The State of Yan (1044 BC – 222 BC), one of the Zhou royal princely states of the Zhou Dynasty, was founded by the eldest son of King Shu of Zhou. In 1044 BC, after King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang, he enfeoffed his younger brother Ji Yi (姬奭) in Yandi as the Duke of Yan. In the 7th century BC, the Yan state expanded to the northern Hebei and western Liaoning regions, and after annexing the Jiguo state, the capital Ji (present-day Beijing) was established. In 323 BC, King Yi of Yan became king. In 226 BC, King Xi of Yan joined forces with Wang Jia of the Zhao Dynasty to resist the Qin army, and after the defeat, he led the gongfu guards to flee to Liaodong. In 222 BC, The Qin emperor Wang Ben sent wang ben to lead an army to attack Liaodong, capturing Wang Xi of Yan and destroying the Yan state.
In the 822th year of the Yan Kingdom, among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, the history of the Yan Kingdom is long. Therefore, just as the names of the States of Qin, Chu, Qi, Wei, and Zhao continued to be used, after the fall of the Yan State, there were also many countries and separatist forces with the same name in history. Below, let's talk about these Yan countries.
I. Yan Guo (Gongsun Yuan)
In the first year of the Jing Dynasty (237), Gongsun Yuan chose to betray Cao Wei after defeating Yuqiu Jian and others who had come to fight. As a result, Gongsun Yuan established himself as the King of Yan, with the title of Shaohan (邵汉) and the juxtaposition of hundreds of officials. By this time, the State of Yan had become on a par with Cao Wei, Eastern Wu, and Shu Han. However, in the second year of the Jing Dynasty (238), the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui sent sima yi to lead an army of 40,000 to Liaodong, and Gongsun Yuan resisted the defeat and beheaded his son by the Wei army. Because the existence of the Yan state was too short, it failed to change the pattern of the three kingdoms of Wei Shu and Wu.
Second, the former swallow
Former Yan (337–370), a state established by Murong Hao, the leader of the Xianbei nobles during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, was given the name "Yan". Former Yan was located in the old land of the Yan state during the Warring States period, so the name of the country was Yan. In its heyday, Former Yan's territory included Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Hezhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, and Youzhou, which obviously surpassed the Yan state, one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States.
However, The existence of Former Yan was relatively short, and in November of the eleventh year of Jianxi (370), Former Qin destroyed the Yan state. Therefore, the three lords of the Former Yan Calendar, a total of nineteen years. It was thirty-four years from the time Murong Hao became king.
3. Hou Yan
Later Yan (384–407) was one of the Xianbei Murong Clan Yans during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, founded by Murong Chui, the fifth son of the Former Yan emperor Murong Hui, who had the capital at Zhongshan and later moved to Longcheng, which at its peak included most of present-day Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Shanxi, and Henan. In 384, Murong Chui proclaimed himself King of Yan at Xingyang and established Later Yan. In the early days, Later Yan was strong, repelling the Eastern Jin Dynasty, defeating Former Qin, and attacking Western Yan, and once became the most powerful force in the north at that time, but Later Yan was defeated by Northern Wei Tuoba jue in the Battle of Hepi in 395.
In June 396, Northern Wei captured the Later Yan capital Chengshan. Since then, Yan has been divided in two and collapsed. Later Yan moved its capital to Longcheng, and at this time Later Yan was in constant civil strife, and was eventually replaced by Northern Yan Gaoyun in 407. There were seven monarchs in the Later Yan calendar, a total of twenty-four years.
4. Southern Yan
Southern Yan (398–410), one of the Murong clan's Yans during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, was founded by Murong De and built the capital In 398 AD. The territory included part of present-day Shandong and Jiangsu, with the name of the country Yan, and successively the capitals of Huatai and Guanggu. In 409 AD, Liu Yu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty led a division to the Northern Expedition, and in February 410, Guanggu fell and Southern Yan died. The second emperor of the dynasty, the twelfth year of the state.
5. Northern Yan
Northern Yan (407–436) was a state established by Murong Yun and Feng Bao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. In 407, Feng Bao launched a mutiny to destroy Later Yan, and installed murong Bao, the adopted son of Murong Bao, the Emperor hui of Later Yan, and the Goguryeo Gao Yun (慕容云) as emperor, with the capital longcheng, still using the name of the State of Yan, known in history as "Northern Yan".
In 409, Murong Yun was killed by his subordinates Li Ban and Tao Ren, and was given the title of Emperor Huiyi. After the Ding Ding Mutiny, Feng Bao was located in Changli Longcheng. It is founded in the southwest of present-day Liaoning Province and the northeast of Hebei Province. In 436, Northern Yan was destroyed by Northern Wei. In the view of many historians, Northern Yan is also known as the Yellow Dragon Because of its capital Dragon City, so the Southern Liu Song Dynasty called it the Yellow Dragon Kingdom. There are also history books that call it Eastern Yan because of its location in the northeast, but it is relatively rare.
6. Western Yan
Western Yan (384-394), a regime established by Murong Hong during the Sixteen Kingdoms period after the fall of Former Yan, was called Western Yan by historians and belonged to one of Murong's Yans. The eldest son of The Western Yan Dingdu (present-day Changzi County, Shanxi Province). At its peak, Western Yan had parts of present-day Shanxi and Henan. Because the Western Yan state was too short (less than one era of the country) and the national strength was not strong, Cui Hong did not list the force separately when he wrote the Spring and Autumn of the Sixteen Kingdoms, so the Western Yan was not within the Sixteen Kingdoms, so it was often ignored.
VII. The State of Yan (Wang Xuba)
In the eleventh year of the Sui Dynasty (615), Wang Xuba revolted, and the number of people grew to more than 100,000. Wang Xuba called himself the King of Mantian, the name of the country Yan, and the history called Wang Yan Empire or The Heavenly Empire. Later, he moved to Hebei and Shanxi, and conquered Gaoyang (高阳, in modern Gaoyangdong, Hebei). In the fourteenth year of Daye (618), Wang Xuba was attacking Youzhou (present-day Beijing) when he unfortunately died in the middle of his body.
VIII. Yan Guo (Gao Kai Dao)
In the first year of Wu De (618), Gao Kaidao conquered Beiping, captured Yuyang, proclaimed himself the King of Yan, with the era name Ofi xing (一作天成), and built the capital Yuyang (present-day Jinji County), and the State of Yan was established. In the third year of Wu De (620), he accepted the title of King of Beiping Commandery of the Tang Dynasty and served as the governor of Wei Prefecture. The following year, he declared himself the King of Yan and rebelled against Tang. In the seventh year of Wu De (624), his general Zhang Jinshu rebelled, Gao Kaidao was forced to commit suicide, and the State of Yan fell.
Nine, the big swallow
On the ninth day of the first month of november in the fourteenth year of Tianbao of the Tang Dynasty (December 16, 755 AD), the three towns of Jiedu envoy An Lushan mobilized his subordinates to raise troops at Fanyang, with the state name of Dayan. In the first month of the second year of De (757), An Qingxu joined forces with The Zhongshu Attendant Yan Zhuang to kill An Lushan and establish himself as emperor. In October, the war situation was unfavorable, and An Qingxu withdrew from Luoyang and fled to Yecheng.
In the second year of qianyuan (759), Shi Siming marched into the army to lift the siege of Yicheng, killed An Qingxu, claimed the throne of The Great Yan Emperor, established the capital Fanyang (Beijing), and changed the name to Yuan Shuntian. In the first year of Baoying (762), the Combined Tang and Hui forces attacked Luoyang, fled to Mozhou (mozhou, in present-day Renqiu, Hebei), hanged himself in the forest, and ended the Anshi Rebellion, which lasted seven years and two months.
10. Yan Yan
The State of Yan (911-913), a state during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, was located in present-day Beijing and northern Hebei, with the capital city of Youzhou (present-day Beijing). Belonging to the former Yan King and Lu Longjiedu who divided Liu Shouguang's sphere of influence, Liu Rengong and Liu Shouguang's father and son were divided from 894 to 913, and Liu Shouguang was proclaimed emperor from 911 to 913, only two years.
In August of the first year of Later Liang's Qianhua (911), Liu Shouguang was proclaimed emperor, the state name was "Great Yan", and the capital was designated as Youzhou, which was changed to Yuan Yingtian. In November of the third year of Later Liang Qianhua (913), li Cunxun, the king of Jin, pulled out Youzhou, Liu Shouguang fled, and was soon captured, so that the Yan state collapsed. Because Liu Shouguang was cruel and unkind, the State of Yan was also known as "Jie Yan".