Yifu Hun () or Yi Hun (乙渾; died 466),
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 ...
surname Yifu (乙弗), Xianbei personal name Bu (步), was a high-ranking official 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 Chinese
Northern Wei dynasty
Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during the ...
, who effectively briefly served as the
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
for
Emperor Xianwen.
Little is known about Yifu Hun's background despite his one-time prominent status, as neither official histories ''
Wei Shu'' nor ''
Bei Shi'' contained a biography for him—a fairly unusual fact, as both of those works were generally considered highly comprehensive in including biographies, even for villainous figures. He came to power in 465 after
Emperor Wencheng died and was succeeded by his young son Emperor Xianwen. Yifu quickly seized power and killed a number of other officials, including Yang Baoping (楊保平), Jia Airen (賈愛仁) the Duke of Pingyang, and Zhang Tiandu (張天度) the Duke of Nanyang. He then summoned Emperor Wencheng's trusted prime minister
Buliugu Li Buliugu Li () (died 465), more commonly known in historical accounts as Lu Li (陸麗) (after the change of Xianbei names to Han names in 496, Xianbei surname "Buliugu" was changed to "Lu"'' Book of Wei'', vol. 113.), Xianbei nickname Yili (伊利 ...
, away from the capital Pingcheng (平城, in modern
Datong
Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 cens ...
,
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 ...
) back to Pingcheng, and after he got into conflicts with Buliugu, killed Buliugu, as well as Qiumuling Duohou (丘穆陵多侯), who had warned Buliugu not to return to the capital, and Tuoba Yu (拓拔郁) the Duke of Shunyang. He became the commander of the armed forces, and while he was not regent by title, he effectively was regent. He was also created the Prince of Taiyuan.
By 466, Yifu was continuing to carry out a campaign of terror. However, Emperor Wencheng's wife
Empress Dowager Feng
Empress (Dowager) Feng (馮皇(太)后) (442 – 17 October 490), formally Empress (Dowager) Wenming (文明皇后, literally "the civil and understanding empress") was an empress of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. Her husband was E ...
then staged a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
, probably along with Jia Xiu (賈秀) and Tuoba Pi (拓拔丕), and Yifu was arrested and executed.
['']Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...
'', vol. 131
References
Northern Wei regents
466 deaths
Year of birth unknown
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