Fu Chong (; died 394) was an

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

of the Di-led Former Qin dynasty of China. He assumed the throne in 394 after the death of his father, Fu Deng (Emperor Gao). He later died in battle against the Western Qin, thus marking the collapse of the Former Qin.

During Fu Deng's reign

Fu Chong was first mentioned in history in 386, when his father assumed imperial title of Former Qin after the death of

Fu Pi Fu Pi (; died 386), courtesy name Yongshu (永叔), formally Emperor Aiping of (Former) Qin ((前)秦哀平帝), was an emperor of the Di-led Former Qin dynasty of China. He was Fu Jiān's oldest son, although not his crown prince, and after Fu ...

(Emperor Aiping). In 387, Fu Deng created Fu Pi's son Fu Yi (苻懿)

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the w ...

and created Fu Chong the Prince of Dongping and made him one of the key officials. After Fu Yi died in 388, Fu Chong was created crown prince. His involvements in his father's campaigns against the rival

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 ...

's emperor

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 ...

are not completely clear. In 394, after Yao Chang's death, Fu Deng launched a major attack against Later Qin; he had his brother Fu Guang (苻廣) defend the base of Yongcheng (雍城, in modern

Baoji () is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a population of 3,321,853 accor ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

) and Fu Chong defend the base of Hu Kong Castle (胡空堡, in modern

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an m ...

) and, in his anxiety, did not make sure that his army had sufficient water supply. Yao Xing set up his army at Mawei (馬嵬, in modern

) to prevent Former Qin forces from reaching the river near Mawei, and Former Qin forces collapsed in thirst. Upon hearing the defeat, Fu Guang and Fu Chong abandoned the two bases that they were holding, and Fu Deng was unable to recapture them. He instead fled to Pingliang and then into the mountains. He sent his son Fu Zong the Prince of Ruyin to the ruler of Western Qin,

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 ...

and married his sister to Qifu Gangui as his princess, seeking aid from Qifu Gangui. Qifu Gangui sent his general Qifu Yizhou (乞伏益州) to aid Fu Deng, but as Fu Deng came out of the mountains to join Qifu Yizhou's forces, Yao Xing ambushed and captured him, and then executed him.

Brief reign

Upon hearing his father's death, Fu Chong fled to Huangzhong (湟中, in modern

Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and w ...

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

), under

's control, and declared himself emperor. He created his son Fu Xuan (苻宣) crown prince. However, in winter 394, Qifu Gangui expelled him, and he fled to one of his father's last remaining generals, Yang Ding the Prince of Longxi. Yang led his forces to join Fu Chong's to attack Qifu Gangui. Qifu Gangui sent Qifu Yizhou and two other generals, Qifu Ketan (乞伏軻彈) and Yuezhi Jiegui (越質詰歸) against Yang and Fu Chong, and Yang was initially successful against Qifu Yizhou. However, the three Western Qin generals then counterattacked and killed Yang and Fu Chong in battle. This ended Former Qin, as while Fu Chong's crown prince Fu Xuan then fled to and allied with Yang Ding's cousin and successor Yang Sheng (楊盛), he did not seek to reestablish Former Qin's governmental structure. Fu Xuan was later mentioned in history in 397, when both he and Yang Sheng were given general titles by Jin, in 407, when he led Yang Sheng's army against Later Qin, and in 413, when he was forced by Jin to return to Yang's domain of

Chouchi Chouchi (), or Qiuchi (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Yang clan of Di ethnicity in modern-day Gansu Province. Its existence spanned both the Sixteen Kingdoms and Northern and Southern dynasties periods, but it is not listed among ...

Personal information

* Father ** Fu Deng (Emperor Gao) * Children ** Fu Xuan (苻宣), the Crown Prince (created 394)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fu, Chong Former Qin emperors Former Qin generals 394 deaths Year of birth unknown 4th-century births