Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Liu Yuan
Xiongnu ruler who founded Han-Zhao and opened the Sixteen Kingdoms era
Mural of the event “Wu Hu Disturbance”, which this person took part in.
After the War of the Eight Princes wholly drained the vitality of the Central Plains, frontier nomadic peoples seized the void. The five major peoples Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Di, and Qiang moved south together to topple the already decaying Han central regime.
Also known as Emperor Guangwen of Han-Zhao · Liu Yuanhai
Liu Yuan, courtesy name Yuanhai, was a Tuge man of the southern Xiongnu whose family came from Xinxing commandery. In 304 he rose in Bingzhou and made himself Prince of Han, a date often taken as the start of the Sixteen Kingdoms. In 308 he took the title of emperor of a state named Han, known to history as Han-Zhao. The capital was first Puzi and moved to Pingyang in 309. He died in 310 with the posthumous title Emperor Guangwen and the temple name Gaozu, and Liu He succeeded him. The source is the Book of Jin.
Life and times
Dates c. 251 CE–310 CE
- 304Wu Hu DisturbanceTook part
- c. 304Liu Yuan Declares Chanyu at Lishi