Duan Liao (段遼) (died 339), also known as Duan Huliao (段護遼), was a Xianbei chieftain of the Duan tribe during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of China. He was the last chieftain of the Duan state before it was conquered in 338. Duan Liao launched a number of attacks against the Duke of Liaodong and later Prince of Former Yan, Murong Huang after civil war erupted between Huang and his brother, Murong Ren. Duan Liao met with repeated failures, and in 338, Murong Huang and Shi Hu of Later Zhao formed an alliance for a joint campaign against the Duans which resulted in the destruction of their state. Duan Liao surrendered to Murong Huang, but later rebelled and was killed in 339. Although the Duan tribe's state was destroyed, they remained an important family throughout the period through their marriages with the Murongs.
Life
Becoming chieftain
Duan Liao was the grandson of Duan Rilujuan, the accredited founder of the Duan tribe. In 325, his cousin, Duan Ya, became the tribe’s new chieftain. The Duke of Liaodong, Murong Hui, quickly established friendly relations with Duan Ya, even managing to convince Duan Ya to move his capital away from Lingzhi (令支, in present-day Qian'an, Hebei). The decision proved unpopular among his subjects, however, and Duan Liao would use this as pretext to rally the tribes under the Duan clan to overthrow Duan Ya. Duan Ya died in the same year he ascended, and Duan Liao was installed as the new chieftain.
At the time of Duan Liao's coup, the Duan tribe had a territory that stretched from Yuyang Commandery to the Liao River. Sometime between 329 and 335, Duan Liao was made Grand General of Chariots and Cavalry, Inspector of Youzhou, Grand Chanyu, and Duke of Beiping by the Jin dynasty (266–420) court. In 331, he was made General of Agile Cavalry.
War with Murong Huang
Murong Hui died in 333 and was succeeded by his heir, Murong Huang. Huang was not on good terms with his three brothers, Murong Ren, Murong Han and Murong Zhao (慕容昭). Right after Huang’s succession, Murong Han, concerned for his safety, fled with his two sons to Duan Liao. Duan Liao appreciated Han’s talents and welcomed him. Not long after, Murong Zhao and Murong Ren rebelled against Huang. Although Zhao was killed early on, Ren was able to capture Liaodong and consolidate an independent base. Duan Liao, along with other Xianbei chieftains such as Yuwen Yidougui of the Yuwen tribe, sent envoys to Ren to coordinate attacks against Huang.
Duan Liao first acted against Huang in 334. He sent soldiers to launch a surprise attack on Tuhe (徒河; in present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning), but failed. Then, he sent his brother, Duan Lan, and Murong Han to attack Liucheng (柳城; southwest of present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning). The defenders fought back fiercely, and the two generals retreated after some fighting. Duan Liao reprimanded Duan Lan and forced him to return to Liucheng and capture it at all costs. Duan Lan was once more unsuccessful, but he was able to rout reinforcements led by Murong Han (慕容汗; different character from Murong Han (慕容翰)) and Feng Yi at Niuwei Valley (牛尾谷; north of Liucheng). However, he was unable to follow up on it as Murong Han (慕容翰) withdrew in protest against pursuing them.
In June 336, Duan Liao’s general Li Yong (李詠) attempted to surprise attack Murong Huang but was captured instead. After this, Duan Liao sent Duan Lan to attack Liucheng again. This time, he was supported by Yuwen Yidougui, who helped him by attacking Anjin (安晉). However, the two fled without a fight after Huang arrived at their respective locations and were defeated by Feng Yi who pursued them. Disgruntled, Duan Liao personally commanded an attack on Liucheng, but was routed in an ambush set up by Feng Yi at Mount Madou (馬兜山), where his general, Rong Bobao (榮伯保) was killed in battle. That same year, Murong Huang's son, Murong Jun, successfully led campaigns against Duan Liao's cities.
In March 337, Murong Huang built Haocheng (好城) east of Duan Liao's territory at Yilian (乙連; in present-day Jianchang County, Liaoning) to put pressure on Yilian. The following month, Duan Liao delivered grain carts to supply Yilian to relief a famine, but they were captured by Huang's general Lan Bo (蘭勃). Duan Liao ordered his cousin, Duan Quyun (段屈雲) to launch a night raid at Xingguo (興國; in present-day Harqin Zuoyi Mongol Autonomous County, Liaoning), but Quyun was defeated by Murong Zun (慕容遵). Duan Liao's minister, Yang Yu advised Duan Liao to seek peace with Murong Huang, but Duan Liao refused and sent him away.
Fall of Liaoxi
Up to this point, Duan Liao had ordered a number of raids on the borders of Later Zhao. In 337, Murong Huang, now the Prince of Former Yan, declared himself a vassal of Zhao and call for a joint campaign against the Duan tribe. Zhao's ruler, Shi Hu, was delighted by his submission, and secretly fixed a date with him to hold their campaign.
The campaign began in February 338. Shi Hu had recruited 30,000 brave men in preparation for the campaign. Duan Liao attacked Zhao first by sending Duan Quyun to raid Zhao in Youzhou, where Quyun drove the provincial inspector, Li Meng (李孟) out to Yijing. Shi Hu sent Tao Bao and Wang Hua (王華) with 100,000 men on boats to advance from Piaoyu Crossing (漂渝津; northeast of Gaocheng District, Hebei) and another 70,000 men under Zhi Xiong and Yao Yizhong to attack Duan Liao.
Meanwhile, Murong Huang attacked the cities north of Lingzhi. Duan Liao wanted to pursue them, but Murong Han told him that they should focus on Zhao in the south. Duan Lan angrily rebuked, believing this to be another ruse of his to mislead the Duans. Duan Lan led the entire army out to face Huang, but they were ambushed and was met with heavy casualty. 5,000 households as well as tens of thousands of livestock was moved from the Duan territory to Yan.
Shi Hu camped at Jintai (金台; in present-day Gu'an County, Hebei) while Zhi Xiong made a long march to Ji. Zhi Xiong captured forty cities and received surrenders from Duan officials in Yuyang, Shanggu and Dai Commandery along the way. With Duan Lan defeated and most of his cities captured, Duan Liao and his followers abandoned Lingzhi and fled to Mount Miyun (密雲山; in present-day Miyun District, Beijing). Before parting ways, Duan Liao expressed his regret to Murong Han over not following his advice earlier. While Duan Liao left for Mount Miyun, Murong Han fled to the Yuwen tribe up north.
Duan Liao's chief clerks, most notably Liu Qun, Lu Shen, and Cui Yue (崔悅), all surrendered and offered their services to Zhao. On his way to Mount Miyun, Duan Liao was pursued by the Zhao generals, Guo Tai (郭太) and Ma Qiu, who captured Duan Liao's wife and mother and killed 3,000 of his followers during the chase. Duan Liao had to escape alone on horseback to the rough terrains. There, he sent his son and a prized steed to Shi Hu to show his submission, which Shi Hu accepted.
Surrender to Former Yan and death
Duan Liao remained at Mount Miyun for a few months. While there, Shi Hu turned on Murong Huang and attacked him at Jicheng (棘城, in modern Jinzhou, Liaoning), albeit with little success. At the end of the year, Duan Liao dispatched envoys to Zhao requesting their assistance. However, he later regretted this decision and asked Yan for help instead. As a result, both Zhao and Yan were heading towards one another to receive Duan Liao. Murong Huang led the army and was first to arrive at Mount Miyun. Once there, Duan Liao and Huang discussed their plans on how to deal with the Zhao army. Huang sent his son, Murong Ke to lay an ambush around Mount Miyun. The Xianbei allies defeated Ma Qiu at Sanzangkou (三藏口, in present-day Chengde, Hebei), killing many of the Zhao soldiers in the process and capturing Yang Yu. Huang assimilated Duan Liao's troops into his and treated the chieftain with great respect.
Despite this, just a year later in 339, Duan Liao rebelled against the state for unspecified reasons. Murong Huang had him and his partisans killed, and later sent his head to Zhao. Although they had lost their state, the Duan clan remained influential under the Murongs and even in Later Zhao. A number of women in the clan married into the Murongs, becoming princesses and empresses, while Duan Liao's brother, Duan Lan became a military general in Zhao. Lan's son, Duan Kan, would establish the short-lived state of Duan Qi in 350 during the confusion that followed Shi Hu's death.
References
- (牙死，其後從祖就陸眷之孫遼立。) Book of Jin, Volume 63
- (慕容廆與段氏方睦，爲段牙謀，使之徙都；牙從之，卽去令支，國人不樂。段疾陸眷之孫遼欲奪其位，以徙都爲牙罪，十二月，帥國人攻牙，殺之，自立。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 93
- (段氏自務勿塵以來，日益強盛，其地西接漁陽，東界遼水，所統胡、晉三萬餘戶，控弦四五萬騎。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 93
- (末波死，國人立日陸眷弟護遼為主，烈帝時，假護遼驃騎大將軍、幽州刺史、大單于、北平公，弟鬱蘭撫軍將軍、冀州刺史、勃海公。) Book of Wei, Volume 103
- (初，皝庶兄建威翰驍武有雄才，素為皝所忌，母弟征虜仁、廣武昭並有寵於廆，皝亦不平之。及廆卒，並懼不自容。至此，翰出奔段遼... 翰及奔段遼，深為遼所敬愛。) Book of Jin, Volume 109
- (柳城之敗，段蘭欲乘勝深入，翰慮成本國之害，詭說于蘭，蘭遂不進。) Book of Jin, Volume 109
- (段遼遣將李詠夜襲武興，遇雨，引還，都尉張萌追擊，擒詠。段蘭擁眾數萬屯於曲水亭，將攻柳城，宇文歸入寇安晉，為蘭聲援。皝以步騎五萬擊之，師次柳城，蘭、歸皆遁。遣封弈率輕騎追擊，敗之，收其軍實，館穀二旬而還。謂諸將曰：「二虜恥無功而歸，必復重至，宜於柳城左右設伏以待之。」遣封弈率騎潛于馬兒山諸道。俄而遼騎果至，弈夾擊，大敗之，斬其將榮保。) Book of Jin, Volume 109
- (曆事段氏五主，甚見尊重。段遼與皝相攻，裕諫曰：「臣聞親仁善鄰，國之寶也。慕容與國世為婚姻，且皝令德之主，不宜連兵構怨，凋殘百姓。臣恐禍害之興，將由於此。願兩追前失，通款如初，使國家有太山之安，蒼生蒙息肩之惠。」遼不從。出為燕郡太守。) Book of Jin, Volume 109
- (春，正月，燕王皝遣都尉趙槃如趙，聽師期。趙王虎將擊段遼，募驍勇者三萬人，悉拜龍騰中郎。會遼遣段屈雲襲趙幽州，幽州刺史李孟退保易京。虎乃以桃豹為橫海將軍，王華為渡遼將軍，帥舟師十萬出漂渝津；支雄為龍驤大將軍，姚弋仲為冠軍將軍，帥步騎七萬前鋒以伐遼。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 96
- (後石季龍征遼，皝親將三軍略令支以北，遼議欲追之，翰知皝躬自總戎，戰必克勝，乃謂遼曰：「今石氏向至，方對大故，不宜復以小小為事。燕王自來，士馬精銳。兵者凶器，戰有危慮，若其失利，何以南禦乎！」蘭怒曰：「吾前聽卿誑說，致成今患，不復入卿計中矣。」乃率眾追皝，蘭果大敗。翰雖處仇國，因事立忠，皆此類也。) Book of Jin, Volume 109
- (趙王虎進屯金台。支雄長驅入薊，段遼所署漁陽、上谷、代郡守相皆降，取四十餘城。北平相陽裕帥其民數千家登燕山以自固，諸將恐其為後患，欲攻之。虎曰：「裕儒生，矜惜名節，恥於迎降耳，無能為也。」遂過之，至徐無。段遼以弟蘭既敗，不必復戰，帥妻子、宗族、豪大千餘家，棄令支，奔密雲山。將行，執慕容翰手泣曰：「不用卿言，自取敗亡。我固苦心，令卿失所，深以為愧。」翰北奔宇文氏。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 96
- (遼左右長史劉群、盧諶、崔悅等封府庫請降。虎遣將軍郭太、麻秋帥輕騎二萬追遼，至密雲山。獲其母妻，斬首三千級。遼單騎走險，遣其子乞特真奉表及獻名馬於趙，虎受之。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 96
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- (段遼謀反於燕，燕人殺遼及其黨與數十人，送遼首於趙。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 96
- Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). Book of Jin (Jin Shu).
- Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.
- Wei, Shou (554). Book of Wei (Wei Shu).
| Duan Liao DuanBorn: ? Died: 339 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byDuan Ya | Chieftain of the Duan 325-338 |
Extinct |