Kui An (original) (raw)

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Later Zhao minister and general

Kui An (died 340) was a Tianzhu military general and minister of Later Zhao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was one of Shi Le's earliest followers as a member of his Eighteen Riders (十八騎). He later became a partisan of Shi Hu's faction and grew to become a prominent minister in his regime. His most notable accomplishment was thwarting an attempted invasion by the influential Jin dynasty (266–420) general Yu Liang in 339.

Service under Shi Le

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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 name for India) but later moved to Liaodong.[1] After Shi Le was freed from slavery in 304, Shi Le organized a group of bandit with the help of his friend Ji Sang. Kui An joined him that year and became one of Shi Le's Eighteen Riders. Following Shi Le's conquest of Julu and Changshan in 309, Shi Le appointed Kui An as his "talon and teeth" (爪牙) along with Zhi Xiong, Kong Chang, Tao Bao and Lu Ming (逯明).[2]

Kui An followed Shi Le in his failed expedition to Jiankang 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.[3]

In 312, Kui An and the others were sent to besiege the city of Yuanxiang (苑鄕, in present-day Hebei and Beijing) against You Lun (游綸) and Zhang Chai, who had surrendered to the Youzhou 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.[4] According to the dubious biography of Fotudeng in the Book of Jin, 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.[5]

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. Shi Le handed out new government positions to his followers including Kui An, who was made one of the Masters of Writing.[6]

Service under Shi Hu

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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 of Zhao.[7]

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, Hubei), 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 Min, Li Nong, Zhang Hao (張貉) and Li Tu (李菟) under his command. Kui An brought the generals to invade the northern borders of Jingzhou 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 Li Nong 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 after breaking through the Zhao encirclement and attempting to flee.

Kui An then captured Huting (胡亭) and invaded Jiangxia. The Jin commanders at Yiyang (義陽, in modern Xinyang, Henan), Huang Chong (黃沖) and Zheng Jin (鄭進), both surrendered to Kui An. Kui set his eyes on Shicheng 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.[8]

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 340, holding the office of Prefect of the Masters of Writing.[9]

Kui Teng (夔騰), who was from Liaodong, was said to be a descendant of Kui An.[10] He served in Former Qin, and following its decline in 383, he along with a few others including Cui Hong fled to Jin, where they were given administrative posts of commanderies in Jizhou and led forces from south of the Yellow River. However, they were all bought over with ranks and titles by the Dingling-Zhai clan of Wei. The Zhais were defeated in 392 by Later Yan, so Kui Teng and the others surrender to Yan. Yan's ruler, Murong Chui, accepted them and allowed them to hold offices in his government.[11]

1. ^ (石虎有太保䕫安自天竺徙遼東。) A Critical Review to Old and New Books on Family Names, Volume 3
2. ^ (漢安東大將軍石勒寇鉅鹿、常山，衆至十餘萬，集衣冠人物，別爲君子營。以趙郡張賓爲謀主，刁膺爲股肱，夔安、孔萇、支雄、桃豹、逯明爲爪牙。幷州諸胡羯多從之。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 85
3. ^ (勒於葛陂繕室宇，課農造舟，將寇建鄴。會霖雨歷三月不止，元帝使諸將率江南之衆大集壽春，勒軍中飢疫死者太半。檄書朝夕繼至，勒會諸將計之。右長史刁膺諫勒先送款於帝，求掃平河朔，待軍退之後徐更計之。勒愀然長嘯。中堅夔安勸勒就高避水，勒曰：「將軍何其怯乎！」) Book of Jin, Volume 104
4. ^ (廣平游綸、張豺擁衆數萬，受王浚假署，保據苑鄉。勒使夔安、支雄等七將攻之，破其外壘。) Book of Jin 104
5. ^ (鮮卑段末波攻勒，眾甚盛。勒懼，問澄。澄曰：「昨日寺鈴鳴雲，明旦食時，當擒段末波。」勒登城望末波軍，不見前後，失色曰：「末波如此，豈可獲乎！」更遣夔安問澄。澄曰：「已獲末波矣。」時城北伏兵出，遇末波，執之。澄勸勒宥末波，遣還本國，勒從之，卒獲其用。) Book of Jin, Volume 95
6. ^ (以左長史郭敖爲尚書左僕射，右長史程遐爲右僕射、領吏部尚書，左司馬夔安、右司馬郭殷、從事中郎李鳳、前郎中令裴憲，皆爲尚書，參軍事徐光爲中書令、領祕書監。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 94
7. ^ (三年，太保夔安等文武五百九人，上皇帝尊號，安等方入，而庭燎油灌下盤，死者七人。虎大怒，腰斬成公段於閶闔門。即天王位南郊，大赦。親王貶為郡公，藩王為縣侯。) Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Volume 2
8. ^ (九月，石季龍將夔安、李農陷沔南，張貉陷邾城，因寇江夏、義陽，征虜將軍毛寶、西陽太守樊俊、義陽太守鄭進並死之。夔安等進圍石城，竟陵太守李陽距戰，破之，斬首五千餘級。安乃退，遂略漢東，擁七千餘家遷于幽冀。) Book of Jin, Volume 7
9. ^ (趙尚書令夔安卒。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 96
10. ^ (夔，姓也。石趙之臣有夔安。) Hu Sanxing's annotation, Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 109
11. ^ (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

• Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). Book of Jin (Jin Shu).
• Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian