Murong Zhong (; died 386) was an

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

-led Western Yan dynasty of China. He was the son of Western Yan's founder,

Murong Hong Murong Hong (; died 384) was the founder of the Xianbei-led Western Yan dynasty of China. He was a son of the Former Yan emperor Murong Jun and a younger brother of Former Yan emperor Murong Wei. It is not known when Murong Hong was born. In 35 ...

the Prince of Jibei, a son of the

Former Yan The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...

emperor

Murong Jun Murong Jun (; 319–360), courtesy name Xuanying (宣英), formally Emperor Jingzhao of (Former) Yan ((前)燕景昭帝), was an emperor of the Former Yan. He was the dynasty's second ruler, but after first using the Jin dynasty-created title of ...

. In 386, a year that had already seen four Western Yan rulers killed, Murong Zhong was made emperor by the general

Murong Yong Murong Yong (; died 394), courtesy name Shuming (叔明), was the last emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Western Yan dynasty. He was the grandson of Murong Yun (慕容運), the uncle of Former Yan's founder Murong Huang. As a member of Former ...

after Murong Yong had killed

Murong Yao Murong Yao (; died 386), also known as Murong Wang (慕容望), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Western Yan dynasty of China. He was the son of Murong Chong (Emperor Wei), the son of the Former Yan emperor Murong Jun. Murong Chong was killed i ...

. Murong Zhong made Murong Yong the commander of the armed forces and created him the Duke of Hedong. At that time, the Western Yan people were on an exodus from

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

, the

Former Qin The Former Qin, also called Fu Qin (苻秦), (351–394) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity. Founded by Fu Jian (posthumously Emperor Jingming) who originally served under the Later ...

capital that they had captured in 385 but abandoned earlier in 386 because they wanted to head east back to their homeland. After Murong Zhong became emperor, his people reached Wenxi (聞喜, in modern

Yuncheng Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

) when they heard that Murong Zhong's granduncle

Murong Chui Murong Chui (; 326–396), courtesy name Daoming (道明), Xianbei name Altun (阿六敦), formally Emperor Chengwu of (Later) Yan ((後)燕成武帝) was a great general of the Xianbei-led Chinese Former Yan dynasty who later became the foundi ...

had already established

Later Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people, located in modern-day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms. All rulers of the Later Yan declared them ...

as its emperor, and they were hesitant to proceed further, and they built the city of Yanxi (燕熙) at Wenxi to serve as temporary headquarters. Just three months after he became emperor, Murong Zhong was assassinated in a coup by the general Diao Yun (刁雲), who then supported Murong Yong as the ruler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murong, Zhong Western Yan emperors 386 deaths Year of birth unknown