Juqu Mengxun

Who was Juqu Mengxun?

Juqu Mengxun was a prince of the 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 executing Juqu Nancheng, and then used that as an excuse to attack and kill Duan Ye, taking over the throne himself. While he maintained his own state, he also nominally served as a vassal of Later Qin, Jin, and Northern Wei. He was considered a capable ruler when young, but in old age was considered cruel and arbitrary.