was supposed to receive before his envoy was killed. Prior to that, Liu Yao had also renamed the state from Han to Zhao. To distinguish the two states, historiographers refer to Liu Yao's state as
Former Zhao and Shi Le's state as Later Zhao. In his early reign, Shi Le expanded eastwards while Liu Yao dealt with matters in the west. By 323, he defeated
Duan Pidi, one of the last remaining Jin powers in the north and conquered Shandong from the warlord,
Cao Ni. War between the two Zhaos only broke out in 324, and in 328, Shi Le and Liu Yao led their armies to face each other in the pivotal
Battle of Luoyang. Liu Yao was captured during the battle and later executed, while the remaining Former Zhao forces was destroyed in 329. Thus, the Later Zhao became the hegemonic power in northern China, though some areas were still out of their control; the
Former Liang,
Dai and
Duan-Liaoxi states partially retained their independence through vassalage, while the
Xianbei Murong tribe in
Liaodong remained loyal to the
Eastern Jin dynasty. To consolidate his rule, Shi Le enacted several policies with the help of Han Chinese ministers such as
Zhang Bin. Among others, he re-introduced the
Nine Ranks System, promoted agriculture and emphasized education. He also continued the separate governance system between the Han Chinese and non-Chinese people from the
Han-Zhao dynasty. He adopted the Grand Chanyu title, tasked with managing the tribes, while also introducing new offices that specifically dealt with litigations and population movements of the tribes. He banned the word “
hu”, opting to use “
guoren” (國人; countryman) instead, and forbid the tribes from oppressing the Han Chinese scholar-officials. Various ethnic group from conquered places were relocated to live around his capital, as to better control them and restore agricultural output in the north.
Buddhism was also given a platform to grow as the
Kuchean monk,
Fotu Cheng, held a high-ranking position within Shi Le's court. Shi Le and his family had a practice of adopting people into their clan, the earliest example being
Shi Hu, a distant cousin who was adopted by Shi Le's father during their tribal years. He continued this practice after taking the throne, and his adopted relatives, especially Shi Hu, became important princes and military commanders. Near the end of his reign, Shi Le prepared his biological son,
Shi Hong to take the throne in accordance with the Chinese rule of succession and handpicked his circle of retainers. However, Shi Hu, citing his vast contributions to the state's founding, was angered by Shi Le's decision as he saw himself having more claim to the throne.
Reign of Shi Hu statue created under the Later Zhao in 338. It is the earliest known Buddha sculpture produced in China. In 333, Shi Le died and was succeeded by Shi Hong. Almost immediately, Shi Hu launched a coup and took over the government, facing very little resistance from most of the Zhao gentry and military. Shi Le's family and allies were swiftly wiped out by Shi Hu. In 334, he took the throne by forcing Shi Hong to abdicate before also having him executed. When he first ascended, Shi Hu took the title of Regnant Heavenly King and later elevated to Heavenly King in 337. He also moved the capital from Xiangguo to his base at
Ye in 335. Records describe Shi Hu as a violent tyrant who spent his time indulging in women and alcohol. He took on several grand building projects in Ye and greatly expanded his harem at the expense of the Chinese commoners, forcing them into corvee and often seizing their women to serve in his court. At the same time, he showed exceptional leniency towards his chief ministers and generals, rarely punishing them and thereby winning their loyalty. He carried on Shi Le's policy of relocating people to live around the capital, most prominently the
Di and
Qiang people of the
Guanzhong plains, who formed a significant part of his armed forces at Fangtou (枋頭, in modern
Hebi,
Henan) and Shetou (灄頭; in modern
Zaoqiang County,
Hebei) respectively. Shi Hu also continued to show reverence to Fotu Cheng in his court, which allowed Buddhism to grow in northern China. In 335, Shi Hu considered banning commoners from practicing the religion, as he believed that many of them had joined Buddhist
monasteries simply to avoid his military drafts and corvee labour. However, after a minister proposed that the religion should be banned altogether, Shi Hu changed his mind, stating that he and the
Buddha were foreigners, both worthy of the same respect. From then on, Shi Hu granted his subjects, Chinese and non-Chinese, the freedom to practice all religions. Under the Fotu Cheng, more than 800 monasteries were established in the Later Zhao, and his disciples such as
Dao'an,
Zhu Faya and
Zhu Fatai later spread his teachings to the Eastern Jin. Shi Hu had ambitions to expand the state and heavily conscripted his subjects, but his campaigns yielded minimal success. In 338, he carried out a joint campaign with the Murong-led
Former Yan to conquer the
Duan tribe in Liaoxi. After the campaign, he turned on Yan but was defeated in the
Battle of Jicheng. In 339, provoked by Eastern Jin movements along the border, he sent his generals to launch an early attack, capturing a few cities before withdrawing. In 346, he invaded the
Former Liang but was repelled, although his forces managed to capture Liang's territory south of the
Yellow River. His reign was also troubled by succession crises that would lead to the empire's downfall. His first crown prince, Shi Sui (石邃), was cruel and was said to have indulged in cannibalism. As he began to lose favour from his father, he attempted to directly seize the throne by killing Shi Hu but failed, leading to the massacre of his family and partisans. The second crown prince, Shi Xuan (石宣), was the eldest through another wife, but he too was not liked by Shi Hu, who favoured his younger brother. In 349, Shi Xuan murdered his younger brother and tried to kill his father as well. When his plot was discovered, Shi Hu had him, his family and followers all executed in brutal fashion. Fearing another coup, he appointed the 10 year old
Shi Shi as his last crown prince and entrusted him to a regent and empress dowager, a decision that displeased many of his princes and generals.
Ran Min disturbance and fall during the Later Zhao with the inscription, "Long live the Great Zhao" (大趙萬歲). Shi Hu died not long after, and Shi Shi was immediately challenged upon his ascension. His half-brother,
Shi Zun conspired with the generals to depose him, and among these generals was Shi Hu's adopted Han Chinese grandson,
Shi Min. Shi Min was a powerful commander and a favourite grandson of Shi Hu, who had adopted his father Shi Zhan, originally named
Ran Zhan. To convince him into joining the plot, Shi Zun offered Shi Min the position of Crown Prince, which he accepted. Just a month into his reign, Shi Zun's forces overthrew Shi Shi at Ye. However, after ascending the throne, Shi Zun reneged on his promise and appointed another nephew as the Crown Prince. Shi Zun even planned to assassinate Shi Min, but when the plan leaked, Shi Min led his troops to depose him. He installed Shi Zun's half-brother,
Shi Jian to the throne, but real power in Ye was held by himself and his ally,
Li Nong. In the old capital, Xiangguo, another son of Shi Hu,
Shi Zhi, began rallying a coalition to fight Shi Min. While controlling Shi Jian, Shi Min survived three attempts on his life, which made him deeply wary of his followers. Seeing that the Jie and other tribespeople in Ye refused to submit, he decreed an infamous culling order, calling on his Han Chinese subjects to kill any
hu person they find. Shi Min personally led his army to massacre the tribes in Ye, while also ordering his generals to purge their armies of tribespeople. The Jie and
hu were identified by their high noses and full beards, but many of the people killed were also mistakenly-identified Han Chinese. In total, around 200,000 people were killed. Shi Min killed Shi Jian and declared himself Emperor of
Wei in 350, changing his name to
Ran Min. In response, Shi Zhi proclaimed himself the new Emperor of Zhao. At this point, the Later Zhao was on the verge of collapse. The Di general at Fangtou,
Fu Hong led his forces west to occupy the Guanzhong, where his son
Fu Jiàn founded the
Former Qin dynasty in 351. The Xianbei general,
Duan Kan, also founded his short-lived state of
Duan Qi in Shandong. From the northeast, the Former Yan began an invasion to establish themselves on the
Central Plains, while the Eastern Jin launched a series of northern expeditions to reclaim lost territory from the south. For most of his reign, Shi Zhi was
besieged at Xiangguo by Ran Min's army. He was forced to make an alliance with the Former Yan and demoted his own title to King of Zhao. Despite eventually lifting the siege, he and his family were soon betrayed and slaughtered by his general,
Liu Xian in 351. The last member of the Shi clan,
Shi Kun fled to the Eastern Jin at
Jiankang, where he was put to death. == Cultural influences ==