Murong Xi

Murong Xi (; 385–407; r. 401–407), courtesy name Daowen (道文), formally Emperor Zhaowen of (Later) Yan ((後)燕昭文帝), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Later Yan dynasty of China. He was one of the youngest sons of Murong Chui (Emperor Wucheng), and after the death of his nephew Murong Sheng (Emperor Zhaowu) became emperor due to his affair with Murong Sheng's mother, Empress Dowager Ding. He was regarded as a cruel and capricious ruler, who acted at the whims of himself and his wife, Empress Fu Xunying, greatly damaging the Later Yan state. After Empress Fu died in 407, he left the capital Longcheng (龍城, in modern Jinzhou, Liaoning) to bury her, and the soldiers in Longcheng took this chance to rebel and replace him with Murong Bao's adopted son Murong Yun (Emperor Huiyi), and Murong Xi himself was captured and killed. (Because Murong Yun was an adopted son who later changed his name back to Gao Yun, some historians treat Murong Xi as the last emperor of Later Yan and Gao Yun as the first emperor of Northern Yan, while others treat Gao Yun as the last emperor of Later Yan and his successor Feng Ba as the first emperor of Northern Yan.) Early life Murong Xi was born in 385, to Murong Chui and his concubine Consort Duan, soon after Murong Chui had established Later Yan. In 393, Murong Chui created him the Prince of Hejian. He was one of Murong Chui's favored sons. Little else is known about his life during his father's reign. During Murong Bao's and Murong Sheng's reigns After Murong Chui had died in 396 and been succeeded by Murong Xi's older brother Murong Bao (Emperor Huimin)), Later Yan came under heavy attack by Northern Wei's prince Tuoba Gui, and the capital Zhongshan (中山, in modern Baoding, Hebei) was sieged by Northern Wei forces.