Qifu Gangui or Qifu Qiangui[1] (Chinese: 乞伏乾歸; died 412), also known by his posthumous name as the Prince Wuyuan of Western Qin (西秦武元王), 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 Qifu Guoren's death in 388 because Qifu Guoren's son Qifu Gongfu (乞伏公府) was considered too young for leadership. He subsequently expanded the state's power and influence, but only to an extent, and in 400 after military losses to the Later Qin dynasty, his state was annexed by the Later Qin and he himself became a Later Qin general. However, after the Later Qin was weakened by defeats at the hands of its rebel general Helian Bobo's Hu Xia dynasty, Qifu Gangui redeclared independence in 409, but ruled only three more years before he was killed by Qifu Gongfu in a coup. His son Qifu Chipan (Prince Wenzhao) defeated Qifu Gongfu and succeeded him as the ruling prince.
Qifu Gangui was known for using military strategies designed to expose weaknesses and to mislead enemies into acting in an overly dangerous manner, and then strike when the enemy became overconfident.
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Early life
The first reference to Qifu Gangui in history was in 385, when his brother Qifu Guoren declared himself Chanyu and changed era name, thus signifying independence from Former Qin. At that time, Qifu Guoren named Qifu Gangui a major general. Nothing else is known about his life before or during Qifu Guoren's reign, other than an implied reference that he defeated the Former Qin general Wang Guang (王廣) in battle.
In 388, Qifu Guoren died. His son Qifu Gongfu was considered too young to take over the leadership, and the officials and generals supported Qifu Gangui to succeed Qifu Guoren, with the titles Grand Chanyu and Prince of Henan. (This title does not imply dominion over modern Henan; rather, it signified dominion over the portions of modern Gansu and Qinghai that are south of the Yellow River.)
First reign
Qifu Gangui created his wife Lady Bian princess, and he also established a governmental structure designed similarly to a Han Chinese governmental structure. Over the next several years, Qifu Gangui used a variety of military and diplomatic pressure to get the various people around his—including people of Xianbei, Qiang, and Han ethnicities, to submit to him. Later in the year, he moved the capital from Yongshi (勇士城, in modern Lanzhou, Gansu) to Jincheng (also in Lanzhou).
In 389, the Former Qin emperor Fu Deng, to whom Qifu Guoren had nominally submitted as a vassal, created Qifu Gangui the Prince of Jincheng—a title that signified less dominion than his original title of Prince of Henan, because Jincheng Commandery only roughly corresponded to modern Lanzhou—but Qifu Gangui accepted the title.
In 390, the khan of Tuyuhun, Murong Shilian (慕容視連), submitted to Western Qin as a vassal, and Qifu Gangui created him the Prince of Bailan. However, after Murong Shilian died later that year and was succeeded by his more ambitious son Murong Shipi (慕容視羆), Murong Shipi rejected that title.
In 391, Qifu Gangui's general Yuezhi Jiegui (越質詰歸) rebelled, but after Qifu Gangui personally led an army against him, Yuezhi surrendered—and Qifu Gangui married the daughter of a clansman to Yuezhi, showing Qifu Gangui's tendency to try to personally connect with tribal chiefs to get them to submit to him. However, later 391, the strategy could have said to have backfired as the chieftain of the Poduoluo (破多羅) tribe, Moyigan initially submitted and sent two sons as hostages to him, seeking his aid in a campaign against another tribal chief, Da Dou (大兜). Qifu Gangui aided him and defeated Da in battle, and then sent Moyigan sons back to him, to try to get Moyigan to be more grateful of him. However, Moyigan instead turned against Qifu Gangui and aligned himself with the Tiefu chief Liu Weichen, and Qifu Gangui, in anger, attacked Moyigan and, in battle, fired an arrow that struck Moyigan's eye. During the campaign against Moyigan, however, Lü Guang the prince of Later Liang took this opportunity to attack Western Qin, forcing Qifu Gangui to withdraw to face him. This incident appeared to start several years of intermittent battles between Western Qin and Later Liang.
In 393, Qifu Gangui created his son Qifu Chipan as crown prince.
As Later Qin general
Upon Qifu Gangui's arrival in the Later Qin capital Chang'an, Yao Xing created him the Marquess of Guiyi. In 401, Yao Xing inexplicably gave Qifu Gangui his entire captured army back to him and had him defend his old capital Wanchuan, effectively putting him back in the position he had before, but now as a Later Qin vassal. He quickly put his governmental structure back in place, but now with inferior titles to show submission to Later Qin. Later in 401, Yao Xing sent Qifu Gangui to serve as Yao Shuode's assistant in a major campaign against Later Liang's emperor Lü Long (Lü Guang's nephew), forcing Lü Long's submission.
In 402, Qifu Chipan, who had previously made an unsuccessful attempt to escape from Southern Liang to join his father, succeeded in fleeing to Wanchuan. The Southern Liang prince Tufa Rutan sent Qifu Chipan's wife (who might be Tufa Rutan's daughter) and children to join him.
In 403, Lü Long decided to give up his state (now consisting of little more than the capital city of Guzang) to Later Qin, ending Later Liang, and Qifu Gangui was one of the generals whom Yao Xing sent to escort Lü Long to Chang'an and to escort his replacement, the Later Qin general Wang Shang (王尚) to Guzang, which was at the point effectively surrounded by Southern Liang and Northern Liang forces.
For the next few years, Qifu Gangui appeared to begin to act more independently again. For example, in 405, apparently without Later Qin sanction, he attacked Murong Dahai (慕容大孩), the khan of Tuyuhun, and later in the year he battled fellow Later Qin vassal Yang Sheng (楊盛), the ruler of Chouchi.
Around the new year 407, Qifu Gangui went on an official visit to Chang'an. Yao Xing, apprehensive about Qifu Gangui's strength and independence, detained him and made him a minister, giving his command to Qifu Chipan.
In 408, with Tufa Rutan, who had previously submitted as a Later Qin vassal, acting independently but yet suffering many internal problems, Yao Xing became resolved to destroy Southern Liang, and Qifu Gangui was one of the generals he sent under the command of his son Yao Bi (姚弼) to try to destroy Southern Liang. However, Yao Bi's campaign resulted in failure, and while Tufa Rutan nominally continued to submit for a time, he soon declared full independence. In 409, Qifu Gangui himself escaped and returned to Wanchuan. Later in the year, he redeclared the Western Qin state with the title Prince of Qin and changed his era name.
Second reign
After his restoration, Qifu Gangui again created his wife Princess Bian as princess and Qifu Chipan as crown prince, and he temporarily set his capital at Dujianshan (度堅山, in modern Baiyin, Gansu). In 410, he attacked Later Qin's Jincheng Commandery and captured it, and later in 410 moved the capital back to Wanchuan. He then captured several more Later Qin commanderies. However, in spring 411, he returned the captured officials to Later Qin and sought peace, offering to again submit as a vassal. Yao Xing created him the Prince of Henan. However, in winter 411 he again captured several Later Qin commanderies. In spring 412, he moved the capital to Tanjiao (譚郊, in modern Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu), and left Qifu Chipan in charge of Wanchuan.
In summer 412, Qifu Guoren's son Qifu Gongfu killed Qifu Gangui in a coup and also killed more than 10 of Qifu Gangui's sons. After a short campaign between Qifu Gongfu and Qifu Chipan, Qifu Chipan succeeded and killed Qifu Gongfu. He took the throne as Prince Wenzhao.