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The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

Comrade | Guevara

In the classic martial arts novel "Tianlong Babu" created by Mr. Jin Yong, Murong Fu, who is equally famous with Qiao Feng, has the unswerving dream of restoring the Great Yan Kingdom that has fallen hundreds of years ago. To this end, he did not hesitate to give up his children's love, did not hesitate to abandon the old and new knowledge, ignored the rules of the rivers and lakes and the great righteousness of the country, and did bad things. Unfortunately, the organs were still empty, and Murong Fu not only ended up in the great cause of restoring the country, but he also fell into rebellion and madness, which made people feel infinitely emotional.

The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

Murong Fu stills

In fact, Murong Fu did have his own people in history, but his time and deeds had nothing to do with Murong Fu in the novel, and although he was also a member of the Murong family, he did not have the slightest obligation or interest in reviving the Great Yan Kingdom. Because, the real identity of Murong Fu in history is the fallen monarch of Tuguhun (yin tongyu), if there is a dream of reviving the homeland, it is also just to revitalize Tuguhun's majesty. So, what kind of country is Tuguhun? What is its relationship with the Great Yan Kingdom? How did it end up?

A Tuguhun state was founded

In the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, under the leadership of the chief murong Shigui, the Xianbei tribe of Murong Began to dominate Liaodong, and Murong Fu's ancestor Murong Tuguhun was Murong Shugui's eldest son. However, although Murong Tuguhun was the eldest son, his talent and appearance were inferior to those of his half-brother Murong Shu (pronounced Tongwei), so Murong Shugui chose Murong Xi as his son out of favoritism and the future of his family. Murong Xi did not fail to live up to his father's expectations, and eventually became the founder of the Former Yan Empire, bringing great glory to the Murong family.

The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

Statue of Murong Tuguhun

While choosing Murong Xi as his successor, Murong Shigui, perhaps out of a sense of compensation, set aside 1,700 herdsmen from the tribe and gave it to Murong Tuguhun to form another small tribe. However, after Murong Xi ascended the throne, he was provoked and became increasingly disgusted with his brother, and eventually on the grounds that there was a mutual bite between the two herders, he severely reprimanded Murong Tuguhun and openly demanded that he get out of Liaodong. Murong Tuguhun was indignant, and indeed led his people to leave, and before leaving, he made a solemn vow that he would definitely move thousands of miles away and never see his brother again in this life.

After Murong Tuguhun led his people out of Liaodong, they migrated westward, and after more than 30 years of arduous trekking, they reached the southwestern part of present-day Gansu Province around 313. After that, Tuguhun used The Han Dynasty (present-day Linxia County, Gansu Province) as its base, constantly annexed the surrounding Qiang tribes, and gradually developed into a powerful tribe. In 317, Murong Tuguhun died of illness, and the eldest son Murong Tuyan became the new chieftain, and when his son Murong Yeyan ruled (329-351), he finally developed the tribe into a state, and used his grandfather's name as the name of the clan and the name of the country.

The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

Schematic diagram of Tuguhun's westward migration

During the period when Murong Tuguhun was moving westward, Murong Yu rapidly expanded Murong's influence in Liaodong by constantly encroaching on surrounding tribes and Jin territory, and finally laid a solid foundation for his son Murong Hao to establish Former Yan in 333. Former Yan once occupied the entire north of China for 33 years, and was eventually destroyed by Former Qin. After Former Qin fell apart due to the Battle of Shuishui, the Former Yan imperial family successively established three regimes of Later Yan, Western Yan, and Southern Yan, and these four regimes with "Yan" as the national name were the Great Yan Kingdoms that Murong Fu was committed to reviving in the novel.

2. Dominate the northwest

When Tuguhun was founded, during the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the remnants of the Jin Dynasty fled to Jiangnan, while the north fell into repeated disputes between the Han and the Wuhu, and established 16 regimes, but Tuguhun was not among them. The reason for this is largely due to the fact that Tugu is located in the western region, and there is neither strength nor willingness to chase the Central Plains, so its influence is far less than that of the 16 countries. In fact, Tuguhun's encounter was not unique, and the regimes that existed at the same time, such as Dai, Western Yan, Zhai Wei, and Qiu Chi, also did not enter the ranks of the Sixteen Kingdoms.

The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

Tuguhun was at his peak in confrontation with other regimes

Although Tuguhun did not chase after the Central Plains, he did not accept the status quo, and in order to survive and develop, he continued to encroach on the surrounding tribes and expand his territory. After the hard work of more than a dozen monarchs, by the early years of the Sui Dynasty, Tuguhun's territory reached its peak, and the history said that "from the west of Xiping Linqiang City, and the east of the end, south of Qilian, north of the Snow Mountain, 4,000 miles from east to west, and 2,000 miles from north to south", it was a large country with an area of nearly one million square kilometers in the northwest and spanning the new 4 provinces of Qingganchuan (citation, see Book of Sui, vol. 48).

Of course, Tuguhun's expansion path was not smooth, during which it was invaded by the regimes of Southern Liang, Western Qin, Northern Liang, and Hu Xia, and faced several times the danger of national subjugation. Fortunately, Tuguhun pragmatically adopted the "big thing" diplomacy, calling the Later Qin, Northern Wei, Liu Song and other empires in exchange for protection, thus avoiding the disaster of national subjugation. At the same time, Tuguhun also actively studied the culture and system of the Central Plains, and appointed Han Confucians as officials, so that the cultural, economic and social features of the Qinghai area, which was originally a barbaric land, were developed.

The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

Ruins of Fu qian city

Digression. While Tuguhun was "thriving" in the northwest, the Great Yan state created by the Murong family in the Central Plains gradually declined, and finally withdrew from the historical stage after Southern Yan was destroyed by the Eastern Jin Dynasty in 410. Not only that, after the fall of Southern Yan, thousands of imperial families, including murong chao, the fallen monarch, were killed at the same time, making the Murong clan living in the Central Plains almost extinct and no longer able to restore the country. After that, Tuguhun became the only hope of the Murong family, but it was not interested in chasing deer from the Central Plains and reviving Great Yan.

3. Fallen monarchs

Tuguhun's strength reached its peak in the early years of the Sui Dynasty, but this situation did not last long before it began to reverse. In the fourth year of Daye (608), the Sui Emperor sent the generals Yang Xiong and Yuwen Shuxi to conquer Tuguhun, and after nearly two years of fighting, finally occupied most of the territory including his capital Fuqicheng (the ruins are located in present-day Gonghe County, Qinghai Province), and set up Xihai and Heyuan counties to rule. In the last years of the Sui Dynasty, although Murong Fuyun, the Khan of Tuguhun, took advantage of the chaotic battles in the Central Plains to recover his homeland, he could no longer regain the glory of his peak period.

The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

Portrait of Emperor Taizong of Tang

After the Tang Dynasty unified the world, Murong Fuyun, who could not see the situation clearly, still often sent troops to harass Liangzhou, and although Emperor Taizong of Tang sent envoys to persuade and appease more than ten times, he was still obstinate. In the ninth year of Zhenguan (634), Li Jing, the military god of the Tang Tai Sect, led Hou Junji, Li Daozong, Li Daliang and other famous generals to the west, and successively inflicted heavy blows on Tuguhun at Mandu Mountain, Niuxindui, Chishuiyuan, Wuhai, Chihai, Baihai and other places, and directly attacked FuqiCheng. Murong Fuyun, seeing that the general situation was gone, chose to hang himself in the middle of the river, and his son Murong Fushun subsequently surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

After Murong Fushun surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, he was crowned King of Qinghai by Emperor Taizong of Tang and still retained his homeland, but Tuguhun lost his independent status and became a vassal state under the control of the Tang Dynasty. However, with the strong rise of Tubo, the predecessor of the Tibetan people, on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Tuguhun became the target of aggression by its powerful neighbors in the south, and despite the military support of the Tang Dynasty, it was defeated again and again on the battlefield. By the third year of Emperor Gaozong of Tang 's reign (672), almost all of Tuguhun's homeland had been occupied by Tubo, and for more than 300 years, it had always been a major power in the northwest.

The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

Map of the situation in Which Tuguhun lost his homeland

After Tuguhun lost his homeland, King Murong Nuobao led the remnants to defect to the Tang Dynasty, and a few years later he was placed in Anle Prefecture (安樂州, in modern Weizhou, northeast of Tongxin County, Ningxia), still retaining the title of "King of Qinghai". After Murong Nuo's death, his descendants Murong Zhong, Murong Xuanchao, Murong Xiguang, Murong Zhao, Murong Xilun, Murong Zheng, and Murong Fu took the throne one after another, but by this time Tuguhun's strength had been declining, and he had lived in the interior of the Tang Dynasty for many years, losing the basis for continuing to exist as a state, and it was only a matter of time before it was abolished.

Therefore, after Murong Fu's death, Tang Dezong abolished the title of "King of Qinghai", and Tuguhun, which lasted for nearly 500 years, completely perished, around 800 AD. As a result, Murong Fu became the fallen monarch of Tuguhun, but due to the lack of historical records, there was only one article about his deeds. In this way, the real Murong Fu in history, no matter the era or deeds he lived in, had nothing to do with Murong Fu in the novel, and the only thing they had in common was perhaps the dream of reviving the great cause, but they all ended up with regrets, right?

The real Murong Fu in history, whose ancestor ruled northwest China for more than 300 years, became the emperor of the fallen state

After Emperor Dezong of Tang abolished the title of "King of Qinghai", Tuguhun was completely destroyed

In the fourteenth year of Zhenyuan, Murong Fu, the deputy envoy of Shuofang Jiedu and the general of Zuo Jinwuwei, was made the governor of Changle and the king of Qinghai, and attacked the Khan. Resurrection, cessation. Tuguhun had a kingdom from the time of Jin Yongjia, and to the three years of Long Shuo Tubo took its land, where three hundred and fifty years, and this heir was extinct. See New Book of Tang, Vol. 221, Western Regions.

bibliography

Fang Xuanling (Tang): Book of Jin, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1974.

Cui Hong (Northern Wei): Spring and Autumn of the Sixteen Kingdoms, The Commercial Press, 1937.

Wei Shu (Northern Qi): Book of Wei, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1974.

Wei Zheng (Tang): Book of Sui, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1997.

Li Yanshou (Tang): History of the North, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1974.

Liu Xun and Zhao Ying (Later Jin): Old Book of Tang, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1975.

Ouyang Xiu (Northern Song Dynasty): New Book of Tang, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1975.

Sima Guang (Northern Song Dynasty): Zizhi Tongjian, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2015.

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