Yifu Hun

Who was Yifu Hun?

Yifu Hun, more commonly known in historical accounts as Yi Hun, was a high level official of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei, who effectively briefly served as the regent for Emperor Xianwen.

Little is known about Yifu Hun's background despite his one-time prominent status, as neither official histories Wei Shu nor Bei Shi contained a biography for him—a fairly unusual fact, as both of those works were generally considered highly comprehensive in including biographies, even for villainous figures. He came to power in 465 after Emperor Wencheng died and was succeeded by his young son Emperor Xianwen. Yifu quickly seized power and killed a number of other officials, including Yang Baoping, Jia Airen the Duke of Pingyang, and Zhang Tiandu the Duke of Nanyang. He then summoned Emperor Wencheng's trusted prime minister Buliugu Li, away from the capital Pingcheng back to Pingcheng, and after he got into conflicts with Buliugu, killed Buliugu, as well as Qiumuling Duohou, who had warned Buliugu not to return to the capital, and Tuoba Yu the Duke of Shunyang. He became the commander of the armed forces, and while he was not regent by title, he effectively was regent. He was also created the Prince of Taiyuan.