Qifu Chipan

Qifu Chipan (Chinese: 乞伏熾磐; died 428), formally Prince Wenzhao of (Western) Qin ((西)秦文昭王), was a prince of the Xianbei state Western Qin. During his reign, Western Qin reached its prime after he destroyed and seized the territory of the rival state Southern Liang in 414, but it then began a gradual decline under attacks by Xia and Northern Liang. When he died in 428, he left his state in a troubled position, and by 431, the state was destroyed, and his son Qifu Mumo captured and then killed by the Xia emperor Helian Ding.

It is not known when Qifu Shipan was born to his father Qifu Gangui, nor is it known for certain who his mother was. However, it appears likely that he was born prior to Western Qin's establishment by his uncle Qifu Guoren (in 383), because he was Qifu Gangui's oldest son, and it also appears likely that his mother was Qifu Gangui's wife Queen Bian. In 388, after Qifu Guoren died, Qifu Gangui became prince.

The first historical reference to Qifu Chipan was in 393, when Qifu Gangui created Qifu Chipan crown prince. By this point, he was already described as brave and intelligent, and more capable than his father. He quickly became a key official in his father's administration.

In 400, Qifu Gangui suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Later Qin emperor Yao Xing, and most of his state was seized by Later Qin. Qifu Gangui concluded that he could not sustain a state any more, and instructed his officials to surrender to Later Qin, while he himself surrendered to Southern Liang's prince Tufa Lilugu, who welcomed him as an honored guest. Tufa Lilugu's brother Tufa Juyan (禿髮俱延) suspected Qifu Gangui's intentions, and suggested that Tufa Lilugu exile him to the Yifu (乙弗) tribe (probably west of the Qinghai Lake), a suggestion that Tufa Lilugu rejected. However, worried that Qifu Gangui would try to reestablish his state, he sent an army to watch over him. Qifu Gangui, fearing that he would be executed, then regained trust from Tufa Lilugu by sending Qifu Chipan, his brothers, and their mother to the Southern Liang capital Xiping as hostages. He himself, however, as soon as the Southern Liang guard was down, fled to Fuhan (枹罕, in modern Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu) and surrendered to Later Qin.

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