Northern Liang
Northern Liang (北涼) 建康 (397-399), 涼 (399-401, 431-433), 張掖 (401-412), 河西 (412-431, 433-441, 442-460), 酒泉 (441-442) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 397–460 | |||||||||||||||
 Northern Liang and other Asian nations in 400 AD | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Vassal of Later Qin, Jin Dynasty (265-420), Northern Wei, Liu Song | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Jiankang (397-398) Zhangye (398-412) Guzang (412-439) Jiuquan (440-441) Dunhuang (441-442) | ||||||||||||||
| Capital-in-exile | Shanshan (442) Gaochang (442-460) | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Prince | |||||||||||||||
• 397-401 | Duan Ye | ||||||||||||||
• 401-433 | Juqu Mengxun | ||||||||||||||
• 433-439 | Juqu Mujian | ||||||||||||||
• 442-444 | Juqu Wuhui | ||||||||||||||
• 444-460 | Juqu Anzhou | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Established | 397 | ||||||||||||||
• Li Gao's declaring independence as Western Liang | 400 | ||||||||||||||
• Juqu Mengxun's killing of Duan Ye | 401 | ||||||||||||||
• Juqu Mengxun's destruction of Western Liang | 421 | ||||||||||||||
• Fall of Guzang to Northern Wei (often viewed as date of Northern Liang's fall) | 18 October 439[1][2] | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 460 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
The Northern Liang (Chinese: 北凉; pinyin: Bĕi Liáng; 397-439) was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by the Xiongnu Juqu family, although they initially supported the Han official Duan Ye as prince, they overthrew him in 401 and took over themselves.
All rulers of the Northern Liang proclaimed themselves "wang" (translatable as "prince" or "king").
Most Chinese historians view the Northern Liang as having ended in 439, when its capital Guzang (姑臧, in modern Wuwei, Gansu) fell to Northern Wei forces and its prince Juqu Mujian was captured. However, some view his cousins Juqu Wuhui and Juqu Anzhou, who subsequently settled with Northern Liang remnants in Gaochang (高昌, in modern Turpan Prefecture, Xinjiang), as a continuation of the Northern Liang, and thus view the Northern Liang as having ended in 460 when Gaochang fell to Rouran and was made a vassal. The remnants of the Juqu family were slaughtered.
It was during the Northern Liang that the first Buddhist cave shrine sites appear in Gansu Province.[3] The two most famous sites are Tiandishan ("Celestial Ladder Mountain"), which was south of the Northern Liang capital at Yongcheng, and Wenshushan ("Manjusri's Mountain"), halfway between Yongcheng and Dunhuang. Maijishan lies more or less on a main route connecting China and Central Asia (approximately 150 miles (240 km) west of modern Xi'an), just south of the Weihe (Wei River). It had the additional advantage of lying not too distant from a main route that also ran N-S to Chengdu and the Indian peninsula.
In 439, remnants of the Northern Liang royal family fled to Gaochang to found a new kingdom, led by Juqu Wuhui and Juqu Anzhou where they would hold onto power until 460 when they were conquered by the Rouran (Avars).[4]
Rulers of the Northern Liang
| Temple names | Posthumous names | Family names and given name | Durations of reigns | Era names and their according durations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese convention: use family and given names | ||||
| Northern Liang 397-439 (as Gaochang "wang" 442-460) | ||||
| Did not exist | Did not exist | Duan Ye (段業 Duàn Yè) | 397-401 | Shenxi (神璽 Shénxǐ) 397-399Tianxi (天璽 Tiānxǐ) 399-401 |
| Taizu (太祖 Tàizǔ) | Wuxuan (武宣 Wǔxuān) | Juqu Mengxun (沮渠蒙遜 Jǔqú Méngxùn) | 401-433 | Yongan (永安 Yǒngān) 401-412Xuanshi (玄始 Xuánshǐ) 412-428 |
| Did not exist | Ai (哀王 āi) | Juqu Mujian (沮渠牧犍 Jǔqú Mùjiān) | 433-439 | Yonghe (永和 Yǒnghé) 433-439 |
| Did not exist | Did not exist | Juqu Wuhui (沮渠無諱 Jǔqú Wúhuí) | 442-444 | Chengping (承平 Chéngpíng) 443-444 |
| Did not exist | Did not exist | Juqu Anzhou (沮渠安周 Jǔqú ānzhōu) | 444-460 | Chengping (承平 Chéngpíng) 444-460 |
See also
Notes and references
- ^ http://www.sinica.edu.tw/ftms-bin/kiwi1/luso.sh?lstype=2&dyna=%ABe%A7%BA&king=%A4%E5%AB%D2&reign=%A4%B8%B9%C5&yy=16&ycanzi=&mm=9&dd=&dcanzi=%A4%FE%A6%A6
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 123.
- ^ Michael Sullivan, The Cave-Temples of Maichishan. London: Faber and Faber, 1969.
- ^ Jacques Gernet (1996). A history of Chinese civilization. Cambridge University Press. p. 200. ISBN 0-521-49781-7. Retrieved 2011 17 May.
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