Wei ( Chinese : 魏 ; pinyin : Wèi ), known in historiography as Zhai Wei ( Chinese : 翟魏 ), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Dingling people that existed from 388 to 392, during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history . Its founder Zhai Liao had previously been vacillating between being a vassal of the Later Yan , Western Yan , and Eastern Jin dynasties, and in 388, after his last overture to reconcile with Later Yan's emperor Murong Chui was rejected, he founded his own dynasty, over the territory of modern central and eastern Henan . In 392, Zhai Wei, then under Zhai Liao's son Zhai Zhao , was destroyed by Later Yan forces. Because of its relatively small size and short lifespan, Zhai Wei is not included by historians among the Sixteen Kingdoms.
19-703: The rulers of Zhai Wei used the title "Heavenly King" ( Tian Wang ). The Zhai clan were Dingling people who once resided in Kangju for generations before moving to the Guanzhong region in China. In 330, their chieftain, Zhai Bin was given the title of Prince of Gouting by the Later Zhao dynasty . In 371, under the Former Qin dynasty , Zhai Bin and his people were forcibly relocated to Xin'an and Mianchi in
38-550: A campaign to conquer Zhai Wei once and for all. Zhai Zhao requested reinforcements from the Western Yan, but they refused to help. Murong Chui and Zhai Zhao's armies fought along the Yellow River at Liyang, where Wei was greatly routed. Zhai Zhao retreated to Huatai before fleeing north of the Yellow River to hold out at Mount Bailu (白鹿山; north of present-day Xiuwu County , Henan ), but as he eventually ran out of food, he
57-526: A heavenly king, that is, a king appointed directly by heaven inside a directly appointed heavenly kingdom. Though the title of Heavenly King in the scope of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be passed down to Hong Xiuquan's son, Hong Tianguifu upon his death; Hong Tianguifu was executed shortly after becoming king as a teenager, spelling an end to the use of the title in the scope of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The term Heavenly King
76-558: A peasant soldier under the leadership of Zhong Xiang. Yang helped occupy the Dongting Lake area in the modern-day Hunan Province with some 80,000 other soldiers before Song forces arrived. After four successive attacks by the Song against opposition forces in 1132, Yao was appointed as chief leader of the opposition while the former leader Zhong Xiang retained power in a lesser role. As leader of opposition forces, Yang proclaimed himself
95-434: Is a Chinese title for various religious deities and divine leaders throughout history, as well as an alternate form of the term Son of Heaven , referring to the emperor . The Chinese term for Heavenly King consists of two Chinese characters: 天 ( tiān ), meaning "heaven" or "sky" , and 王 ( wáng ), which could mean either "king" or "prince" depending on the context. The term was most notably used in its most recent sense as
114-758: Is used even today in a limited scope within Chinese Buddhism , with a much more religious meaning than most of its uses as a title. An example of its use is within the Four Heavenly Kings . The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom represents one cardinal direction. They are Vaiśravaṇa ( Chinese : 多闻天王 ; pinyin : Duōwén Tiānwáng ), Virūḍhaka ( Chinese : 增長天王 ; pinyin : Zēngcháng Tiānwáng ), Dhṛtarāṣṭra ( Chinese : 持国天王 ; pinyin : Chíguó Tiānwáng ), and Virūpākṣa ( Chinese : 广目天王 ; pinyin : Guǎngmù Tiānwáng ). Outside China,
133-541: The "Great Sage Heavenly King" ( simplified Chinese : 大圣天王 ; traditional Chinese : 大聖天王 ; pinyin : dàshèng tiānwáng ). Yang's tenure as the Great Sage Heavenly King was short lived however, lasting only three years. Following the seventh Song offensive in 1135, rebel defenses around Dongting Lake were broken, leading to the destruction of Yang Yao's "kingdom" and his own death. The most recent historical, as well as most well known use of
152-850: The Eastern Jin in Liyang (黎陽; present-day Xun County , Henan ). In 386, Zhai Liao rebelled and took control of Liyang, and he was joined by the Jin Administrator of Taishan , Zhang Yuan (張願). In Later Yan, rebellions broke out in succession in Wei and Gaoping commanderies, and they all went to join with Zhai Liao. In 387, Murong Chui sent his generals to attack Zhai Liao, forcing him to submit, but he once again rebelled not long after. In 388, he sent an envoy to Murong Chui to apologize for his crimes, but Chui refused to accept it due to his repeated betrayals. Thus, Zhai Liao decided to claim himself
171-509: The Later Yan prince and Inspector of Ji province , Murong Wen assassinated. In 390, he attempted to capture Luoyang from Jin, but was repelled. Jin forces led by Liu Laozhi later captured Taishan and defeated Zhai Liao at Huatai, but they did not destroy the state before withdrawing. Zhai Liao died in 391 and was succeeded by his son, Zhai Zhao . Immediately after ascending, he unsuccessfully attacked Ye. In 392, Murong Chui personally led
190-591: The description of how the King of Zhou helped pay for the funeral expenses of a duke's son who had died: 秋，七月， 天王 使宰咺來歸惠公仲子之賵。 In autumn, during the 7th month, the Heavenly King was brought to tears and bestowed a contribution to the funerary expenses of Duke Zhong's son. The use of Heavenly King in this text is analogous to the term Son of Heaven . During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms ,
209-587: The east, a decision that was badly-received among them. After the Former Qin's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Fei River in 383, Zhai Bin rebelled and attacked Luoyang . Qin sent the Xianbei general, Murong Chui , to campaign against him, but Chui also rebelled and carried out his plans to restore his family's state of Yan . At the advice of his subordinates, Zhai Bin agreed to join forces with Chui, and he
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#1732765644475228-623: The term Heavenly King was especially common to refer to the leaders of Chinese states. Some notable examples states whose kings used this term include: During the Southern Song dynasty , the title of Heavenly King was claimed by Yang Yao ( simplified Chinese : 杨幺 ; traditional Chinese : 楊幺 ; pinyin : Yáng Yāo ), a rebel leader in fighting against the Song government in Hunan . Yang's career as an anti-government leader began during Zhong Xiang's Revolt in 1130, where he served as
247-623: The term Heavenly King has been sometimes used as a title to refer to a ruling king or divine entity. Two countries which have done this include Korea and Vietnam , both of which are in the Chinese cultural sphere of influence , especially historically. In Korea the term is used as a title for Hwanung , the legendary founder of Gojoseon , while in Vietnam it is used to refer to the mythical folk hero Thánh Gióng . Xiuwu County Xiuwu County ( Chinese : 修武 ; pinyin : Xiūwǔ )
266-671: The title Heavenly King is from the rule of Hong Xiuquan during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom . Unlike previous leaders such as those during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the rationale behind proclaiming himself a "heavenly" king is quite different. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's origins were deeply rooted in quasi-nationalism and religious zeal, with Hong having stated that he had received direct orders from God to become king. This reasoning behind becoming king led to Hong believing that he had been appointed to become
285-583: The title of Heavenly King of Wei. Zhai Liao adopted the Chinese governing system by proclaiming a new reign era and establishing the imperial offices. He moved his capital to Huatai (滑台, in modern Anyang , Henan ), intending to use the Yellow River as a defence against Later Yan, though throughout his reign, he more frequently clashed with the Eastern Jin. In 389, he captured Yingyang Commandery (滎陽, roughly modern Zhengzhou , Henan ) from Jin and had
304-451: The title of the kings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom , but is also used in religious (particularly Buddhist ) contexts as well. In the Spring and Autumn period , the term Heavenly King was used to at least some extent to refer to the kings of the various Chinese states of the time. On the second page of the first text of the Spring and Autumn Annals , the term Heavenly King is used in
323-488: Was assassinated by his general, Xianyu Qi (鮮于乞). Qi was then killed by his soldiers, who acclaimed Zhai Zhen's cousin, Zhai Cheng as their new leader, but at this point, many of the Dingling soldiers defected to Later Yan. Later that year, when Murong Chui besieged Xingtang, Zhai Cheng's general, Xianyu De (鮮于得) beheaded him and surrendered to Later Yan. Chui massacred Xingtang, but Zhai Cheng's cousin, Zhai Liao escaped to
342-532: Was forced to come out and was ambushed by the Later Yan army. Zhai Zhao escaped alone to the Western Yan, thus ending his short-lived state. The ruler of Western Yan, Murong Yong, initially appointed Zhai Zhao as a general and bestowed him the title of Prince of Chen. However, years later, Zhai Zhao attempted to rebel, so Yong had him executed. Tian Wang Heavenly King or Tian Wang ( Chinese : 天王 ; pinyin : Tiān Wáng ; Wade–Giles : Tien -wang ), also translated as Heavenly Prince ,
361-570: Was given the title of Prince of Henan after Chui founded the Later Yan in 384. However, Zhai Bin soon grew discontent with his position and demanded more as Chui was laying siege on Ye . When his demands were rejected, he plotted to defect to Former Qin with the Dingling, but was discovered and executed. His nephew, Zhai Zhen , fled from Ye and began a rebellion, forming a base in Chengying (承營; around present-day Xingtai , Hebei ) and allying with Qin. In 385, after moving to Xingtang , Zhai Zhen
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