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[1][2]
• Name change from Han to Zhao	319
• Liu Yao's capture by Shi Le	21 January 329[3][4]
• Disestablished	329
Area
316[5]	2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi)
Preceded by Succeeded by Jin dynasty (266–420) Later Zhao
Today part of	China

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/Chuge) clan of Xiongnu ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history.^[6] 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.

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.

During the Han period, the capital was frequently shifted around Shanxi before finally settling in Pingyang. The Han was a driving force during the upheaval of the Five Barbarians, as they brought the Disaster of Yongjia and demise of the Western Jin dynasty by 317. At the height of its power, the Han ruled Shanxi, Shaanxi, eastern Gansu, and large parts of Shandong, Hebei, and Henan. After Jin Zhun's coup in 318, the empire, which renamed itself to (Former) Zhao in 319, was split into two between Liu Yao and the warlord, Shi Le. Liu Yao moved the capital to the west in Chang'an, retaining Shaanxi and eastern Gansu, while the eastern portion of the empire fell to Shi Le's Later Zhao dynasty.

Following the break-up of the Xiongnu Empire in the 1st century, the Southern Xiongnu branch submitted to the Han dynasty and were resettled into the border commanderies. By the 280s, a huge number (approximately 400,000) of Xiongnu herdsmen resided in the Ordos Desert and Bing province after Cao Cao moved them there and split them into "Five Divisions" (五部). The Xiongnu continued their nomadic lifestyles of the steppes with horse breeding and to some extent agriculture.^{[7]: 14–15} Sinicization was evident, especially among the elite; Liu Yuan, a commander of the Left Division (左部, pinyin Zuǒbù), was educated in Luoyang, the Western Jin capital, and was proficient in the Chinese-Confucianist classics. He was even considered the post of the Jin forces commander for the conquest of Eastern Wu but was later dropped because of his Xiongnu ethnicity.

Nonetheless, among the Xiongnu elite and herdsmen, a keen sense of separate identity from the Chinese was retained. Most herdsmen still kept their horseback raiding and combat skills. Discontent against the Jin rule and of their subordinate position prompted them to seek an independent or self-governing Xiongnu entity. As one of the elites adequately puts it:

“In the past, our ancestors and those of the Han acted like brothers through joy and sorrow. However, since the fall of Han and the rise of Wei and Jin, our titles of chanyus hold no value, and we have not gained a foot of land since. Although we have been bestowed with many noble ranks, our households are all equally low."

Liu Yuan inherited the Commander of the Left Division from his father, Liu Bao. Official history states that Liu Bao was the son of Yufuluo, one of the last chanyus of the Southern Xiongnu, but modern historians have challenged this claim. Various passages in contemporaneous records refer to Liu Yuan and his family as Chuge. The Chuge, also known as Xiuchuge (休屠各), were an influential Xiongnu tribe that ousted the chanyu clan from power during the end of the Han dynasty. After the Xiongnu were divided, Liu Bao briefly unified the Five Divisions during the Jiaping era (249–254) before the Chinese court intervened and forced them back into five. It is speculated that Liu Yuan fabricated his lineage to the chanyu for legitimacy when he rebelled.^[8][9]

The Xiongnu Five Divisions began staging revolts during the early Jin period, and their insurbordination caused concern among a few ministers, who unsuccessfully pushed for their resettlement outside the frontiers. Developments in the War of the Eight Princes finally favored the Xiongnu, as infighting between the Jin princes over control of the developmentally-disabled Emperor Hui led to civil wars and widespread famines in northern China. In 304, the Xiongnu elites contacted Liu Yuan, who was serving as a general under the Prince of Chengdu, Sima Ying at Ye, and offered him to become their rebellion's leader. Liu Yuan agreed and took advantage of a commission from the desperate Sima Ying who was just being driven out of his base to gather 50,000 Xiongnu warriors. At Lishi, Liu Yuan declared himself the Grand Chanyu.

Later that year, Liu Yuan proclaimed himself the "King of Han," the same first title used by Emperor Gaozu of Han. As a descendant of the chanyu, Liu Yuan also claimed descent from the Han dynasty, as the chanyus used to marry Han princesses through marriage alliances or heqin. By portraying his state as a restoration of the Han, Liu Yuan was able to establish his legitimacy and potentially win over support from the Han Chinese. Liu Yuan honored the emperors of Western, Eastern and Shu Han, and in 308, he elevated himself to Emperor of Han.

As the Jin civil war continued, more rebellions began breaking out on the North China Plain. To bolster their numbers, Liu Yuan welcomed these Han Chinese and non-Xiongnu rebels to join his ranks, such as the Chinese bandit, Wang Mi and the Jie former slave, Shi Le. To ensure their loyalty, they were given high ranks and full command over their armies, but this practice also meant that they were also essentially warlords as the Han court had no actual means to restrain them. In 308, the Han conquered Pingyang Commandery, where they shifted their capital to Puzi (蒲子, in modern Linfen, Shanxi) and then to Pingyang city (平陽, also in modern Linfen), pressuring the Jin as they brought themselves closer to Luoyang.

Liu Yuan died in 310 and was succeeded by his son Liu He. A week into his reign, He attempted to purge all his brothers before one of them, Liu Cong retaliated and killed him. After his offer to his half-brother, Liu Ai was rejected, Liu Cong took the throne for himself while still appointing Ai as his Crown Prince. He then intensified his attack on Luoyang, which had been left exposed by the departure of the Jin imperial army and a deadly famine. In 311, Shi Le annihilated the Jin imperial army at the Battle of Ningping, depriving Jin of its main force in the north. Han forces led by Wang Mi, Huyan Yan and Liu Yao then descended upon Luoyang, capturing the defenseless city and Emperor Huai in an event known as the Disaster of Yongjia.

Despite the symbolic victory, Jin forces continued to resist in northern China, with Emperor Min being installed at Chang'an in 312. More concerning was Shi Le gaining control of a significant part of the eastern empire after assassinating his fellow warlord, Wang Mi and absorbing his army. Liu Cong, fearing that Shi Le may outright rebel, did not punish him, while Wang Mi's subordinate, Cao Ni continued to hold on to the Shandong region. In the west, Liu Cong heavily entrusted his cousin, Liu Yao, to lead the war against Emperor Min. After several years of campaigning, Liu Yao captured Chang'an in 316, ending the Western Jin dynasty. Both Emperor Huai and Min suffered similar fates; they were forced to serve as cupbearers for Liu Cong before they were executed out of fear they would rebel. After Emperor Min's capture, the imperial Sima family reestablished itself as the Eastern Jin dynasty in 318 at Jiankang, south of the Yangtze river.

Within the Han court, Liu Cong also faced strong dissidence from his own ministers. Records depict him as a hedonistic ruler with a violent temperament, but restrained himself under pressure from his officials during his early reign. In his later reign, he had the unusual practice of having three empresses at a time, and he entrusted political affairs to his eunuchs and consort kins, which severely divided the court. He also began empowering his eldest son, Liu Can, threatening Liu Ai's position as Crown Prince. This power struggle culminated in a brutal purge in 317 orchestrated by Liu Can and Liu Cong's consort kins which saw Liu Ai and several prominent ministers executed.

After Liu Cong's death in 318, his successor, Liu Can and the rest of the imperial family in Pingyang were massacred in a coup by a powerful consort kin, Jin Zhun. Jin Zhun declared himself Heavenly King of Han and invited the Eastern Jin court to assist him, but was ignored. Meanwhile, both Liu Yao and Shi Le combined their forces to oppose Jin Zhun. During the campaign, Liu Yao was acclaimed the new emperor by surviving Han officials fleeing from Pingyang. The rebellion was quickly defeated by the alliance, and Jin Zhun and his family were all killed.

With the rebellion crushed, tension arose between Liu Yao and Shi Le. As Shi Le had cultivated a powerful base on the North China Plain, Liu Yao was convinced that he would take advantage of Han's vulnerability to launch a surprise rebellion. When Shi Le sent his envoy to congratulate him, Liu Yao had the envoy executed, which prompted Shi Le to declare independence. The empire was thus divided into two, with Liu Yao controlling the west and Shi Le controlling the east. As Pingyang had been devastated by the rebellion, Liu Yao shifted the capital to his base in Chang'an.

Unlike his predecessors, Liu Yao distanced the state away from the framing of Han restoration and appealed more to his Xiongnu ancestry. He renamed the state to Zhao (since one of Liu Yao's previous title was Prince of Zhongshan, and Zhongshan was in the ancient state of Zhao), and honoured his ancestor, Modu Chanyu, but still saw his state as a continuation of Liu Yuan's Han. Soon after, Shi Le also named his state Zhao, leading to historiographers to distinguish the two states as Former Zhao and Later Zhao.

In his early reign, Liu Yao expanded westwards while Shi Le dealt with his own matters in the east. In Longxi, he defeated the forces of Sima Bao, the last claimant to the Jin throne in the north, and later survived a major tribal rebellion by the Di and Qiang, leading to the relocation of nearly 200,000 of their people to Chang'an. Liu Yao then defeated Chen An, a warlord in Longxi who nominally submitted to Former Zhao, before going on to force the Former Liang into submission and invading Chouchi by 323. At its prime, the Former Zhao's army reportedly numbered at around 285,000 strong. Despite the state's new positioning, Liu Yao maintained interest in integrating with Chinese culture, as evident by his opening of an Imperial University in Chang'an taught by Confucian scholars.

War between the two Zhaos eventually broke out in 324, and in 328, Liu Yao led his forces to secure the Henan region from Later Zhao. Liu Yao and Shi Le's forces came head to head at the Battle of Luoyang, and during the battle, Liu Yao, supposedly drunk, fell off his horse during a retreat and was captured by Later Zhao soldiers. He was then executed as his Crown Prince, Liu Xi, hastily succeeded him in Chang'an. In 329, Liu Xi was driven out of his capital and finally killed at Shanggui by Later Zhao forces. The Han-Zhao dynasty was at its end, and the Later Zhao would rule most of northern China for the next 20 years.

When Liu Yuan established the Han, he retained most of the imperial Chinese government offices such as Grand Marshal, Minister of Works and Minister Over the Masses while introducing a few Xiongnu-influenced offices, most notably the Grand Chanyu. The Grand Chanyu was second to the emperor, tasked with managing the non-Chinese tribes and was usually deferred to the heir apparent.

In 314, while reorganizing the government, Liu Cong introduced a dual administrative system between the Han Chinese and non-Chinese people that would later be adopted by some of the Sixteen Kingdoms. He created the offices of the Left and Right Director of Retainers to manage the 200,000 Chinese households along with the Left and Right Assistant Chanyu to govern the 100,000 tribes, who were collectively known as the "Six Yi" or "Six Barbarians" (六夷). Modern scholars have noted that the Xiongnu, specifically from the Five Divisions and Chuge branches, were not included in the "Six Yi", and were instead administrated as part of the Han Chinese.^[10][11]

Note: Liu Xi was Liu Yao's crown prince who was thrust into the leadership role when Liu Yao was captured by Later Zhao's emperor Shi Le, but he never took the imperial title.

• Xiongnu

• Chen, Sanping (2012). Multicultural China in the Early Middle Ages. Encounters with Asia. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812206289.