Lü Long
Encyclopedia
Jiankang Gong (建康公)
Family name
Chinese name
Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"...

:
Lü (呂; lǚ)
Given name
Chinese name
Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"...

:
Long (隆, lóng)
Posthumous name
Posthumous name
A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in East Asia after the person's death, and is used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life...

:
None


Lü Long (呂隆) (died 416), courtesy name Yongji (永基), was the last emperor of the Chinese
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

/Di
Di (ethnic group)
The Di were an ethnic group in China from the 8th century BCE to approximately the middle of the 6th century CE. Note that the character Di is used to differentiate this group from the Beidi , a generic term for "northern barbarians". They lived in areas of the present-day provinces of Gansu,...

 state Later Liang
Later Liang
The Later Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It was founded by the Lü family of the Di ethnicity.All rulers of the Later Liang proclaimed themselves "Heavenly Prince" ....

. He was the nephew of the founding emperor Lü Guang
Lü Guang
Lü Guang , courtesy name Shiming , formally Emperor Yiwu of Liang , was the founding emperor of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang...

 (Emperor Yiwu), and he took the throne after his brother Lü Chao
Lu Chao
Lu Chao from China is the recognized Guinness record holder for reciting digits of Pi. He successfully recited 67,890 digits of pi in 24 hours and 4 minutes with an error at the 67,891st digit, saying it was a "5", when it was actually a "0". He stated he had 100,000 memorized, and was going to...

 (呂超) assassinated the emperor Lü Zuan
Lü Zuan
Lü Zuan , courtesy name Yongxu , formally Emperor Ling of Liang , was an emperor of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang. He was the oldest son of the founding emperor Lü Guang , but was not Lü Guang's rightful heir, as he was not born of Lü Guang's wife Princess Shi...

 (Emperor Ling) in 401 and offered the throne to him. During his reign, Later Liang was under constant attacks by Northern Liang
Northern Liang
The Northern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by the Xiongnu Juqu family, although they initially supported the Han official Duan Ye as prince, they overthrew him in 401 and took over themselves....

 and Southern Liang
Southern Liang
The Southern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. The founding family Tufa was of Xianbei ethnicity and distant relative of the Tuoba imperial house of Northern Wei...

 and reduced largely to its capital Guzang (姑臧, in modern Wuwei, Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...

). In 403, Lü Long decided to end the state by surrendering Guzang to Later Qin
Later Qin
The Later Qin was a state of Qiang ethnicity of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. Note that the Later Qin is entirely distinct from the ancient Qin Dynasty, the Former Qin, and the Western Qin....

's emperor Yao Xing
Yao Xing
Yao Xing , courtesy name Zilue , formally Emperor Wenhuan of Qin , was an emperor of the Chinese/Qiang state Later Qin. He was the son of the founding emperor Yao Chang . For most of his reign, he did not use the title of emperor, but used the title Heavenly Prince...

. He became a Later Qin official, but after aligning himself with Yao Xing's son Yao Bi (姚弼), who made unsuccessful attempts to seize the crown prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

 position from Yao Hong
Yao Hong
Yao Hong , courtesy name Yuanzi , was the last emperor of the Chinese/Qiang state Later Qin. He was the oldest son and heir of Yao Xing , who was already regarded as kind but weak during his father's reign, and after his father's death, with the state already weakened by attacks by the rebel Xia...

, was executed by Yao Hong after Yao Xing's death in 416.

Early life

Not much is known about Lü Long's early life, and his birthdate is not known, and virtually nothing is known about his father Lü Bao. He was described as handsome and skilled at horsemanship and archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...

. Late in the reign of his uncle Lü Guang
Lü Guang
Lü Guang , courtesy name Shiming , formally Emperor Yiwu of Liang , was the founding emperor of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang...

 (Emperor Yiwu) he served as a general, but he did not have the same prominence that his younger brother Lü Chao
Lu Chao
Lu Chao from China is the recognized Guinness record holder for reciting digits of Pi. He successfully recited 67,890 digits of pi in 24 hours and 4 minutes with an error at the 67,891st digit, saying it was a "5", when it was actually a "0". He stated he had 100,000 memorized, and was going to...

 (呂超) had.

In 401, Lü Chao assassinated Lü Guang's son Lü Zuan
Lü Zuan
Lü Zuan , courtesy name Yongxu , formally Emperor Ling of Liang , was an emperor of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang. He was the oldest son of the founding emperor Lü Guang , but was not Lü Guang's rightful heir, as he was not born of Lü Guang's wife Princess Shi...

 (Emperor Ling) and killed Lü Zuan's brother Lü Wei (呂緯) the Duke of Longxi, and then offered the throne to Lü Long. Initially, Lü Long was hesitant to accept, but Lü Chao compared this to riding a dragon up to heaven and not being able to get off, and Lü Long accepted, using the title "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang
Tian Wang
Tian Wang , translatable as either "heavenly prince" or "heavenly king," was a Chinese regal title that was most frequently used during the Sixteen Kingdoms era, among the kingdoms founded by members of the Wu Hu tribes, often used as an intermediate stage from claiming a prince/king title to an...

), roughly equivalent to emperor. He honored his mother Lady Wei as empress dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...

, and created his wife Lady Yang
Empress Yang (Lü Long)
Empress Yang was an empress of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang. Her husband was the last emperor, Lü Long.Very little is known about Empress Yang. She was created empress when Lü Long became emperor in 401, after his brother Lü Chao assassinated the emperor Lü Zuan...

 as empress. He created Lü Chao the Duke of Anding and entrusted most governmental and military affairs to him.

Reign

Lü Long, however, instead of correcting Lü Zuan's rule (which was considered violent and arbitrary), continued the violence by slaughtering many strong clans within his state for the purpose of showing his authority, and the people were further alienated. After hearing this, in summer 401, the Later Qin
Later Qin
The Later Qin was a state of Qiang ethnicity of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. Note that the Later Qin is entirely distinct from the ancient Qin Dynasty, the Former Qin, and the Western Qin....

 emperor Yao Xing
Yao Xing
Yao Xing , courtesy name Zilue , formally Emperor Wenhuan of Qin , was an emperor of the Chinese/Qiang state Later Qin. He was the son of the founding emperor Yao Chang . For most of his reign, he did not use the title of emperor, but used the title Heavenly Prince...

 sent his uncle Yao Shuode (姚碩德) to launch a major attack on Later Liang. The Later Qin army quickly reached Guzang and put it under siege. Many of the non-natives in Guzang planned a rebellion to give the city to Later Qin, but were discovered, and Lü Long slaughtered them, but with Yao Shuode's pressure, Lü Chao suggested nominal submission to Later Qin, which Lü Long agreed with, sending his nephews and some 50 clans to the Later Qin capital Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

 as hostages to guarantee his faithfulness. Per Yao Shuode's recommendation, Yao Xing created him the Duke of Jiankang, although Lü Long continued to internally use the title of Heavenly Prince. Yao Shuode then withdrew.

However, Lü Long continued to be under constant attack by both Southern Liang
Southern Liang
The Southern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. The founding family Tufa was of Xianbei ethnicity and distant relative of the Tuoba imperial house of Northern Wei...

 and Northern Liang
Northern Liang
The Northern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by the Xiongnu Juqu family, although they initially supported the Han official Duan Ye as prince, they overthrew him in 401 and took over themselves....

, and just a few months after Yao Shuode's withdrawal Lü Chao suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Southern Liang general Tufa Rutan
Tufa Rutan
Tufa Rutan , formally Prince Jing of Liang) , was the last prince of the Chinese/Xianbei state Southern Liang...

. Due to the wars, there was a severe famine, so much so that more than 100,000 people were starved. Everyday, hundreds of the residents of Guzang pled to exit the city, even knowing that they would be captured to be slaves. Lü Long was angry at these behaviors, believing that this damaged his regime's image, and therefore executed these people. Lü Long tried to make peace with both Southern Liang and Northern Liang, and in 402 had a brief peace with both, even obtaining some famine relief from Northern Liang's prince Juqu Mengxun
Juqu Mengxun
Juqu Mengxun was a prince of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Northern Liang, and the first from the Juqu clan. His cousin Juqu Nancheng and he initially supported Duan Ye as prince of Northern Liang in 397 after rebelling against Later Liang, but in 401, Juqu Mengxun tricked Duan Ye into wrongly...

, but the peace did not last, nor did Later Qin military assistance stop the attacks.

By 403, Lü Long was desperate. Meanwhile, Later Qin officials advised Yao Xing to take control of Later Liang territory directly, believing that if Lü Long somehow survived this crisis, he would no longer be a vassal. Yao Xing therefore summoned Lü Chao to Chang'an, intending to use his absence to force Lü Long to submit. When Lü Long received the order, he decided to end the state of siege altogether by offering his territory—now not much more than Guzang itself—to Later Qin. Yao Xing sent his general Qi Nan (齊難) with a large force to protect and escort Lü Long to Chang'an. Lü Long welcomed him and then, after saying farewell to Lü Guang's temple, left for Chang'an. Later Qin took over the city, and Later Liang was no more.

Under Later Qin rule

Lü Long was made a Later Qin official, and he used his Later Qin-bestowed title of Duke of Jiankang. Little is known about most of the duration that he spent under Later Qin rule. However, late in Yao Xing's reign, he became involved in the plot by Yao Xing's son Yao Bi (姚弼) the Duke of Guangping to seize the position of crown prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

 from his brother Yao Hong
Yao Hong
Yao Hong , courtesy name Yuanzi , was the last emperor of the Chinese/Qiang state Later Qin. He was the oldest son and heir of Yao Xing , who was already regarded as kind but weak during his father's reign, and after his father's death, with the state already weakened by attacks by the rebel Xia...

, and in 416, after a failed attempt by Yao Bi's associates to seize power in a coup, Yao Bi was forced to commit suicide, and Lü Long, along with other co-conspirators, were arrested. He was executed by Yao Hong shortly after Yao Xing then died the next day, as was his brother Lü Chao.

Personal information

  • Father
    • Lü Bao (呂寶), posthumously honored Emperor Wen, brother of Lü Guang
      Lü Guang
      Lü Guang , courtesy name Shiming , formally Emperor Yiwu of Liang , was the founding emperor of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang...

       (Emperor Yiwu)
  • Mother
    • Lady Wei
      Empress Dowager Wei
      Empress Dowager Wei was an empress dowager of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang. She was the mother of the last emperor Lü Long....

  • Wife
    • Empress Yang
      Empress Yang (Lü Long)
      Empress Yang was an empress of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang. Her husband was the last emperor, Lü Long.Very little is known about Empress Yang. She was created empress when Lü Long became emperor in 401, after his brother Lü Chao assassinated the emperor Lü Zuan...

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