Shi Zhi (; died 351) was briefly, for about one year, an

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

of the Jie-led Chinese Later Zhao dynasty. He was the last of four short-lived emperors after the death of his father

Shi Hu Shi Hu (; 295–349), courtesy name Jilong (季龍), formally 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's distant nephew, who took power in a coup ...

(Emperor Wu), and Later Zhao's final emperor. He is sometimes referred to by his title prior to becoming emperor, Prince of Xinxing (新興王). Virtually nothing is known about Shi Zhi's career during his father Shi Hu's reign, including when he was created prince, who his mother was, or what role, if any, he had in his father's government. It is known that, by his father's death, he was the Prince of Xinxing. By 349, when his brother

Shi Jian Shi Jian (石鑒) (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 t ...

the emperor was effectively the puppet of their powerful, ethnically

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

adoptive nephew Shi Min in the capital Yecheng, Shi Zhi rose at his defense post at the old capital Xiangguo (襄國, in modern

Xintai Xintai () is a county-level city in the central part of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is the easternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Tai'an and is located about to the southeast of downtown Tai'an. ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

), in alliance with the Qiang chief

Yao Yizhong Yao Yizhong (280–352), posthumously honored as Emperor Jingyuan, was a Qiang military general of the Later Zhao dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Starting out as an independent warlord during the Disaster of Yongjia, Yizhong soon f ...

(姚弋仲) and the Di chief

Pu Hong Fu Hong (, 284–350), originally named Pu Hong (), courtesy name Guangshi (), was the father of founding emperor of the Former Qin dynasty, Fu Jiàn (Emperor Jingmimg). In 350, Fu Hong proclaimed himself the Prince of Three Qins (), receiving a p ...

(蒲洪). They had some initial success in getting the non-Han people of the empire to join them against Shi Min, but soon the Han coalesced around Shi Min, who changed his family name back to his father's original Ran (冉). In early 350, Ran Min killed Shi Jian and established his own state named Wei (魏). Shi Zhi then declared himself emperor, and he engaged in indecisive battles against Ran Min. Meanwhile, local generals throughout the empire were waiting to watch who would be the victor of the war, while neighboring states Jin and

Former Yan The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...

began to encroach on Later Zhao's territory. Former Yan, in particular, seized modern

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

, and northern

and continued to march south. In late 350 and early 351, Pu Hong's son

Fu Jiàn Fu or FU may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Fool Us, Penn & Teller's magic-competition television show *Fǔ, a type of ancient Chinese vessel *Fu (poetry) (赋), a Chinese genre of rhymed prose *'' FU: Friendship Unlimited'', a 2017 Marath ...

(Pu Hong having changed his family name from Pu (蒲) to Fu (苻) in 350) seized the western part of Later Zhao, declaring himself Heavenly King (''

Tian Wang Heavenly King or Tian Wang () is a 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 the emperor. The Chinese term for Heavenly King cons ...

'') and establishing Former Qin. Shi Zhi, occupied with fighting Ran Min, could do nothing. Indeed, under siege in Xiangguo by Ran, he demoted his own title from emperor to Prince of Zhao and sought help from Former Yan's prince

Murong Jun Murong Jun (; 319–360), courtesy name Xuanying (宣英), formally Emperor Jingzhao of (Former) Yan ((前)燕景昭帝), was an emperor of the Former Yan. He was the dynasty's second ruler, but after first using the Jin dynasty-created title of ...

against Ran, who initially agreed and allied with him to defeat Ran temporarily. Shi Zhi then sent his general Liu Xian to attack Ran in Yecheng, but Liu not only was defeated by Ran but was so awed by and fearful of him that he agreed to kill Shi Zhi for him. Once Liu returned to Xiangguo, then, he arrested and killed Shi Zhi and his high-level officials, presenting Shi Zhi's head to Ran. Ran burned the head publicly on a busy street in Yecheng. Later Zhao was at its end.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Zhi Year of birth missing 351 deaths 4th-century Chinese monarchs Later Zhao emperors Later Zhao generals Murdered Chinese emperors