Shi Hu

Shi Hu (Chinese: 石虎; 295–349), courtesy name Jilong (季龍), formally Emperor Wu of (Later) Zhao ((後)趙武帝), was an emperor of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao. He was the founding emperor Shi Le's distant nephew, who took power in a coup after Shi Le's death from Shi Le's heir Shi Hong.

Shi Hu was a talented general who rarely lost battles, and Shi Le relied on him heavily in his conquest of northern and central China. However, he was also exceedingly cruel in his military campaigns. After he became the ruler of Later Zhao under the title of "heavenly prince" (Tian Wang), he ruled the empire with a heavy hand, imposing heavy tax and labor burdens and spending much of his effort on constructing palaces and collecting concubines. His laws were cruel, and he applied them in a harsh manner, even killing two of his crown princes when they crossed him. While he was alive, his empire remained intact, but as soon as he died, his sons and adopted grandson Ran Min engaged in an internecine war that destroyed both the empire and the Jie people.

Shi Hu's father was named Koumi (寇覓) and was a son of a cousin of Shi Le's father Zhouhezhu (周曷朱). His father died early and he became raised by Zhouhezhu and his wife, Shi Le's mother Lady Wang, so he was also sometimes referred to as Shi Le's brother. During the early 300s, a severe famine affected the Jie tribesmen, and Shi Hu became separated from Shi Le. Later, after Shi Le had become a powerful Han Zhao general, Liu Kun (劉琨) the Jin governor of Bing Province (并州, modern northern and central Shanxi), where the Jie were from, located Shi Hu and Lady Wang and sent them to Shi Le along with messengers, trying to persuade Shi Le to defect from Han Zhao to Jin. Shi Le, in gratitude, sent horses and jewel to Liu, but did not accept his invitation. (Since the Jie did not appear to use family names, and Shi Le's own family name of "Shi" was given to him by his friend Ji Sang (汲桑), presumably this was also the time that Shi Le gave Shi Hu the same family name and gave him the courtesy name Jilong as well, patterned after his own courtesy name Shilong (世龍).)

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