Qifu Guoren (; died 388), formally the Prince Xuanlie of Yuanchuan (苑川宣烈王), was the founding

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

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 th ...

-led Western Qin dynasty of China. Qifu Guoren's father Qifu Sifan (乞伏司繁) was a Xianbei tribal chief in the modern southern/southwestern

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...

region who, after being defeated by 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 ...

general Wang Tong (王統), surrendered in 371 and was allowed to keep his tribe together as a Former Qin vassal. In 376, Qifu Sifan died, and Qifu Guoren succeeded him. When the Former Qin emperor

Fu Jiān Fu or FU may refer to: In arts and entertainment * Fool Us, Penn & Teller's magic-competition television show *Fǔ, a type of ancient Chinese vessel *Fu (poetry) (赋), a Chinese genre of rhymed prose *'' FU: Friendship Unlimited'', a 2017 Marat ...

sought to conquer

Jin Dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had p ...

to unite China in 383, Qifu Guoren was initially going to serve as a general in his advance troops, but at that time, Qifu Guoren's uncle Qifu Butui (乞伏步頹) rebelled, and Fu Jiān sent Qifu Guoren to put down his uncle's rebellion. Instead, Qifu Guoren and Qifu Butui joined forces, and Qifu Guoren declared that Former Qin had worn out its people and that he was establishing an independent state—although at that time he did not take any regal title or declare a new

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

. In 385, after hearing about Fu Jiān's death at the hands of another rebel general,

Yao Chang Yao Chang (; 331–394), courtesy name Jingmao (景茂), formally Emperor Wuzhao of (Later) Qin ((後)秦武昭帝), was the founding emperor of the Qiang-led Chinese Later Qin dynasty. His father Yao Yizhong (姚弋仲) had been a powerful gener ...

(the founder of

Later Qin The Later Qin (; 384–417), also known as Yao Qin (), was a state ruled by the Qiang ethnicity of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin dynasty (266–420) in China. The Later Qin is entirely distinct from the Qin dynasty, the Former Qin and the W ...

), Qifu Guoren did declare himself

chanyu Chanyu () or Shanyu (), short for Chengli Gutu Chanyu (), was the title used by the supreme rulers of Inner Asian nomads for eight centuries until superseded by the title "'' Khagan''" in 402 CE. The title was most famously used by the rulin ...

and changed the era name, thus effectively declaring a break from Former Qin, and thus this date was typically considered the founding date of Western Qin. He divided his domain into 12 commanderies, and he established his capital at Yongshicheng (勇士城, in modern

Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

). Over the next two years, he gradually drew the Xianbei and other ethnicities into his state. In 387, however, contrary to his prior stance against Former Qin, Qifu Guoren accepted the title of Prince of Yuanchuan bestowed on him by the Former Qin emperor Fu Deng and nominally became a Former Qin vassal again, although he did not use the Former Qin era name. In summer 388, Qifu Guoren died. His son Qifu Gongfu (乞伏公府) was still young, and his subordinates supported his brother

Qifu Gangui Qifu Gangui or Qifu Qiangui (; died 412), formally Prince Wuyuan of Qin (秦武元王), was a prince of the Xianbei-led Chinese Western Qin dynasty. He was a brother of the founding prince, Qifu Guoren (Prince Xuanlie), who became prince after Qi ...

to succeed him.

Personal information

* Father ** Qifu Sifan (乞伏司繁), Xianbei tribal chief * Children ** Qifu Gongfu (乞伏公府) (executed 412) ** Qifu Achai (乞伏阿柴) (executed 412)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qifu, Guoren Western Qin princes 388 deaths Former Qin generals Year of birth unknown People from Northwest China Founding monarchs