Characters and stories of the Two Jin Dynasties and The Southern and Northern Dynasties (62) - Yao Cang

Yao Cang (姚苌) (330 – 393 CE), a Qiang of Nan'an Chiting (present-day Western Longxi County, Gansu Province), was the founding emperor of the Later Qin Dynasty, the twenty-fourth son of Yao Yizhong, the Grand General of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Duke of Gaoling County, and the younger brother of Yao Xiang of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Yao Cang's ancestors were Qiang chieftains for generations, and his father Yao Yizhong, as a tribal leader, was successively attached to Former Zhao and Later Zhao after the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, and later surrendered to the Eastern Jin Dynasty after the fall of Later Zhao. In 352, Yao Yizhong died, and his fifth son Yao Xiang succeeded to the position of chief of the Western Qiang, Yao Xiang had accompanied Yin Hao in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but Yao Xiang, as a pioneer, was distrusted by Yin Hao and even wanted to kill him, so Yao Xiang rebelled against him, causing Yin Hao's Northern Expedition to fail. In 357 AD, Yao Xiang plotted to take Guanzhong, but was killed in battle with the Former Qin generals Huangmei and Deng Qiang, who originally wanted to kill Yao Cang, but was stopped by Jian Jian, who then surrendered to Former Qin. In the same year, Jian Jian launched a coup d'état to overthrow Emperor Zhisheng and made himself emperor of heaven, appointing Yao Cang as the general of Yangwu.

After Jian Jian succeeded to the throne, he sent Yao Cang to fight many times, and Yao Cang also lived up to the expectations of the people and made many achievements in battle. In 366, Yao Jian sent Yao Cang to attack Nanxiang Commandery in Jingzhou, and returned with a great victory; in 367 AD, Yao Cang accompanied Wang Meng in his crusade against the Qiang people who had rebelled in Luoyang County, because these Qiang people had previously been under the command of Yao Yizhong, and these people knew of Yao Cang's arrival and surrendered to Former Qin one after another, causing Former Qin to successfully take Luoyang; in 371 AD, Yao Cang and Qiu Ya rebelled against Yang Yun, the king of Qiuchi, and Yang Yun's army was defeated and surrendered; in 373, Yao Cang was appointed as the assassin of Ningzhou, and Tun troops were in Pad River (present-day Matjiang County, Chongqing); Yao Cang and the Wuwei general Gou Cang and others attacked Qianliang in a big way, and the former Liang state advocated the surrender of Tianqi, and Former Liang perished, and in 378 AD, Jian Jian sent Fu Pi and Yao Cang to attack Xiangyang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and after a bitter battle, captured Xiangyang and captured the Xiangyang defender Zhu Xu.

In 383, gongjian attacked Jin in a big way, intending to destroy the eastern Jin dynasty to unify the whole country, and Jian Jian appointed Yao Cang as the general of Long Jun, supervising the military forces of Yi and Liang Erzhou, and asking him to lead an army from Shu to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty, hoping that Yao Cang would establish a great cause with the general Long Jun, and as a result, Former Qin was defeated in the Battle of Shuishui, and the Former Qin Empire collapsed in an instant. In 384 CE, Murong Hong, the governor of the northern region, rebelled in the Guandong Region, and Murong Hong ordered Murong Hong to send troops to fight against him, and Yao Cang served as Sima (司馬), but Murong Hong did not listen to Yao Cang's advice, and the enemy pursued Murong Hong, who was defeated by Murong Hong, and Murong Hong was also killed. Yao Cang afterwards sent the commander Shi Zhao Du and jiang xie to apologize to Jian Jian, but the two were killed by the angry Jian Jian, and the frightened Yao Cang fled to Weibei, where more than 50,000 families surrendered to Yao Cang, and pushed Yao Cang as an ally to fight against Qin, so Yao Cang declared himself a great general, Da Dan Yu, and the King of Wannian Qin in 384 AD, establishing the Later Qin regime, and soon more than 100,000 Qiang hu foreign tribes in the surrounding counties and counties were annexed.

After Yao Cang established himself, the angry Jian Jian personally led an army to attack Yao Cang, but Yao Cang's army became stronger and stronger, and its strength developed rapidly. In 385, Murong Jian, who was increasingly helpless against Yao Cang, heard that Murong Chong's army of Western Yan was approaching Chang'an, so he had to lead his troops back to defend Chang'an. In that year, Western Qin attacked Chang'an, and Jian Jian only led a few hundred people to escape, and was finally captured by the generals sent by Yao Cang at WujiangShan, who imprisoned Jian Jian to obtain the jade seal of the country, and then repeatedly asked Chan to be refused, so he hanged Jian Jian at the Xinping Buddhist Temple (present-day Nanjingguang Temple, Bin County), and Yao Cang, in order to cover up his killing of Jian Jian, made him the king of the fierce heavens.

In 385, Murong Chong of Western Yan attacked Yao Cang, was defeated and surrendered by the Later Qin army, and in 386, when western Yan coups occurred and abandoned Chang'an, Yao Cang attacked LuShui Hu Haonu, who occupied Chang'an, causing Hao Nu to surrender in fear. After taking Chang'an, Yao Cang took the throne as emperor with the state name of Great Qin, and soon defeated former Qin Prefecture and captured Qin Prefecture. After Former Qin's death, Former Qin was elected by the Guanzhong Qiang forces to succeed him, and After taking the throne, Yao Deng attacked Hou Qin many times, and Yao Cang was repeatedly defeated because of his unpopular behavior, and Yao Deng defeated Yao Shuode at Jingyang (present-day Jingyang County, Shaanxi), and Yao Cang personally sent troops to rescue, and both sides could not defeat each other.

From 391 AD to 393 AD, Gong Deng attacked Yao Cang many times, but each time yao Cang's main force could not be found, and Yao Cang's half-way sneak attack made Yao Deng lose his troops every time and his morale was low. During the period, Yao Fangcheng (The Later Qin General Zhengnan) defeated Xu Song (Former Qin general), Xu Song, although captured, still scolded Yao Cang for betraying and killing Jian Jian, even if he was not as good as a dog, after Yao Fangcheng killed Xu Song, Yao Cang, in order to vent his anger, dug up Jian Jian's corpse and constantly whipped it, stripped off his body' clothes, wrapped it in thorns and buried it in a pit.

Shortly thereafter, Yao Chang returned to Chang'an with a serious illness, and in December 393, Yao Cang died at the age of sixty-four. After Yao Cang's death, his son Yao Xing succeeded him, eliminated Gongdeng, and unified Guanzhong, making Later Qin one of the most powerful regimes in the north at that time.

Throughout his life, Yao Cang was proficient in strategy, good at using troops, commanding combat wit and flexibility, often able to win with less and more surprises, but also paid great attention to attracting people's hearts and recruiting talents to serve them, so he finally achieved a career. He was also a general of Former Qin and won the trust of Former Qin Emperor Jian Jian, but after he betrayed Former Qin, he took revenge, brutally killed Jian Jian, and dug up his body to whip the corpse, leaving a reputation in history. Compared with Murong Chui, who also established the Later Yan state independently after the decline of Former Qin, Yao Cang lacked a mind and pattern, and was always a negative figure in history.