Helian Chang
| Helian Chang | |||||||||
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| Reign | 425–428 | ||||||||
| Born | unknown | ||||||||
| Died | May 7, 434 | ||||||||
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| Dynasty | Xia | ||||||||
| Full name | |
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| Era name and dates | |
| Chéngguāng (承光): 425–428 |
Helian Chang (Chinese: 赫連昌; died 434), courtesy name Huan'guo (還國), nickname Zhe (折), was an emperor of the state Xia. He was the successor and a son of the founding emperor Helian Bobo (Emperor Wulie). After his father's death in 425, he tried to expand Xia further, but soon his state began to collapse in light of pressure from rival Northern Wei. In 427, his capital Tongwan (統萬, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi) fell to Northern Wei forces, and in 428 he himself was captured. Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei did not kill him but instead treated him as an honored companion, marrying a sister to him and creating him high titles—initially the Duke of Kuaiji and later the Prince of Qin—but in 434 (after his brother and successor Helian Ding had been captured and executed, ending Xia), he tried to escape and was killed.
It is not known when Helian Chang was born, or who his mother was. The first historical reference to him was in 414, when Helian Bobo, then carrying the title "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang), created his brother Helian Gui (赫連璝) crown prince and created him and his other brothers dukes—in Helian Chang's case, Duke of Taiyuan. (The order in which the brothers were created appears to imply that Helian Chang was the third son.)
In 416, after Helian Bobo had captured the Later Qin city Yinmi (陰密, in modern Pingliang, Gansu), he commissioned Helian Chang as the governor of Yong Province (雍州, roughly modern central and northern Shaanxi, but at that point still mostly in Later Qin hands) to defend Yinmi.
In 417, after the Jin general Liu Yu had already captured the Later Qin capital Chang'an and destroyed Later Qin, but who had then left the Chang'an region (Guanzhong) in the hands of his 10-year-old son Liu Yizhen (劉義真) and several of his generals, Helian Bobo decided to try to conquer Chang'an. He had Helian Gui, Helian Chang, and his key advisor Wang Maide (王買德) command the troops. Helian Chang's responsibility was to cut off Tong Gate (潼關, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi), so that Jin forces could not escape. In 418, Xia forces crushed Liu Yizhen's forces as he tried to withdraw from Chang'an, capturing or killing most of Liu Yizhen's army. Liu Yizhen's successor, the Jin general Zhu Lingshi (朱齡石) was expelled by the people of Chang'an and fled to Caogong Castle (曹公壘, also in Weinan), where Helian Chang besieged him and his brother Zhu Chaoshi (朱超石) by cutting off the water supply, and then attacking the castle, capturing and killing the Zhu brothers.
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