Zhi Xiong (fl. 4th century) was a

Yuezhi The Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat ...

military general of

Later Zhao The Later Zhao (; 319–351) was a dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity. The Jie were most likely a Yeniseian people and spoke next to Chinese one of the Yeniseian languages.Vov ...

during the

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

period. He was one of Shi Le's Eighteen Riders (十八騎) whose career stretched from Shi Le's bandit days all the way to the reign of his nephew Shi Hu.

Life

Zhi Xiong was a descendant of one of the Yuezhi tribes in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. He joined Shi Le in 305, after the latter had just established himself as a bandit with support from

Ji Sang Ji Sang (died 11 January 308) was a Chinese rebel of the Western Jin dynasty. During his days as a shepherd, he befriended a Jie slave who he would name Shi Le (the future Emperor Ming of Later Zhao). The two raised a personal army and later j ...

. Like many who joined him, he became one of Shi Le's Eighteen Riders. In 309, after Shi Le occupied Julu and

Changshan (; ), also known as (), and (), is a form of , Chinese robe, which was derived from the Qing dynasty , the traditional dress of the Manchu people, which were worn by Manchu men. The was actually developed by the Han Chinese through the mod ...

commanderies, Zhi Xiong was made one of his "talon and teeth" (爪牙) along with

Kong Chang Kong Chang (fl. 4th century) was a barbarian military general of Later Zhao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was one of Shi Le's more active generals during Shi's career in Han Zhao as well as his early reign as Prince of Zhao. He partici ...

Kui An Kui An (died 340) was a Tianzhu military general and minister of Later Zhao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was one of Shi Le's earliest followers as a member of his Eighteen Riders (十八騎). He later became a partisan of Shi Hu's ...

Tao Bao Tao Bao (died 340), courtesy name Anbu, was a military general of Later Zhao during China's Sixteen Kingdoms period. Being one of Shi Le's Eighteen Riders, his most notable activities were his battles with Zu Ti, in which he defended the city o ...

and Lu Ming (逯明). Zhi Xiong followed Shi Le to attack

Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Chen dynasty (557–589 CE). Its walls ...

in 312. The campaign was going badly for Shi Le as storms, famines and diseases was deteriorating his numbers. He gathered his generals to discuss their next move. Zhi Xiong and Kong Chang suggested to Shi Le that they carry out a night raid on

Shouchun Shou County or Shouxian () is a county in the north-central part of Anhui Province, China, and is located on the southern (right) bank of the Huai River. It is the southernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Huainan. Its po ...

and break through Danyang. Shi Le applaud their bold idea but did not think it had proper strategy to it. In the end, he followed Zhang Bin and subverted his plans from conquering Jiankang to conquering Yecheng. Along the way, he came across the Administrator of Ji, Xiang Bing (向冰) at Fangtou (枋頭, in modern

Hebi Hebi ( ; postal: Hopi) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China. Situated in mountainous terrain at the edge of the Shanxi plateau, Hebi is about south of Anyang, northeast of Xinxiang and north of Kaifeng. As of the 202 ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

). Prior to that, Shi Le's army was already suffering from famine to the point of resorting to cannibalism, and Shi Le worried that Xiang Bing may finish them off. With advice of Zhang Bin, Shi Le sent Zhi Xiong and Kong Chang to Wenshi Crossing (文石津, around present-day Yanji County,

), where they were tasked in capturing boats from Shi Le's army to cross. They brought back the boats, allowing Shi Le to properly battle Xiang Bing and capturing him. In 312, Zhi Xiong was one of the many generals to besiege Xuanyang (苑鄕, in present-day

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

and

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

) after the inhabitants renounce their allegiance to

Han Zhao The Han Zhao (; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xiongnu people during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern ...

and surrendered the Youzhou's warlord Wang Jun. Wang Jun assisted the rebels by attacking Shi Le's base at Xiangyang, but was repelled, so people of Xuanyang surrendered back to Zhao. In 315, Zhi Xiong was sent to defeat Liu Kun's general Liu Yan (劉演) at Linqiu but lost. Liu Yan ordered his generals Pan Liang (潘良) and Han Hong (韓弘) to attack Dunqiu (頓丘, in present-day

Qingfeng County Qingfeng County is a county located in the northeast of Henan province, bordering the provinces of Hebei to the northwest and Shandong to the east. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Puyang. In the Han Dynasty, Dunqiu ...

), where they beheaded the prefect Shao Pan (邵攀). Zhi Xiong counterattacked and chase them back to Linqiu, where he killed Pan Liang. Later that year, Zhi Xiong and Lu Ming attacked Ning Hei (甯黑) at Wuyang. Ning Hei drowned himself, and Zhi Xiong relocated the people of Wuyang to Xiangguo (襄國, in modern

Xingtai Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...

). Shi Le broke away from Han Zhao and established his own independent regime in 319. Zhi Xiong was made Libationer of the Gates. His duty was to prevent and settle any conflict among the tribal people and ensure that they do not oppress the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

officials within Shi Le's territory. In 338, Zhi Xiong participated in the Later Zhao and Former Yan joint campaign against the

Duan tribe The Duan () was a pre-state tribe of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. History The reason the tribe adopted the Han Chinese surname Duan is unknown. Duan Wuwuchen was given in 303 a hereditary title— the "Duke o ...

. Zhi Xiong was made Grand Dragon-Soaring General and together with

Yao Yizhong Yao Yizhong (280–352), posthumously honored as Emperor Jingyuan, was a Qiang military general of the Later Zhao dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Starting out as an independent warlord during the Disaster of Yongjia, Yizhong soon fo ...

, they were given 70,000 cavalry under their command to serve as the vanguard against the tribe's chieftain,

Duan Liao Duan Liao (段遼) (died 339), also known as Duan Huliao (段護遼), was a Xianbei chieftain of the Duan tribe during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of China. He was the last chieftain of the Duan state before it was conquered in 338. Duan Liao laun ...

. During the campaign, Zhi Xiong made a long march to Jicheng, forcing the administrators of Yuyang,

Shanggu Shanggu Commandery ( zh, 上谷郡) was a commandery in imperial China from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. It was located in present-day Hebei and Beijing. The commandery was established by the state of Yan for the defense against the ...

and Dai to surrender while capturing forty cities. The campaign ended in the alliance's victory and the end of the Duan tribe's autonomy. Nothing is recorded of Zhi Xiong from this point on.(趙王虎進屯金台。支雄長驅入薊，段遼所署漁陽、上谷、代郡守相皆降，取四十餘城。北平相陽裕帥其民數千家登燕山以自固，諸將恐其為後患，欲攻之。虎曰：「裕儒生，矜惜名節，恥於迎降耳，無能為也。」遂過之，至徐無。段遼以弟蘭既敗，不必復戰，帥妻子、宗族、豪大千餘家，棄令支，奔密雲山。將行，執慕容翰手泣曰：「不用卿言，自取敗亡。我固苦心，令卿失所，深以為愧。」翰北奔宇文氏。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 96

References

* Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang X ...

'' (''Jin Shu''). * Sima, Guang (1084).

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhi, Xiong Former Zhao generals Later Zhao generals