In Mr. Jin Yong's "Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon", Murong Fu, the main villain who is bent on reviving the "Great Yan" state, believes that many friends are familiar with it. He once had the title of "Northern Qiao Feng, Southern Murong" in Wulin, but he acted despicable in order to restore the country, and finally ended up in a tragic end of madness. Although Murong Fu in the book is a fictional character, there is really a last royal family named Murong Fu in history, and he himself can be said to represent the final end of the Murong Xianbei tribe that has been traversing the land of China for hundreds of years. So what kind of ethnic group was Murong Xianbei, and what marks did they leave in Chinese history?
Of course, Murong Xianbei was also a part of the Xianbei people, and the modern relatively mainstream view is that Xianbei originated from the Eastern Hu recorded in ancient Chinese books during the Warring States period. Some believe that after the xiongnu Defeat of Donghu in 206 BC, the Eastern Hu alliance disintegrated, and some of the Eastern Hu tribes fled eastward, one of which fled to the Xianbei Mountains in the east of present-day Inner Mongolia, forming the Eastern Xianbei Mountains; the other part fled to the Daxianbei Mountains in the northern section of the Daxing'anling Mountains, forming the ancestor of Tuoba Xianbei.
And the Murong Xianbei we want to talk about today is likely to originate from the Eastern Xianbei. In 91 AD, after the Northern Xiongnu were completely defeated by the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Xianbei and other departments, the Xianbei moved south and west on a large scale and occupied the Homeland of the Xiongnu. At that time, some of the remnants of the Northern Xiongnu were incorporated into Xianbei, and the power of Xianbei was quickly strengthened.
The approximate area of activity of the early Xianbei people
In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xianbei chieftain Tan Shihuai rose rapidly, once unifying the xianbei departments, which once posed a great threat to the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, after the death of Tan Shihuai, Xianbei was soon divided into three parts: east, north, and west, and Murong Bu was a tribe of eastern Xianbei. As for the clan name of Murong Bu, there is a saying that is also very interesting. This theory says that during the Three Kingdoms period, There was a leader named Mo Hubao in Xianbei, who once accompanied Sima Yi, a powerful minister of the State of Wei, in his campaign against the warlord Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong, and after his meritorious service, he was allowed to establish a rule in western Liaoning. At that time, he saw that Han People were popular to wear a hat called Bu Shaoguan, and he also liked it very much, so he let people make one and wear it all day long. As a result, bu shake later became his nickname. The pronunciation of "Bu Yan" in Xianbei is more similar to "Murong", so later his tribe was called Murong Bu.
Of course, this is just a statement in ancient books, far from conclusive. However, this statement actually reflected a characteristic of Murong Xianbei, that is, he had a very deep contact with the Han people from a very early age. And this can be said to be an important reason for murong Xianbei's rise. In 294, Mo's great-grandson Murong Yu (慕容廆) (wěi) led his troops to the territory of present-day Yi County, Liaoning Province. Soon after, Murong Bu gave up his nomadic life, began to turn to farming, and began to establish a political power modeled on the system of the Jin Dynasty, beginning his Sinicization process.
Murong Xianbei's early living area
At that time, the other two areas from yuwen and duanbu living in xianbei in the east were located around Murong Xianbei. Among these three, Murong Xianbei was actually the weakest, and in the face of the invasion of Duanbu and Yuwenbu, he had paid reparations many times. But by this time it was about 320 AD, the Southern Xiongnu had moved south to the Central Plains, the Western Jin Dynasty had collapsed, the Central Plains were in a state of war, and many civilians were displaced. At this time, Murong Bu, who had already begun to cultivate, implemented a very enlightened policy, accepting a large number of Han Chinese, causing the population under his rule to grow rapidly, and Murong Xianbei soon showed a momentum of rise.
Beginning in 319, Duanbu, Yuwenbu, and Goguryeo (gāogōulí) jointly attacked Murong Bu several times, but were all defeated by Murong Xi's army, and Murong Bu occupied most of the Liaodong region and became one of the main political forces in China at that time.
After that, Murong Bu further widened the gap in strength with Yuwen Bu and Duan Bu. In 344, Murong Xi's son Murong Hui (慕容皝) led an army to defeat Yuwen Bu again, and Yuwen Yidou, the leader of Yuwen Bu, first fled to mobei and then to Goguryeo, and Yuwen Bu gradually withered away. In 356, Murong Hao's son Murong Huan (慕容儁) (jùn) completely attacked Duanbu Xianbei, and duanbu's chieftain Duan Gong (龛) was killed the following year, and Duanbu Xianbei ceased to exist.
The confrontation between Murong Bu and Duan Bu and Yuwen Bu
During this period, Murong Xianbei also fought many wars with Goguryeo, gradually crushing the Goguryeo forces that were also centered in northeast China on the Korean Peninsula. Between 315 and 319 CE, Goguryeo attacked Murong Bu several times with Duanbu and Yuwenbu, but both were repulsed by MurongBu. In 320, King Mikawa of Goguryeo again led an army to attack Murong Bu, but was soon defeated.
In 342, Murong Hao led an army to counterattack Goguryeo and won a great victory, completely burning the Goguryeo capital city of Marudu in present-day Ji'an, Jilin Province, and excavating the tomb of King Mikawa and snatching his body. The following year, Goguryeo rebuilt the capital of Maru, but soon Murong Bu sent troops again to destroy it. It can be said that At this time, Goguryeo had almost reached the brink of subjugation.
Murong Xianbei (Former Yan) and Goguryeo confronted each other
In desperation, in 344 CE, king Yuan of Goguryeo sent his brother wang to MurongBu's capital Longcheng to pay tribute, and Murong Bu returned the remains of King Mikawa to Goguryeo, and Goguryeo became a vassal of Former Yan. At this time, Murong Bu had become the only armed force in western Liaoning, and it also had the strength to enter the Central Plains. But until this time, in fact, Murong Bu had been nominally submitting to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which had already moved towards the south of the Anjiang River.
Murong Bu maintained good relations with the Eastern Jin Dynasty for a long time, accepted the Eastern Jin Dynasty's canonization many times, and refused to submit to the Later Zhao regime that occupied the Central Plains at that time and was established by the Qi people, which even triggered a rebellion against Later Zhao. Of course, Murong Bu's insistence on honoring the Eastern Jin Dynasty was actually out of his own interests, because in this way Murong Bu was nominally a local government of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, making it easier to attract Han scholars in the Central Plains to be annexed, and at the same time, it also allowed other Western Liaoning regimes to use the banner of the Eastern Jin Dynasty imperial family to add legitimacy to their conquests.
Murong Xianbei (Former Yan) after entering the Central Plains
Of course, at that time, a large number of Han people in the Central Plains were willing to serve Murong Bu, which was also related to Murong Bu's indeed willingness to give the Han people a high status. During the period of Murong Xi and Murong Hao, a considerable number of Han Chinese had already reached the status of "General of the Qing Dynasty" in Murong Hui's regime. During Murong Juan's reign, of the 13 generals of Murong's generals, the Han occupied 8, while the Xianbei occupied only 5. In this way, Murong Bu gradually gained the strength to enter the Central Plains, and finally officially entered the Central Plains in 352 AD, with the capital at Ji (Beijing), and soon after moved the capital to Yi (Handan, Hebei).
After that, Murong Juan quickly declared himself emperor and established the "Great Yan" that Murong Fu wanted to "restore" in the novel. This regime was later known as former Yan. After that, they soon engaged in a series of wars with the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the Central Plains, and the two sides won and lost each other. In 369, the Northern Expedition of the Eastern Jin general Huan Wen briefly plunged Former Yan into crisis. However, soon after, the Former Yan general Murong Chui cut off the Eastern Jin army's grain route, the Eastern Jin army was cut off of grain and grass, Huan Wen was forced to withdraw, and as a result, he was ambushed by the Former Yan army, the Eastern Jin army lost more than 30,000 people, and Former Yan temporarily escaped the fate of extinction.
However, when the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Former Yan were repeatedly competing for the Central Plains, the Yu people who were entrenched in the western part of the Central Plains quietly rose up and established the Former Qin regime. During the Huanwen Northern Expedition, Former Yan was ill and rushed to the hospital, and asked for help from Former Qin, on the condition that the west of the Tiger Prison Pass in present-day Xingyang, Henan, be ceded to Former Qin. However, Former Yan later wanted to repent after defeating the Eastern Jin army, which gave Former Qin an excuse to fight Against Former Yan.
Moreover, Murong Chui, who had defeated Huan Wen, was soon jealous of his chancellor Murong Jue in Former Yan and was forced to defect to Former Qin, leaving Former Qin Emperor Fu Jian no longer scrupulous about Va yan. In November 369, Former Qin began a war to destroy Former Yan. At this time, Murong Jue, who was in charge of the Former Yan army, had no command, and soon his main force of 150,000 people was annihilated by the Former Qin army. Soon after, Former Qin captured the city of Yicheng, and Murong Juan's son Murong (日魏, wěi), the last former Yan monarch, was soon captured and Former Yan perished.
Hou Yan and Western Yan
However, the demise of Former Yan did not represent the demise of Murong Xianbei, because after this, Murong Bu actually established at least 3 and a half regimes in the Central Plains. After the fall of Former Yan, Fu Jian moved the Xianbei people into the Guanzhong region in large numbers. After Fu Jian's crushing defeat at the Battle of Shuishui in 384 AD, the Former Qin regime soon collapsed. At this time, Murong Hong's younger brother Murong Hong (慕容漓) soon raised an army and established the Western Yan regime in Huayin County, Shaanxi. However, the Western Yan regime was very tyrannical, and infighting was constant, and at most 5 monarchs died in infighting in a year, and as a result, they lasted only 10 years before being destroyed by another branch of Murong Bu.
The Murong Dynasty that destroyed Western Yan was later known as Later Yan, and it was established by Murong Chui, who defected to Former Qin. After the fall of Former Yan, Murong Chui served under Fu Jian. However, after the Battle of Shuishui, Murong Chui soon betrayed Fu Jian and proclaimed himself emperor in present-day Dingzhou, Hebei, establishing the Later Yan regime.
Hou Yan and Southern Yan
A few years later, Murong Chui attacked Western Yan and confronted the rising Northern Wei regime. In 396, Murong Chui fell ill and died. In the following year, the territory of Later Yan was cut into two sections by Northern Wei, and soon after its isolated territories in Shandong and Jiangsu became independent and became Southern Yan. Later Yan retained only the territory of western Liaoning. In 407, The Han general Feng Bao of Later Yan rebelled and killed Murong Xi, the late Emperor of Later Yan, and Later Yan perished.
Since its establishment, southern Yan has almost always been beaten by the Northern Wei and Eastern Jin Dynasties in turn. Finally, in 410 AD, Southern Yan was destroyed by the famous Eastern Jin general Liu Yu. According to this, the regime established by Murong Bu has perished, but we just said that Later Yan was destroyed by the Han Feng Bao. However, at this time, Feng Bao did not claim the title of emperor himself, but instead established a man named Murong Yun as emperor and established the Northern Yan regime. But in fact, this Murong Yun was not Murong Xianbei, but a Goguryeo. However, he was once adopted as a righteous son by Murong Bao, the second monarch of Later Yan, because of his military exploits, so he was given the surname Murong. However, in 409, Murong Yun was killed in a coup d'état, after which Feng Bao quelled the coup and proclaimed himself emperor. Therefore, Northern Yan may be half of Murong Bu's regime. In 436, Northern Yan was destroyed by Northern Wei, and the regime associated with Murong Bu completely disappeared in the Central Plains.
Northern Yan was also associated with Murong Xianbei
After Murong Bu lost power, most of his people fell under the control of Northern Wei, and their numbers were still quite large at that time. Although the Northern Wei Dynasty was from Tuoba Xianbei, it had already diverged from Murong Xianbei very early, and it was also regarded as an outlier and highly wary. Therefore, around 409 AD, the Northern Wei court had killed a large number of Murong Xianbei descendants and incorporated the rest of his followers into untouchables.
However, in the later period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, some descendants of Murong Xianbei, who were good at military affairs, were gradually reused, and many of them held official positions such as unified army, assassin history, and Taishou. At the end of the Northern Dynasty, the Murong Sanzang family, a descendant of Murong Bu, once occupied an important position, and Murong Sanzang himself participated in the Sui Dynasty's war to unify the Central Plains. Some of his descendants served as central and local officials during the Tang Dynasty, and can be regarded as the last glory of Murong Bu's descendants in the Central Plains.
So seeing this, some friends may ask, do you say that there is really Murong Fu in history? Okay, let's talk about Murong Fu now. In fact, at the time of Murong Xianbei's rise, Murong's department had a division. At that time, Murong Xi, who led the rise of Murong Bu, had a brother who was in conflict with him, and in 283 AD led 1,700 Murong bu families to move to the area around the Yin Mountains in present-day Inner Mongolia. This man's name was Murong Tugu (yù) Hun, and later his descendants migrated further to the southwest, establishing the Tuguhun regime in present-day Qinghai.
Tuguhun already existed when Former Yan existed
Tuguhun was not destroyed by the emerging Tubo until 663 AD. However, Emperor Gaozong of Tang then protected the last ruler of Tuguhun, Hébō, and made him the Assassin of Anle Prefecture. This title has been hereditary by this family for five generations. Murong Fu was the sixth grandson of Nuo Yubao, who was made the governor of Changle Prefecture and the King of Qinghai by the Tang Dynasty. However, after that, the Murong family no longer had hereditary official positions, and Murong Bu completely disappeared as a political force. And Mr. Jin Yong may have been inspired by this history to invent the literary figure of Murong Fu, who failed to restore the country.
After murong bu disappeared, the descendants of Murong Bu in the Central Plains basically integrated into the Han nationality. The "Hundred Family Names" compiled during the Song Dynasty has regarded it as a Han surname, ranking 436th among them. At present, there are people with the surname Murong in more than a dozen provinces and regions such as Jiangsu, Henan and Guangdong, and some descendants of the Murong family have simplified their surnames to Mu, Mu and Rong. After the tuguhun state was destroyed, its people continued to live in Qinghai and Gansu. Some argue that the modern Turkish people may have a certain inheritance relationship with them. (Image from the Internet, infringement notice deleted)