The Wei–Jie war was a conflict in North China in 350 CE. Following the fall of the ethnic-Jie Later Zhao

Later Zhao

The Later Zhao was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity...

 regime in 350 CE by the Chinese state of Ran Wei

Ran Min

Ran Min , also known as Shi Min , posthumously honored by Former Yan as Heavenly Prince Daowu of Wei , courtesy name Yongzeng , nickname Jinu , was a military leader during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China and the only emperor of the short-lived state Ran Wei . Ran is an uncommon Chinese...

, tensions were high. The Jie

Jie (ethnic group)

The Jié were members of a small tribe in Northern China in the 4th century CE. They established the Later Zhao state.According to the Book of Wei, their name derives from the Jiéshì area where they reside....

 people, who had formed the Later Zhao Dynasty, did not accept Ran Min's rule and rose against him, and they were joined by many other Wu Hu

Wu Hu

Wu Hu was a Chinese term for the northern non-Chinese nomadic tribes which caused the Wu Hu uprising, and established the Sixteen Kingdoms from 304 to 439 AD.-Definition:...

nations. The resulting war was a decisive victory for Ran Min, who then proceeded to issue his famous "extermination order", which resulted in the extermination of virtually all of the Jie and most of the Wu Hu.

Background

By 350 CE, struggles within the Jie Later Zhao regime had resulted in the benefit of Ran Min, who then took over the regime and massacred the entire Shi family, who ruled Later Zhao, with the exception of one cousin of Shi Jian, the last emperor of Later Zhao, who lead an uprising against him, beginning the Wei–Jie war.

Outbreak of the war

Shi Jian's cousin, Shi Zhi, had been a Later Zhao general at Xiangguo. When he heard that Ran Min had massacred the Shi family and declared himself emperor, Shi Zhi rebelled against Ran Min. He was quickly joined by several other Later Zhao border armies, mostly composed of Jie soldiers and who despised Ran Min's rule.

Extermination of the Wu Hu

When he heard of the Jie revolt against him, Ran Min issued his famous "extermination order", in which he called on the Chinese to kill all the Wu Hu who had conquered them half a century earlier. The effect was immense; some 200,000 Jie were killed in Yecheng (the Wei capital) in a few days, and brutal fighting broke out between Chinese and Wu Hu throughout North China.

Battle of Xiangguo

Meanwhile, Ran Min's army met the main rebel forces under Shi Zhi and defeated them at the Battle of Yecheng. In spring 351, Ran Min besieged Shi Zhi's capital Xiangguo. Shi Zhi sought aid from Former Yan's prince Murong Jun and was able to deal Ran a major defeat. At this time, the Xiongnu soldiers in Yecheng rebelled, captured his son Ran Yin, and surrendered to Shi Zhi, who executed Ran Yin. Ran Min was thought to be dead, but when he appeared in Yecheng, the city was calmed. Shi Zhi had his general Liu Xian (劉顯) besiege Yecheng, but Ran Min defeated Liu in battle and awed him so much that Liu agreed that once he returned to Xiangguo, he would kill Shi Zhi and surrender. He did so and sent Shi Zhi's head to Ran Min, and Ran Min had Shi Zhi's head be burned on a busy street in Yecheng. Later Zhao was at its final end. The city of Xiangguo was burned, and its population moved to Yecheng..

End of the war

Following the victory at Xiangguo, Ran Min's forces proceeded northwards and defeated two Later Zhao border armies. Wherever he captured territory from the rebels, Ran Min's forces massacred any Wu Hu living there, burying them in large pits. Some 100,000 were reputedly killed in this way. Thousands of Wu Hu fled China or were killed. The Jie were particularly hard hit; they were virtually completely wiped out.

Sources

• Li, Bo; Zheng Yin (Chinese) (2001) 5000 years of Chinese history, Inner Mongolian People's publishing corp, ISBN 7-204-04420-7,
• Book of Jin.