Qifu Guoren

Who was Qifu Guoren?

Qifu Guoren, formally Prince Xuanlie of Wanchuan, was the founding ruler of the Chinese/Xianbei state Western Qin.

Qifu Guoren's father Qifu Sifan was a Xianbei tribal chief in the modern southern/southwestern Gansu region who, after being defeated by the Former Qin general Wang Tong, surrendered in 371 and was allowed to keep his tribe together as a Former Qin vassal. In 376, Qifu Sifan died, and Qifu Guoren succeeded him. When the Former Qin emperor Fu Jiān sought to conquer Jin Dynasty to unite China in 383, Qifu Guoren was initially going to serve as a general in his advance troops, but at that time, Qifu Guoren's uncle Qifu Butui rebelled, and Fu Jiān sent Qifu Guoren to put down his uncle's rebellion. Instead, Qifu Guoren and Qifu Butui joined forces, and Qifu Guoren declared that Former Qin had worn out its people and that he was establishing an independent state—although at that time he did not take any regal title or declare a new era name.

In 385, after hearing about Fu Jiān's death at the hands of another rebel general, Yao Chang, Qifu Guoren did declare himself chanyu and changed the era name, thus effectively declaring a break from Former Qin, and thus this date was typically considered the founding date of Western Qin. He divided his domain into 12 commanderies, and he established his capital at Yongshicheng. Over the next two years, he gradually drew the Xianbei and other ethnicities into his state.