Ran Min
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| This article is part of the Sixteen Kingdoms series. | |
|---|---|
| 16 Kingdoms | |
| Cheng Han | |
| Han Zhao | |
| Later Zhao | |
| Former Liang | |
| Later Liang | |
| Western Liang | |
| Northern Liang | |
| Southern Liang | |
| Former Qin | |
| Later Qin | |
| Western Qin | |
| Former Yan | |
| Later Yan | |
| Northern Yan | |
| Southern Yan | |
| Xia | |
| Not included in 16 Kingdoms | |
| Wei | |
| Shu | |
| Western Yan | |
| Duan | |
| Yuwen | |
| Chouchi | |
| Dingling |
Ran Min (Simplified Chinese character: 冉闵; Chinese character: 冉閔, pinyin: Rǎn Mǐn) was a Han Chinese military leader during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Ran (冉 (http://wiktionary.org/wiki/冉)) is an uncommon Chinese family name. He was noted for provoking massive execution of Jie ethnicity due to racial tension under Later Zhao.
His father Ran Liang (Chinese character: 冉良, pinyin: Rǎn Liáng), whose name was later changed to Ran Zhan (Chinese character: 冉瞻, pinyin: Rǎn Zhān), also served in military under Shi Le, the founder of Later Zhao, and the tyrant Shi Hu. Ran Min was adopted by the royal family of Later Zhao and hence given the family name Shi (石).
He rose through the ranks and became a trusted supportor of Shi Jian's overthrow of his brother Shi Zun in 349. In return Shi Jian promised to name Ran Min his successor. Shi Jian became a figurehead as Ran Min had effectively wrested the control of the court and military. After naming himself the ruler of Wei (Traditional Chinese character: 衛, Simplified Chinese character: 卫, pinyin: Wèi) and changing the era name to Qinglong (Traditional Chinese character: 青龍, Simplified Chinese character: 青龙, pinyin: Qīnglóng) in 350, Shi Jian was murdered in the abortive coup d'etat against Ran Min.
Shortly after proclaiming himself the King of Wei (Chinese character: 魏, pinyin: Wèi), Ran then declared the massive executions of Jie ethnicity as, according to Ran Min, a retaliation against the suppressive and racist reign of Shi Hu. The Spring of Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms (Shiliuguo Chunqiu) recorded several hundred thousand Jie were massacred in the capital Ye and its countryside.
However, such action provoked uprising of the non-Han Chinese ethnicity. Shi Zhi (石祗), a Jie leader and royal member of Later Zhao, occupied Xiangguo (capital of Later Zhao before moving to Ye) and headed the coalition against Ran Min. The devastation of ensuring battles between Shi Zhi and Ran Min was taken advatange by the Former Yan of Xianbei ethnicity in present-day Liaoning. Ran Min was captured and executed after his defeat in 352 in the coutryside of Ye by the Former Yan and the Qiang ethnicity even though he defeated and killed Shi Zhi months before.
The Wei of Ran Min
| Temple names | Posthumous names | Family names and given name | Durations of reigns | Era names and their according durations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese convention: use family name and given name | |||||
| Did not exist | Daowu Tianwang (悼武天王 Dàowǔ Tiānwáng) | 冉閔 Rǎn Mǐn | 350-352 | Yongxing (永興 Yǒngxīng, lit. perpetual prosperity) 350-352 | |