Ran Min, the founder of the "Ran Wei" in the Sixteen Kingdoms, implemented the "Killing Hu Order" during his reign, which caused controversy in history. Some people believe that Ran Min's "order to kill Hu" saved the Han nationality, while others believe that this policy has seriously intensified ethnic contradictions and is a wrong policy. When we evaluate historical figures, we must return to the historical environment at that time.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > I, Wuhu Chaohua - the background of the era in which Ran Wei was founded</h1>
First, let's introduce the situation before the establishment of Ran Wei. From the Han Dynasty to the Western Jin Dynasty, the Xiongnu, Qiang, Hun, Qiang, Wuhuan and other ethnic groups continued to move inland, and gradually became one of the main residents of the Central Plains. Most of them have become the state's households, providing taxes, conscription and military service for the state, and some have even become tenants, servants, and slaves, according to the Book of Jin: "The Xiongnu Hu people are tenants, and many are thousands." The so-called "Wuhu" in history, except for the Xianbei people, the others have long become residents of the Central Plains Dynasty, gradually turning to farming and accepting the Central Plains culture.
The Western Jin Dynasty moved inland
However, the rule of the Western Jin Dynasty was very brutal, and the oppression of the commoners by the family clan was very cruel. In the late Western Jin Dynasty, the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" broke out, "after this turmoil, the social economy was seriously damaged, the people suffered a large number of casualties, and the ruling function of the Western Jin Dynasty was paralyzed from then on." The Book of Jin and the Five Elements Chronicle records that "the rivers, Luo, Jiang, and Han are exhausted and can be involved", "many people are hungry and hungry, and they are more likely to sell each other, rushing and flowing, and there are countless.". Under such circumstances, not only ethnic minorities will revolt, but even the Han Chinese will also revolt. Because the nomads were stronger, they became the leader of the uprising in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty.
The uprisings that broke out in the late Western Jin Dynasty were mainly related to the Qiang uprising, the Bashu displaced people's uprising led by the Li clan of the Hu ethnic group, the Jingzhou barbarian uprising, the Yongzhou displaced people's uprising, the Shu people's Du Han uprising, the Xiongnu Liu Yuan uprising, the Shile uprising of the Xiongnu people, the Qingzhou uprising represented by Liu Bogen, Wang Mi, and Cao Ling. Later, the major rebel armies cooperated to eliminate the Western Jin Dynasty in 316, known in history as the "Yongjia Rebellion". Since then, the history of the north has entered a period of chaos, people call it "Sixteen Kingdoms" or "Five Hu Chaohua", in fact, what caused chaos in the north was class contradictions, and the Sixteen Kingdoms were not all ethnic minority regimes. As a result of the irrational policies adopted by the later separatist regimes, the contradictions between the Han nationality and the ethnic minorities also intensified.
The situation of the Yongjia Rebellion
Before the establishment of Ran Wei, the contradictions between the Han and ethnic minorities had not been fully intensified. For example, after the basic unification of the Central Plains, Shi Le stabilized the displaced people, reduced taxes, and persuaded nongsang; restored the Wei and Jin official system and greatly promoted Confucianism; adopted the "Hu and Han division of rule", stipulating that the Qi people "must not insult the Chinese people" and "do not insult the Chinese people". After Murong Sheng of the Xianbei tribe occupied western Liaoning, he recruited displaced people, gave land, and reduced taxes, which increased the hukou in Liaodong by 10 times and became a happy land. Zhang Rail, who had divided Liangzhou, vigorously promoted Confucianism and opened education, which opened up the trend of Confucianism in Liangzhou, so that the Qiang and other ethnic groups in the northwest gradually accepted Han culture.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Second, Ran Min's "killing Hu Order" intensified ethnic contradictions</h1>
After the death of "Later Zhao" Shi Le, Shi Hu seized power and succeeded to the throne. Shi Hu was a famous tyrant during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, who was absurd and cruel, and loved to massacre, which further destroyed the northern economy. Shi Hu's brutal rule triggered a full-scale uprising in the north, more famously the Liang Calf Rebellion and the Beggars Rebellion. Among them, the Beggar Army was composed of Han displaced people and took a relatively firm stand, its leader Chen Wu had always insisted on "don't do anything about Hu", and Ran Min was a general in the Beggar Army.
In 349, Shi Hu fell ill and died, and Later Zhao was in civil strife, and Ran Min took the opportunity to attack, and with the support of Later Zhao's Sima Li Nong, Ran Min was able to enter the city of Ye to destroy Later Zhao. After Ran Min entered Yecheng, he announced that "those who live with the same heart as the officials, and those who do not have different hearts will do their own thing." So the Qiang people went out of the city, and the Han people all entered the city. Therefore, Ran Min believed that the Qiang clan was unreliable, so he issued a "hu killing order", regardless of whether noble men, women, old or young, they were all killed, killing more than 200,000 people. Even Li Nong, who cooperated with Ran Min, was killed by Ran Min.
Ran Min also stipulated that other ethnic minorities must move back to the border areas, which caused opposition from the ethnic minorities living in the Central Plains, so that his ruling base became more and more isolated. The Book of Jin records that Ran Min ordered that "qing, yong, you, jingzhou, and more than millions of people from Zhuyi, Qiang, Hu, and Barbarians should return to their own land, and the roads would be staggered, killing and plundering each other, and those who could survive famine and death would have two or three out of ten." The summers are chaotic, and there are no farmers. "Imagine what kind of upheaval the United States would trigger if the United States forced blacks to move back to Africa.
Ran Min's main supporters were Han Chinese, but his later policies were not supported by han Chinese. With the support of the Zhongyuan family clan, he proclaimed himself emperor in Yecheng and established the state of Wei, known in history as "Ran Wei". After the establishment of Ran Wei, it was attacked by the surrounding tribes, so it tried to unite with the Eastern Jin Dynasty to send troops, but the Eastern Jin emperors found out that Ran Wei was called emperor and ignored it.
Under siege by Former Qin (founded by the Xianbei clan) and Former Yan (Murong of the Xianbei clan), Ran Wei was isolated and helpless, and lasted only three years before perishing. It can be seen that Ran Wei's "order to kill Hu" intensified the ethnic contradictions in the north and plunged himself into a position of isolation and helplessness, and he not only did not save the Han people, but plunged the Han people into a major crisis. Fortunately, both Former Qin and Former Yan adopted a gentle ethnic policy, which eased the ethnic contradictions intensified by Ran Min.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Third, how the Former Qin and Former Yan resolved ethnic contradictions in the same period</h1>
There is no harm without contrast. When Ran Wei was established, the Xianbei clan established Former Qin in Guanzhong, while the Xianbei Murong clan also further moved south to the Central Plains and established the Former Yan regime. Let's see how the two ease the ethnic contradictions in the north.
In 337, Murong Hao established himself as the King of Yan and formally established the Former Yan regime. Murong Hao died in 348 and was succeeded by Murong Juan (jùn). The following year, when Later Zhao fell, Murong Juan took the opportunity to capture Youzhou, moved the capital to Ji, and began to enter the Central Plains. In 352, Murong Juan eliminated the Ran Wei regime and moved the capital to Yecheng. As mentioned earlier, Murong Shi governed Liaodong in an orderly manner, and after entering the Central Plains, Murong Clan brought these good policies into the Central Plains. Murong Shi restored the Wei and Jin system, recognized the power of the Wu lords, co-opted the Zhongyuan Shi clan, and established schools, cultivated talents, and attached importance to agriculture, which was conducive to the stability of the north. The Book of Jin's evaluation of Murong Juan was "handsome and good at writing, from the beginning of his reign to the last year, tireless in his lectures, leisurely in the government, only with his attendants, and wrote more than forty articles."
Former Qin was a regime established by the Hu people. In the last years of the Later Zhao Dynasty, Shi Hu, in order to make up for the population of Yicheng, migrated many ethnic groups in Guanzhong to the vicinity of Yecheng, and the Qiang clan was also one of them. After the establishment of Ran Wei, he asked all ethnic minorities to move back to their original places, so Gong Hong led the Yu people back to Guanzhong, and on the way, as many as 100,000 other ethnic groups (including Han displaced people) belonged to Zhi Hong. Later, Shi Hu poisoned Ma Qiu to death, and his son Jian Jian (苻健) ruled over his people and continued to move to Guanzhong. In 351, Jian Jian established Great Qin in Guanzhong, known in history as Former Qin.
In 357, Jian Jian came to power, and he was the most effective monarch of the Sixteen Kingdoms. Jian Jian reused the Han Chinese Wang Meng, Deng Qiang, Quan Yi, Yang An, Zhu Wei, and others to make the nobles of the Hu ethnic group strong and powerful; restored the Wei and Jin scholars, recognized the privileges of the scholars, and recruited Han scholars to participate in the political power; advocated Confucianism and established schools; paid attention to Nongsang, built water conservancy, repaired Tingyi, and developed industry and commerce. These policies of Zhijian eased the ethnic contradictions and restored the economy of the north, and later Zhijian went east and west, and finally completed the unification of the north. Unfortunately, Jian Jian was too anxious to use troops against the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which led to the defeat of the Battle of Shuishui, which caused the collapse of Former Qin and the civil strife in the north again.
Fu Jian and Wang Meng
Such a comparison shows that Ran Min's "killing Hu Order" is really too bad, Former Qin and Former Yan were established by ethnic minorities, but they both tried their best to alleviate ethnic contradictions, promote the integration of nationalities, and help the recovery of the northern economy. Ran Min's policy of "neither friend nor enemy" is too extreme, not only does not play a role in expelling nomads, but also aggravates ethnic hatred, and it is not too much to say that it is a sinner of history.