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Shi Le (; 274Shi Le's biography in Book of Jin recorded that he was 60 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. –17 August 333 wu'chen day of the 7th month of the 8th year of the Xian'he era, per vol.95 of Zizhi Tongjian), courtesy name Shilong, also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Ming of Later Zhao, was the founding emperor of the Jie people-led Later Zhao of China. He was initially sold as a slave by Western Jin officials, but after attaining freedom, he helped start a rebellion and eventually became a powerful general for the Han-Zhao, conquering most of northern China in Han-Zhao's name but holding the territory under his own control. In 319, after a dispute with the Han-Zhao emperor Liu Yao, he broke away from Han and formed his own state, Later Zhao (named as such due to Liu Yao changing his state's name from Han to Zhao, which is distinguished as the Former Zhao). In 321, he defeated Duan Pidi, the last remaining Jin power in northern China besides Murong Hui, and in 329 he captured Liu Yao and conquered the Han-Zhao, adding western China to his empire as well. For the next 21 years, the Later Zhao would dominate northern China.
Shi Le is notably the only emperor in Chinese history to have risen from the status of slave. He was known as a brilliant general, but was criticized by historians for excessive cruelty during his campaigns. He also put too much power in the hands of his ambitious and even more ferocious nephew and adopted brother, Shi Hu, who, after Shi Le's death, seized power from his son Shi Hong. Additionally, Shi Le was an important figure in the rise of Buddhism in 4th-century China, as he allowed the Kucha monk, Fotudeng to wield considerable influence in his court.
In 302 or 303,(太安中，幷州饥乱，勒与诸小胡亡散，乃自雁门还依甯驱。......会建威将军阎粹说幷州刺史、东嬴公腾执诸胡于山东卖充军实，腾使将军郭阳、张隆虏群胡将诣冀州，两胡一枷。勒时年二十馀，亦在其中，...) Jin Shu, vol.104. Shi Le's biography in Book of Jin dated the famine at Bing Province to the Tai'an era (302-303) of the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin. The biography also recorded that he was in his 20s at the time. Bing Province suffered a major famine, and the Jie tribes were seriously affected. Shi Le's tribe spread out and became refugees. Shi and many other Jie and hu people were captured by Jin officials and sold as slaves. Eventually, he was sold to a man named Shi Huan (師懽), but Shi Huan freed him after becoming impressed with his talents. Eventually, he became a leader of bandits, and at one point he befriended Ji Sang, one of Sima Ying the Prince of Chengdu's military commanders. Sima Ying was then stationed at Yecheng and was the most powerful of the Jin imperial princes.
After Sima Ying briefly served as Taizi in 304, he was forced to flee with his brother Emperor Hui to the capital Luoyang and was deposed by Sima Yong the Prince of Hejian. Many of his subordinates, including Ji and Gongsun Fan (公孫藩), deserted, and Gongsun eventually started a rebellion with the stated goal of restoring Sima Ying. Ji and Shi both joined the rebellion—and it was only at that time that Ji gave his friend the family name "Shi" and personal name "Le." After Gongsun was subsequently defeated and killed, Ji became leader of the rebellion and made Shi his key general—now with the goal of avenging Sima Ying, who was forced to commit suicide in late 306. However, their rebellion, while briefly successful in capturing Yecheng in 307 and killing Sima Teng (司馬騰) the Prince of Xincai, ultimately was defeated in the winter of that year, and Shi instead joined Liu Yuan, an ethnically Xiongnu former Sima Ying subordinate who had by now declared independence from Jin and established his own state Han-Zhao. Liu Yuan made him a general.
In summer 311, Shi's prestige and power increased greatly when he was able to utterly defeat the largest Jin force remaining in central China. The Jin regent Sima Yue the Prince of Donghai had died in April that year, and the large force that he commanded was trying to escort his funeral train back to his principality of Donghai (roughly modern Linyi, Shandong). Shi Le intercepted them at Ku (苦縣, in modern Zhoukou, Henan), and while the Jin force was much larger than his, Shi's force was mostly cavalry, and it surrounded and disrupted the procession of the Jin force so that it stampeded itself into oblivion. The many Jin princes and officials were captured by Shi, and Shi executed them all. Shi, from that point on, became a feared general.
In July 311, several major Han generals, including Shi, Huyan Yan, Liu Yao, and Wang Mi, converged on the Jin capital Luoyang, which had been left defenseless by Sima Yue. Without major resistance, the capital fell in the Disaster of Yongjia, and Emperor Huai of Jin was captured and later executed in 313. Later that year, Shi captured the powerful Jin general Gou Xi and assassinated fellow Han general Wang, merging their forces with his own. As Shi's army grew, he increasingly trusted his young distant nephew Shi Hu as a general, and under the violent but talented Shi Hu, Shi Le's army became known for its cruel treatment of civilians but was also whipped into shape, rarely losing battles.
In spring 312, though, Shi Le, preparing to have his army cross the Yangtze River to attack Jiankang, then under the control of the Jin general Sima Rui the Prince of Langye, encountered difficulties as his army was trapped in the rain. Fearful that Jin forces were going to attack, Shi's key advisor Diao Ying (刁膺) suggested promising to submit to Sima Rui. Another advisor Zhang Bin disagreed, noting that Shi had dealt Jin too much damage previously to be able to submit to them. Instead, he advised Shi to retreat north—noting that Jin forces were so fearful of him that they would not likely attack—and that he should capture a defensible city to serve as headquarters so that he could start to hold and increase his territory. Under Zhang's advice, Shi, later that year, captured Xingtai and made it his headquarters. He became increasingly reliant on Zhang for advice, and he respected Zhang so much that he no longer referred to him by name.
It was also during this time when Shi Le was introduced to the Kucha Buddhism monk, Fotudeng, by one of his generals. Fotudeng supposedly impressed Shi Le with his supernatural abilities and predictions, so Shi Le recruited him as one of his advisors.
In early 314, Shi considered plans to destroy the still powerful Wang. Knowing that Wang long had dreams of becoming an emperor, since he believed that his name was prophesied as one for an emperor, Shi pretended to be ready to submit to him and offered him the imperial throne. Wang, trusting Shi's intentions, no longer defended against him. Several months later, Shi, under the guise of offering tribute, made a surprise attack on Wang's headquarters in Ji (薊, in modern Beijing), capturing and executing Wang. In fall 315, Liu Cong officially granted Shi imperial authority in the eastern empire, formalizing Shi's hold on his domain.
In early 317, Shi defeated the Jin governor of Bing Province, Liu Kun, who had previously posed a major threat to Han, and took Bing Province under his control, forcing Liu to flee to You Province to join Duan.
In 318, Liu Cong died and was succeeded by his son Liu Can. Shortly after, however, Liu Can was killed by his father-in-law Jin Zhun in a coup, and Jin slaughtered all members of the imperial Liu household in the capital Pingyang (平陽, in modern Linfen, Shanxi). Both Shi and Liu Yao, a cousin of Liu Cong, led their armies against Jin Zhun. Liu Yao declared himself emperor, and Shi decided, at that time, to submit to Liu Yao's authority. Liu Yao created him the Duke of Zhao. Subsequently, Jin Zhun, with his forces under pressure from two sides, was assassinated and succeeded by his cousin Jin Ming (靳明), who abandoned Pingyang and surrendered to Liu Yao. Shi entered the capital but did not occupy it. Shi Le burned palaces in Pingyang. With the capital heavily damaged by the coup and the subsequent battles, Liu Yao moved the capital to Chang'an.
In early 319, Shi sent a delegation to pay tribute to Liu Yao. Liu Yao was very pleased, and made Shi the Prince of Zhao. However, subsequently, Liu Yao became suspicious that Shi was about to rebel, so killed Shi's lead delegate. Shi became angry, and later that year declared independence under the title of Prince of Zhao.
In 322, Zhang Bin died—and Shi lamented at the time that Zhang's death might prevent him from completing greater things. Later that year, Shi Hu attacked and captured Xu Kan, a minor warlord based in Taishan Commandery who vacillated between allegiance to Jin and Later Zhao.
In 323, Shi Hu attacked Cao Ni—a general occupying modern Shandong who vacillated between being a Jin vassal and a Former Zhao vassal but acting independently—capturing him and annexing his domain into Later Zhao control.
In 324, Later Zhao and Former Zhao began actively engaging each other, and for the next several years, they would wage war against each other bitterly, fighting over both their border territory and the parts of territory near the Yellow River still under Jin control. In 325, Shi Hu would defeat the Former Zhao general Liu Yue (劉岳), seizing the entire Luoyang region, which had previously been under split Jin and Former Zhao control, for Later Zhao.
In 328, however, Former Zhao fought back, and forces under Liu Yao's personal command defeated Shi Hu's forces and surrounded Luoyang. Shi Le personally led his force to aid Luoyang, engaging Liu Yao in battle and capturing him. He initially treated Liu Yao with some respect and ordered Liu Yao to order his crown prince Liu Xi to surrender, but when Liu Yao refused, Shi executed him. Liu Xi, in fear of Later Zhao forces, abandoned the Former Zhao capital Chang'an and retreated to Shanggui (上邽, in modern Tianshui, Gansu) with his brother Liu Yin. In fall 328, Liu Yin tried to lead Former Zhao forces to recapture Chang'an, but Shi Hu defeated him, and subsequently marched on Shanggui, capturing it and killing Liu Xi, Liu Yin, and the other Former Zhao nobles, ending Han-Zhao. The former Former Zhao territory became Later Zhao possessions.
Shi Le, not realizing Shi Hu's intentions, still trusted Shi Hu greatly, despite warnings from his advisors Cheng Xia and Xu Guang, who advised him to gradually strip Shi Hu's powers and transfer them to Shi Hong. In 332, Shi Le did transfer some of Shi Hu's authority to Shi Hong and the eunuch Yan Zhen (嚴震), but this only served to aggravate Shi Hu.
In 333, Shi Le grew ill, and Shi Hu, during Shi Le's illness, began to put his sons in command of armies, preparing for a coup. When Shi Le died in the fall, Shi Hu immediately seized power in a coup, killing Cheng and Xu. Apparently pursuant to Shi Le's directions, he was secretly buried at a location unknown publicly, and an empty casket was instead buried in a grand ceremony at an imperial tomb. Shi Hu made Shi Hong take the throne, but would depose Shi Hong in 334 and seize the throne himself. Shi Le's descendants would eventually all die at Shi Hu's hands.
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