Han-Zhao
The Han-Zhao (simplified Chinese: 汉赵; traditional Chinese: 漢趙; pinyin: Hàn Zhào; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao (simplified Chinese: 前赵; traditional Chinese: 前趙; pinyin: Qián Zhào), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Liu (Luandi) clan of Xiongnu ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern Han (北漢; Běi Hàn) for the state proclaimed in 304 by Liu Yuan, and the Former Zhao (前趙; Qián Zhào) for the state proclaimed in 319 by Liu Yao. The reference to them as separate states should be considered misleading, given that when Liu Yao changed the name of the state from “Han” to “Zhao” in 319, he treated the state as having been continuous from the time that Liu Yuan founded it in 304; instead, he de-established his imperial lineage from the Han dynasty and claimed ancestry directly from Modu Chanyu.
Han-Zhao Former Zhao 漢 (304–319) 趙 (319–329) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 304–329 | |||||||||
Han-Zhao before split, c. 317, northern China | |||||||||
Han-Zhao (Former Zhao) after split, c. 326 | |||||||||
| Capital | Lishi (304–305) Liting (305–308) Puzi (308–309) Pingyang (309–318) Chang'an (318–329) Shanggui (329) | ||||||||
| Religion | Tengriism, Buddhism | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||
• 304–310 | Liu Yuan | ||||||||
• 310 | Liu He | ||||||||
• 310–318 | Liu Cong | ||||||||
• 318 | Liu Can | ||||||||
• 318–329 | Liu Yao | ||||||||
• 329 | Liu Xi | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 304 | ||||||||
• Liu Yuan's claim of imperial title | 2 November 308 | ||||||||
• Name change from Han to Zhao | 319 | ||||||||
| 21 January 329 | |||||||||
• Disestablished | 329 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 316 | 2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | China | ||||||||
The reason it is also referred to as "Former Zhao" in historiography is to distinguish it from the similarly-named dynasty founded by Shi Le in 319, which was also known officially as "Zhao" (labeled "Later Zhao" in Chinese historiography). Since both the Former Zhao and Northern Han were ruled by the same family, the Chinese scholars often conditionally combined them into a single Han-Zhao regime. Numerous Western texts refer to the two states separately; others referred to the Han state as the “Northern Han”, a confusing nomenclature given that the term also refers to the Northern Han state of the later Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.