Tufa Shujineng

Tufa Shujineng (died 279) was a Qiang-Xianbei chieftain who lived during the Three Kingdoms period of China. As the leader of the Tufa tribe in Hexi, he led a rebellion against the ruling Western Jin dynasty between 270 and 279. Shujineng killed many of the Western Jin generals sent against him and contributed to delaying the Emperor Wu of Jin's plans to conquer the Eastern Wu dynasty. The rebellion peaked in 279 with Shujineng’s capture of Liang Province, but that same year would also see its end, as Shujineng was decisively defeated and killed by the Jin general, Ma Long.

Life

Background

Tufa Shujineng's grandfather was Tufa Shoutian (禿髮壽闐) and his great-grandfather was Pigu (匹孤). Pigu was the son of the Tuoba Xianbei chieftain Tuoba Jifen (拓跋詰汾) and his brother was Tuoba Liwei. Pigu led his branch of Xianbei to Hexi when Liwei succeeded their father as chieftain in 218. There are two theories as to how the Tufa got their name. The first being that the words 'Tufa' (禿髮) and 'Tuoba' (拓拔) were homonyms, and is used as a derogatory term against Pigu's branch since Tufa meant 'bald hair'. The other, more traditional view is that it was Shoutian who named the clan 'Tufa' after his nickname. It was purported that Shoutian was born on a blanket, and the Xianbei word for blanket is 'Tufa', so Shoutian was called as such. Shoutian died in an unknown year and was succeeded by his grandson, Tufa Shujineng. Shujineng was described by historians as both brave and resolute as well as cunning and crafty. Despite his Xianbei lineage, he and his people are sometimes referred to as Qiang people in the ''Book of Jin.''

When the Cao Wei was stationed in the north west, he received the surrender of tens of thousands of Xianbei people from Hexi. He resettled them in the areas between Liang and Yong provinces, where they mingled with the local inhabitants. Between 268 and 269, droughts and floods were happening throughout China, prompting the Jin minister, Fu Xuan, to come up with five proposals. In one of his proposals, he expressed concerns over the Xianbei people that Deng Ai had resettled, fearing that they would rebel. Previously, the general, Hu Lie, had been appointed Inspector of the newly formed Qin province due to his reputation in the west. Fu Xuan suggested that a new commandery be set up around Gaopingchuan (高平川; in present-day Guyuan, Ningxia) to open up a passage to the north and strengthen the borders, and that the new commandery, along with Anding and Wuwei (武威郡; in present-day Jingyuan County, Gansu) Commanderies, be transfered to Qin for Hu Lie to administer.

Rebellion against Jin

Due to bureaucratic oppression by local Chinese officials, Shujineng rebelled against Jin in 270. Hu Lie led an attack to quell this revolt, but he was defeated and killed at Wanhudui (萬斛堆, located in Gaolan County, Gansu). The Prince of Fufeng, Sima Liang, was supposed to send reinforcements through his subordinate Liu Qi (劉旂) to aid Hu Lie, but Liu refused to move his troops. Emperor Wu of Jin wanted to punish Liu Qi, but Sima Liang defended him and lost his post in the process.

With the removal of Sima Liang, Shi Jian (石鉴) and Tian Zheng (田章) were sent instead by Emperor Wu to put down the uprising. Shi Jian ordered his subordinate, Du Yu, to attack Shujineng. However, Du Yu remonstrated him, stating that the enemy were still riled up from their recent victories, as opposed to the demoralized Jin troops, and that they should wait until the following year to attack. Du Yu's words angered Shi Jian, who had him sent back to Luoyang in a prison cart. Shi Jian carried out his original plans, but he too could not defeat Shujineng.

In 271, Shujineng was joined by the various tribes of Beidi (北地, in present-day Qingyang, Gansu) in his invasion of Jincheng (金城; around present-day Yuzhong County, Gansu). The Inspector of Liang Province, Qian Hong, led his troops to fight Shujineng, but Qiang troops within Qian's army, dissatisfied by his mistreatment of them, rebelled and join Shujineng. Qian Hong was killed in battle at Mount Qing (青山, located in Huan county, Gansu province) after Shujineng and his allies surrounded his army. Qian Hong's replacement as Inspector of Liang, Su Yu (蘇愉) was also routed and killed by Shujineng at Mount Jin (金山, located in Shandan county, Gansu province) later that year.

Shujineng created so much concern for Emperor Wu that he was unable to eat until late in the day. Two of his ministers, Ren Kai (任愷) and Yu Chun (庾純), attempted to undermine their political enemy, Jia Chong, by recommending him to Emperor Wu to fight Shujineng. Emperor Wu initially agreed and had even given Jia the necessary appointments to do so. This decision caused much distress for Jia Chong, but with Xun Xu's help, he was able to remain in Luoyang after securing a marriage between his daughter, Jia Nanfeng, and Emperor Wu's heir, Sima Zhong.

Defeats and brief surrender

Shujineng's string of victories came to an end in 275 when he was defeated by the Marshal of Yong and Liang Province, Sima Jun and lost 3,000 men in battle. In 277, Sima Jun's subordinate, Wen Yang, campaigned against Shujineng and gave him his second defeat. This time, around 200,000 tribesmen surrendered to Wen Yang. Wen Yang tightened the security in Liang, Qin and Yong by having patrols defend villagers from Shujineng's raids. Faced with repeated defeats, Shujineng negotiated peace with Jin by sending one of his sons to Luoyang as a hostage.

Resumed rebellion and death

Peace between Jin and Shujineng did not last, as he revolted again in 278. The Inspector of Liang Province, Yang Xin (楊欣), fought with Shujineng's allies, Ruoluobaneng (若羅拔能) and others, at the Dang Ranges (丹嶺) in Wuwei, but was defeated and beheaded. As Shujineng continued to harass Jin's borders, the minister Li Xi (李憙) suggested that they send an army to put him down, but the court disagreed, believing the situation was not as serious as Li thought. However, by the beginning of 279, Shujineng captured Liang Province, much to the regret of Emperor Wu.

A junior Jin General by the name of Ma Long volunteered to help defeat Shujineng and marched into Liang with 3,500 elite soldiers. In response, Shujineng had his army occupy the passes to defend against Ma Long. During Ma Long's battles with Shujineng, he used tactics that were rather unorthodox and questionable. Ma Long implemented what were called 'flat box carts (偏箱車)' which helped protect the troops from arrows while also allowing them to kill many enemies as they advanced though the narrow passes. It is also said that he placed magnetic stones on the ground to slow down the Xianbei troops, who generally wore iron armour as opposed to the Jin troops wearing rhinoceros hide armour. Shujineng's soldiers supposedly thought these stones to be divine.

Regardless of its historicity, Ma Long's campaign saw the end of Shujineng's raids. Once Ma Long reached Wuwei, Shujineng's allies, Cubahan (猝跋韓) and Zuwanneng (且萬能), surrendered to Ma Long with ten thousand tribes under them. At the end of the year, Shujineng was decisively defeated and killed by Ma Long, although another account states that after the battle, Shujineng's subordinates turned on him. One of them, Meigu (沒骨) assassinated Shujineng before he and the rest of the rebel forces surrendered to Jin.(樹機能後為部民沒骨所殺，從弟務丸統任。) ''Wei Shu'', vol.99 With peace restored, Shujineng was replaced with his younger cousin, Tufa Wuwan (禿髮烏孤), as their tribe's leader. Wuwan's great-great-grandson, Tufa Wugu (Prince Wu), would become the founder of the Southern Liang dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.

References

* Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). ''Book of Jin'' (''Jin Shu'').
* Sima, Guang (1084). ''Zizhi Tongjian''.
* Wei, Shou (554). ''Book of Wei'' (''Wei Shu'').

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tufa, Shujineng
Year of birth unknown
279 deaths
People of the Three Kingdoms
Southern Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms)