Helian Ding
Helian Ding 赫連 | |||||||||
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Emperor of Hu Xia | |||||||||
Reign | 428[1]–431[2] | ||||||||
Predecessor | Helian Chang | ||||||||
Born | unknown | ||||||||
Died | May 13, 432?[2][3][4] | ||||||||
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House | Helian | ||||||||
Dynasty | Hu Xia |
Helian Ding (Chinese: 赫連
During Helian Bobo's reign[edit]
It is not known when Helian Ding was born, or who his mother was. In 414, when Helian Bobo created his son Helian Gui (赫連璝) crown prince and the other sons dukes, Helian Chang was created the Duke of Pingyuan. Helian Ding was said to have been a delinquent and frivolous youth, and Helian Bobo had low opinions of him and gave him little authority.
During Helian Chang's reign[edit]
After Helian Bobo's death in 425, Helian Ding's older brother Helian Chang (who had replaced Helian Gui as crown prince in 424) succeeded him. Helian Chang gave Helian Ding more authorities than before, and Helian Ding quickly became one of the major generals that his brother relied on. After rival Northern Wei's general Daxi Jin (
Meanwhile, knowing that Helian Ding was occupied, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei made an attack on Tongwan, and Helian Chang initially wanted to recall Helian Ding from Chang'an; instead, Helian Ding advised him to defend Tongwan securely to wear out the Northern Wei forces, and then he, after capture Chang'an, could then return and attack Northern Wei forces on two sides. Helian Chang agreed and did not engage Northern Wei forces. However, subsequently, receiving false information that Northern Wei forces had run out of food, he decided to attack Northern Wei forces and was soundly defeated, and he fled to Shanggui (
In spring 428, after initially withdrawing further from Shanggui to Pingliang (
Reign[edit]
Meanwhile, Daxi, ashamed that he was nearly destroyed by Hellian Chang at Anding and was only saved by his officers Anchi and Yuchi's ingenuity, proceeded further, without adequate food supplies, to try to attack Helian Ding at Pingliang, taking up a dangerous position without adequate water supply as well. A low-level Northern Wei officer who had been charged with crime then fled to the Xia camp and revealed the lack of food and water supplies that Daxi's forces were having. Helian Ding then attacked and captured Daxi. Upon hearing this, the Northern Wei general Qiudun Dui (
In summer 428, Helian Ding sent an embassy to Northern Wei requesting peace. Instead, Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu issued an edict ordering him to surrender, which he did not do. On a hunt at which he could see the old capital Tongwan from a distance, Helian Ding lamented that if Helian Bobo had made him crown prince, Tongwan would not have fallen. However, he himself did not dare to try to recapture Tongwan.
In spring 430, Liu Song launched a major attack against Northern Wei, and Northern Wei in response temporarily abandoned its territory south of the Yellow River. Helian Ding then entered into an alliance with Emperor Wen of Liu Song against Northern Wei, agreeing to destroy Northern Wei and divide its territory north of the Yellow River—with provinces east of the Taihang Mountains going to Liu Song and west of Taihang going to Xia. However, neither party actually intended to attack Northern Wei's territory north of the Yellow River first, waiting for the other to act, and Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu took advantage of this and decided to try to destroy Helian Ding first. In fall 430, he personally launched a direct assault on Pingliang.
Meanwhile, Western Qin's prince Qifu Mumo, unable to stand pressures from Northern Liang and Tuyuhun, sought to surrender to Northern Wei, and with Northern Wei promising to give Xia's Pingliang and Anding Commanderies to him as his domain, he abandoned his capital Fuhan (
By this time, though, the Northern Wei emperor had arrived at Pingliang, and, with Helian Chang (whom he had created Prince of Qin) with him, he had Helian Chang to try to persuade the defender of Pingliang, Helian Ding's younger brother Helian Shegan (赫連
Around the new year 431, Helian Shegan and another brother, Helian Duluogu (赫連
Helian Ding then headed west and crossed the Yellow River at Zhicheng (
After capture by Murong Mugui[edit]
Murong Mugui did not kill Helian Ding initially. In fall 431, however, he sent messengers to Northern Wei to declare his loyalty and to indicate that he was willing to deliver Helian Ding to Northern Wei. In response, Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu created Murong Mugui the Prince of Xiqin and gave him rewards, and in spring 432 Murong Mugui delivered Helian Ding to Northern Wei. The Northern Wei emperor executed Helian Ding.
Empress[edit]
Very little is known about the wife of Helian Ding, not even her name. Helian Ding took the throne in 428 after his brother Helian Chang was captured by rival Northern Wei's forces, and it was sometime after that he created her empress. When his brothers Helian Shegan (赫連
Personal information[edit]
- Father
- Helian Bobo (Emperor Wulie)
- Wife
- (name unknown)
References[edit]
- ^ a b Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 121.
- ^ a b c Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 122.
- ^ Academia Sinica Chinese Western Calendar Converter.
- ^ May 13, 432 was the date when Murong Mugui delivered Helian Ding to Northern Wei, and Helian Ding was then executed. It is not clear from the description whether the execution occurred on the same day.
- Book of Jin, vol. 130.
- Book of Wei, vol. 95.
- History of the Northern Dynasties, vol. 93.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 120, 121, 122.