Yao Xing

Who was 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. During his reign, he destroyed the rival Former Qin and proceeded to expand his hegemony over nearly all of western China, as he temporarily seized all of Western Qin's territory and forced Southern Liang, Northern Liang, Western Liáng, and Qiao Zong's Western Shu all to at least nominally submit to him, but late in his reign, defeats on the battlefield, particularly at the hands of the rebel general Helian Bobo, and internecine struggles between his sons and nephews greatly damaged the Later Qin state, and it was destroyed soon after his death. Yao Xing was an avid Buddhist, and it was during his reign that Buddhism first received official state support in China. The monk Kumarajiva also visited Chang'an at Yao Xing's request in 401.