Huan Chong
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Huan Chong (桓沖;
courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...
: 幼子, ''Youzi''; 328–384), formally Duke Xuanmu of Fengcheng (), was a
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 pr ...
governor and general and the youngest brother of
Huan Wen Huan Wen (桓溫) (312 – 18 August 373), courtesy name Yuanzi (元子), formally Duke Xuanwu of Nan Commandery (南郡宣武公), was a general and regent of the Jin Dynasty (266–420), as well as the leader of Huan clan of Qiaoguo (谯国桓 ...
. Contrary to the ambitious Huan Wen, who at times considered seizing the throne, Huan Chong was known to be dedicated to the preservation of the imperial government. After Huan Wen's son
Huan Xuan Huan Xuan (桓玄) (369 – 19 June 404), courtesy name Jingdao (敬道), nickname Lingbao (靈寶), formally Emperor Wudao of Chu (楚武悼帝), was a Jin Dynasty warlord who briefly took over the imperial throne from Emperor An of Jin and de ...
temporarily seized the throne as the emperor of Chu in 403, he posthumously honored Huan Chong as the Prince of
Xuancheng Xuancheng () is a city in the southeast of Anhui province. Archeological digs suggest that the city has been settled for over 4,000 years, and has been under formal administration since the Qin dynasty. Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage ...
.


Early career under Huan Wen

Huan Chong, one of Huan Wen's younger brothers (the other ones were Huan Yun (),
Huan Huo Huan Huo (320-377), courtesy name Langzi, was a Chinese military general of the Jin dynasty (266–420). He was the brother of Huan Wen and Huan Chong. Although not as influential as his two brothers, Huan Huo was one of the members of the Hua ...
, and Huan Mi (), was considered the most knowledgeable, and Huan Wen entrusted him with great responsibilities. By the time that he accompanied Huan Wen in his campaign against
Yao Xiang Yao Xiang (331–357), courtesy name Jingguo, posthumously honored Prince Wu of Wei, was an ethnic Qiang warlord during the Sixteen Kingdoms and Jin dynasty (266–420) in Chinese history. He was the fifth son and heir of the Later Zhao gener ...
() in 356, he was a governor of two commanderies and the military commander of seven. While on a campaign, he defeated and captured the rebel general Zhou Cheng (), and was made the Duke of Fengcheng and the governor of Jiang Province (江州, modern
Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
and
Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
).


The crisis of Huan Wen's succession

By the time Huan Wen grew gravely ill in 373, Huan Wen was effectively in direct control of the western two thirds of the empire. As Huan Wen hesitated at seizing the throne and ultimately chose not to do so, he entrusted his command to Huan Chong, rather than his
heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
Huan Xi (), because he considered Huan Xi lacking in the talent for military command. However, Huan Xi's younger brother Huan Ji (), along with Huan Mi, conspired to kill Huan Chong and take over. After Huan Wen died, Huan Chong acted first and arrested Huan Xi and Huan Ji. He then exiled Huan Mi and put Huan Xi and Huan Ji under house arrest. He instead reported to the imperial government that Huan Xuan, Huan Wen's youngest son, was designed by Huan Wen as heir, and the imperial government agreed to let the four-year-old Huan Xuan assume Huan Wen's title of Duke of Nan Commandery. There had been anticipation that there might be a confrontation between Huan Chong and the prime minister
Xie An Xie An (謝安) (320 – 12 October 385), courtesy name Anshi (安石), formally Duke Wenjing of Luling (廬陵文靖公), also known as "Xie Dongshan" (谢东山, "dongshan" literally 'East mount'), was a Chinese politician of the Eastern Jin d ...
following Huan Wen's death. Xie avoided a direct confrontation by dividing Huan Wen's domain into three parts and putting them under the commands of Huan Chong, Huan Huo, and Huan Huo's son Huan Shixiu (), respectively. Huan Chong was allocated Yang (揚州, modern
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
, southern
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
, and southern
Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
) and Yu (豫州, modern central Anhui) Provinces. Some of his advisors suggested that he kill some of the imperial officials and take over the imperial government, but he refused, and indeed returned the power to authorize executions (which Huan Wen had exercised) back to the imperial government.


Later life, positions and death

In 375, in further sign that he was showing submission to the imperial government, Huan Chong turned down the governorship of Yang Province (which included the capital
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 ...
), instead becoming the governor of Xu Province (徐州, modern central and northern Jiangsu). Later, after Huan Huo's death in 377, Xie trusted Huan Chong sufficiently to give him the governorship of the important Jing Province (荊州, modern
Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...
and central and southern
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
), as well as the military command over the western half of the empire—nearly the domain that Huan Wen had controlled earlier. In 378, after a major attack by
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 ...
led to the losses of the important cities of Xiangyang (襄陽, in modern
Xiangfan Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...
,
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
) and Weixing (魏興, in modern
Ankang Ankang () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shaanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei province to the east, Chongqing municipality to the south, and Sichuan province to the southwest. History The settl ...
,
Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
), both of which were in his command zone and which he had failed to relieve, Huan Chong offered to resign, but his resignation was not accepted. In 383, when Former Qin launched another major attack, this time seeking to capture Jiankang and destroy Jin, Huan Chong was concerned about the capital's defenses and therefore sent several thousand elite soldiers to Xie to shore up Jiankang's defenses, which Xie declined, stating that the capital was already well-guarded (which, however, it actually was not). Upon receiving the soldiers back, Huan Chong lamented that while Xie was an able prime minister, he lacked military talent, making the exclamation, "I am finally going to have to wear barbarian clothes" (meaning that Jin would soon fall to Former Qin, which Huan considered a barbaric regime). After Former Qin forces were repelled at the
Battle of Fei River The Battle of Fei River, also known as the Battle of Feishui (), was a battle in AD 383 in China, where forces of the Di-led Former Qin dynasty was decisively defeated by the outnumbered army of the Eastern Jin dynasty. The location of the bat ...
, however, Huan Chong became embarrassed—and so much so that he grew ill. He died in early 384. Contrary to the customs for high level officials at the time, Huan Chong did not submit a petition to the emperor in his illness, asking for his family members to be given posts, but only wrote to Xie, lamenting that Huan Wen's youngest sons were still young and that he had thus failed in raising them properly, as Huan Wen asked him to. He was greatly praised at the time for this self-deprecation. {{DEFAULTSORT:Huan, Chong Jin dynasty (266–420) generals 328 births 384 deaths Huan Chu Jin dynasty (266–420) politicians Political office-holders in Jiangsu Political office-holders in Hubei Political office-holders in Jiangxi