Liu Yuan

Liu Yuan (劉淵) (died 19 August 310), courtesy name Yuanhai (元海), formally Emperor Guangwen of Han (Zhao) (漢(趙)光文帝) was the founding emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han-Zhao dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of China. Due to Tang dynasty naming taboo, he is referred to as Liu Yuanhai (劉元海) in the Book of Jin. Liu Yuan was a sinicized Xiongnu noble who served as a military general under the Western Jin dynasty, but amidst the War of the Eight Princes that weakened the state, he was acclaimed the leader of a Xiongnu rebellion in Bingzhou. In 304, he established his own state on the basis of restoring the Han dynasty, which he claimed descent through his ancestor, Modu Chanyu who married a Han princess. The formation of Han-Zhao, along with Cheng-Han in southwestern China, is seen as the start of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Despite having minimal success during his reign, Liu Yuan’s family and generals would eventually drive the Jin dynasty out of northern China after his death. Family background Liu Yuan was a member of Xiongnu nobility, as a descendant of the first great chanyu in Xiongnu history, Modu Chanyu, who, along with their people, had long been loyal vassals to the Han Dynasty and to its successor states Cao Wei and Jin. In late Wei or early Jin times, the Xiongnu nobles claimed that they descended from the Han Dynasty's ruling Liu clan also — through a princess who had married Modu Chanyu - and therefore changed their family name to Liu. Liu Yuan's father, Liu Bao, was a son of one of the last Southern Xiongnu chanyus, Yufuluo, and the nephew of the very last Southern Xiongnu chanyu Luanti Huchuquan (before Cao Cao abolished the office in 216 and divided the Xiongnu into five tribes (bu, 部)); Liu Bao had the command of the Left Tribe (左部). Liu Yuan's mother Lady Huyan (呼延) appeared to be from a noble family, and was in probability Liu Bao's wife, not concubine. As all five tribes settled down in Bingzhou (modern southern Shanxi), that was likely where Liu Yuan was born and raised. As Jin subject As powerful Xiongnu nobles were usually encouraged or pressured by Cao Wei and Jin authorities to send their sons to the capital Luoyang (both to encourage them to further sinicization and as collateral for their loyalty), Liu Yuan was sent to Luoyang to reside and to study traditional Chinese literature.