Kui An (died October 340) was a Tianzhu military general and minister of

Later Zhao Zhao, briefly known officially as Wei (衛) in 350 AD, known in historiography as the Later Zhao (; 319–351) or Shi Zhao (石趙), was a dynasty of China ruled by the Shi family of Jie ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Among the ...

during the

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded b ...

period. He was one of

Shi Le Shi Le (; 274 –17 August 333), courtesy name Shilong, also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Ming of Later Zhao, was the founding emperor of the Jie-led Later Zhao dynasty of China. He was initially sold as a slave by Western Jin ...

's earliest followers as a member of his Eighteen Riders (十八騎). He later became a partisan of

Shi Hu Shi Hu (; 295 – 26 May 349), courtesy name Jilong (季龍), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wu of Later Zhao (後趙武帝), was an emperor of the Jie-led Chinese Later Zhao dynasty. He was the founding emperor Shi Le (Em ...

's faction and grew to become a prominent minister in his regime. His most notable accomplishment was thwarting an attempted invasion by the influential

Eastern Jin Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

general

Yu Liang Yu Liang (庾亮; 289 – 14 February 340), courtesy name Yuangui (元規), formally Marquess Wenkang of Duting (都亭文康侯), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Jin dynasty who impressed many with his knowledge but whose ina ...

in 339.

Life

Service under Shi Le

According to the Song dynasty encyclopedia, ''"A Critical Review to Old and New Books on Family Names"'' (古今姓氏書辯證), Kui An was originally a man from Tianzhu (the historical

East Asian East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

name for India) but later moved to

Liaodong The Liaodong or Liaotung Peninsula ( zh, s=辽东半岛, t=遼東半島, p=Liáodōng Bàndǎo) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located ...

. After Shi Le was freed from slavery in 304, Shi Le organized a group of bandit with the help of his friend

Ji Sang Ji Sang (280s - 11 January 308) was a Chinese rebel of the Western Jin dynasty. During his days as a shepherd, he befriended a Jie slave whom he would name Shi Le (the future Emperor Ming of Later Zhao). The two raised a personal army and late ...

. Kui An joined him that year and became one of Shi Le's Eighteen Riders. Following Shi Le's conquest of Julu and

Changshan (; ), also known as (), and (), is a form of , Chinese robe, which was derived from the Qing dynasty , the traditional dress of the Manchu people, which were worn by Manchu men. The was actually developed by the Han Chinese through the modi ...

in 309, Shi Le appointed Kui An as his "talon and teeth" (爪牙) along with Zhi Xiong,

Kong Chang Kong Chang ( 309–321) was a military general of China's Later Zhao dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was one of Shi Le (Emperor Ming)'s more active generals during Shi's career in the Han-Zhao dynasty as well as his early reign ...

, Tao Bao and Lu Ming (逯明). Kui An followed Shi Le in his failed expedition to

Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was the capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (265–420), Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Ch ...

in 312. Half of the army suffered from plague, starvation and flooding while the army of Sima Rui was approaching them, so Shi Le assembled his general and advisors to discuss their next move. Kui An proposed that they move to higher ground to get away from the water, which Shi Le replied, "General, why are you so cowardly?" In the end, following Zhang Bin's advice, Shi Le decided to abandon the campaign for a campaign in Yecheng instead. In 312, Kui An and the others were sent to besiege the city of Yuanxiang (苑鄕, in present-day

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

and

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

) against You Lun (游綸) and Zhang Chai, who had surrendered to the

Youzhou You Prefecture or You Province, also known by its Chinese name Youzhou, was a prefecture ('' zhou'') in northern China during its imperial era. "You Province" was cited in some ancient sources as one of the nine or twelve original provinces o ...

warlord Wang Jun. This incited Wang to send his forces to Shi Le's capital in Xiangguo but Shi managed to repel them. In the end, You Lun and Zhang Chai surrendered back to Shi Le. According to the dubious biography of

Fotudeng Fotu Cheng (Sanskrit: ''Buddhacinga?''; ) (ca. 232–348 CEBuswell, Robert. Lopez, Donald. ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.'' 2013. p. 304) was a Buddhist monk and missionary from Kucha. He studied in Kashmir and came to Luoyang in 310 ...

in the

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, ...

, during the defence of Xiangguo, Kui An was sent by Shi Le to speak to Fotudeng to reassure him about his prediction that the enemy general Duan Mopei would be captured. After this, Kui An would be absent from the records for a long period of time. He would only be mentioned again in 330 when Shi Le claimed the imperial title after destroying

Former Zhao The Han-Zhao ( zh, s=汉赵, t=漢趙, p=Hàn Zhào; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao ( zh, s=前赵, t=前趙, p=Qián Zhào), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Liu ( Luandi) clan of Chuge-Xiongnu ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms per ...

. Shi Le handed out new government positions to his followers including Kui An, who was made one of the Masters of Writing.

Service under Shi Hu

Kui An was a partisan of Shi Le's nephew, Shi Hu, who harboured ambitions to seize power in the court away from Shi Le and his family. After Shi Le died and was succeeded by his son Shi Hong in 333, Shi Hu almost immediately launched a coup and placed the young Shi Hong under his control. Shi Hu replaced the ministers in Shi Hong's court with members of his own faction. This included Kui An, who Shi Hu made acting Deputy Director of the Left. In 334, Shi Hu had Shi Hong killed and took the throne for himself. As a result, Kui An was further made Palace Attendant, Grand Commandant, and acting Prefect of the Masters of Writing. By 337, Kui An was holding the important position of Grand Guardian. That year, he along with more than 500 officials suggested to Shi Hu to take the imperial title. Shi Hu agreed and made himself

Heavenly King Heavenly King or Tian Wang (), also translated as Heavenly Prince, is a Chinese language, Chinese title for various religious deities and divine leaders throughout history, as well as an alternate form of the term ''Son of Heaven'', referring to ...

of Zhao.

Routing Yu Liang

In 339, Jin's minister Yu Liang was planning to hold a grand invasion against Later Zhao. He camped his generals Mao Bao and Fan Jun (樊俊) at Zhucheng (邾城, in modern

Huanggang Huanggang is a prefecture-level city in easternmost Hubei, Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Mountains and is named after Mount Huanggang, Huang ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

), but this proved to be a fatal mistake. Shi Hu was able to detect Yu Liang's movements, so he quickly ordered Kui An to lead an army to attack the Jin forces first, with the generals

Shi Jian Shi Jian () (died 350) was briefly (for 103 days) an emperor of the Jie-led Later Zhao dynasty of China. He was the third of four short-lived Later Zhao emperors after the death of his father Shi Hu (Emperor Wu). He is sometimes referred to b ...

, Shi Min,

Li Nong Li Nong (died June 350) was a Chinese military general and politician of the Later Zhao and Ran Wei dynasties during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was a notable official under Later Zhao's emperor Shi Hu, fighting against the Jin and Former Y ...

Zhang Hedu Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

and Li Tu (李菟) under his command. Kui An brought the generals to invade the northern borders of

Jingzhou Jingzhou ( zh, s=, c=荆州, t=, p=Jīngzhōu) is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the Seventh National Population Censu ...

and Yangzhou while sending 20,000 cavalry to attack Zhucheng. In September, Shi Min defeated the armies south of the Mian River and killed their general Cai Huai (蔡懷). Kui An and

then proceeded to capture Jin's territories south of the river. Elsewhere, the Zhao general Zhu Bao (朱保) won a victory at Baishi, where he killed Zheng Bao (鄭豹) as well as four other officers while Zhang Hao captured Zhucheng, killing 6,000 Jin troops in the process. Mao Bao and Fan Jun both drowned

Yangzi The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dangqu, Dam Qu River the l ...

after breaking through the Zhao encirclement and attempting to flee. Kui An then captured Huting (胡亭; northwest of present-day

Anlu Anlu () is a county-level city in east-central Hubei province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xiaogan. The siege of De'an took place here during the Song-Jin Wars. Administrative divisions Two subdist ...

) and invaded Jiangxia. The Jin commanders at Yiyang (義陽, in modern

Xinyang Xinyang ( zh, s= , t=信陽 , p=Xìnyáng; Postal romanization, postal: Sinyang) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Henan province of China, province, People's Republic of China, the southernmost administrative division in the province. It ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

), Huang Chong (黃沖) and Zheng Jin (鄭進), both surrendered to Kui An. Kui set his eyes on Shicheng (石城; in present-day

Zhongxiang Zhongxiang () is a county-level city of Jingmen, central Hubei province, People's Republic of China. The name ''Zhongxiang'' means "Blessed with propitious omen", and was given to the city by the Jiajing Emperor in the Ming dynasty. History Zhong ...

) but the Administrator of Jingling, Li Yang (李陽) mounted an impregnable defence and finally managed to put a stop to his advances. Kui An lost 5,000 men against Li Yang, so he decided to retreat east of the Han River, sacking and pillaging the area while relocating 7,000 households to Youzhou and Jizhou. Kui An's attack proved devastating for Jin as their initial campaign to reclaim territory up north only resulted in losing land as well as people to Zhao. After the fall of Zhucheng, Yu Liang cancelled his plans and voluntarily demoted himself before dying the following year. Kui An died a year later in October 340, holding the office of Prefect of the Masters of Writing.

Descendant

Kui Teng (夔騰), who was from Liaodong, was said to be a descendant of Kui An. He served in

Former Qin Qin, known as the Former Qin and Fu Qin (苻秦) in historiography, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China ruled by the Fu (Pu) clan of the Di (Five Barbarians), Di peoples during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Founded in the wake of ...

, and following its decline in 383, he along with a few others including

Cui Hong Cui or CUI may refer to: People * Cui (surname), a Chinese surname * Cui Shian (born 1957), governor of Macau * César Cui (1835–1918), Russian composer Education * Catholic University of Ireland * COMSATS University Islamabad * Concordia ...

fled to Jin, where they were given administrative posts of commanderies in Jizhou and led forces from south of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

. However, they were all bought over with ranks and titles by the

Dingling The Dingling (174 BCE); (200 BCE); Eastern Han Chinese: *''teŋ-leŋ'' < Old Chinese: *''têŋ-rêŋ'' were an ancient people who appear in Chinese historiography in the context of the 1st century BCE. The Dingling are considered to have been ...

- Zhai clan of Wei. The Zhais were defeated in 392 by

Later Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms. The prefix "Later" to distinguish them from the Former Yan before them and othe ...

, so Kui Teng and the others surrender to Yan. Yan's ruler,

Murong Chui Murong Chui (; 326 – 2 June 396), courtesy name Daoming (道明), Xianbei name Altun (阿六敦), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Chengwu of Later Yan (後燕成武帝), was the founding emperor of China's Later Yan dynasty ...

, accepted them and allowed them to hold offices in his government.(初，郝晷、崔逞及清河崔宏、新興張卓、遼東夔騰、陽平路纂皆仕於秦，避秦亂來奔，詔以爲冀州諸郡，各將部曲營於河南；旣而受翟氏官爵，翟氏敗，皆降於燕，燕主垂各隨其材而用之。釗所統七郡三萬餘戶，皆按堵如故。以章武王宙爲兗、豫二州刺史，鎭滑臺；徙徐州民七千餘戶于黎陽，以彭城王脫爲徐州刺史，鎭黎陽。脫，垂之弟子也。垂以崔蔭爲宙司馬。) Zizhi Tongjian, 109

References

* Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). ''

'' (''Jin Shu''). * Sima, Guang (1084).

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kui, An Former Zhao generals Later Zhao generals 340 deaths