Murong Hui

Who was Murong Hui?

Murong Hui was a general and imperial prince of the Xianbei state Later Yan, who served under his grandfather Murong Chui and father Murong Bao. During his father's reign, angry that he was not created crown prince, he tried to seize that position by force, but after his failure was killed.

Murong Hui was born to Murong Bao and a concubine described as of lowly birth while Murong Bao was a low-level Former Qin official, after Murong Chui, a Former Yan prince, had sought refuge with Former Qin's emperor Fu Jiān in 369 after a dispute with Former Yan's Empress Kezuhun and regent Murong Ping, and after Former Qin had destroyed Former Yan in 370. He was therefore probably born in the Former Qin capital Chang'an, where Murong Bao served.

When Murong Chui rebelled against Former Qin in 384 and established Later Yan, Murong Hui was in Chang'an, then still under Former Qin control. After the last Former Yan emperor Murong Wei, then a Former Qin general, tried to rebel within the city around the new year 385, Fu Jiān ordered the Xianbei in the city killed, but Murong Hui, along with his uncle Murong Rou and brother Murong Sheng, were not killed, apparently because Murong Rou had been adopted by the eunuch Song Ya. Soon thereafter, though, Murong Rou, Murong Sheng, and Murong Hui fled Chang'an and sought refuge with Murong Wei's brother and the leader of the nascent Western Yan state, Murong Chong.