Editing Han-Zhao (section)

{{Short description|Xiongnu-led dynastic state of China (304–329)}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = 漢 (304–319)<br>趙 (319–329)
| conventional_long_name = Han-Zhao<br>Former Zhao
| common_name            = Han-Zhao
| status                 = Empire
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]
| year_start             = 304
| year_end               = 329
| event1                 = [[Liu Yuan (Han Zhao)|Liu Yuan]]'s claim of imperial title
| date_event1            = 2 November 308<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sinica.edu.tw/ftms-bin/kiwi1/luso.sh?lstype=2&dyna=%A6%E8%AE%CA&king=%C3h%AB%D2&reign=%A5%C3%B9%C5&yy=2&ycanzi=&mm=10&dd=&dcanzi=%A5%D2%A6%A6 |title = 中央研究院網站}}</ref><ref>''[[Zizhi Tongjian]]'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷086|vol. 86]].</ref>
| event2                 = Name change from Han to Zhao
| date_event2            = 319
| event3                 = [[Liu Yao]]'s capture by [[Shi Le]]
| date_event3            = 21 January 329<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sinica.edu.tw/ftms-bin/kiwi1/luso.sh?lstype=2&dyna=%AAF%AE%CA&king=%A6%A8%AB%D2&reign=%ABw%A9M&yy=3&ycanzi=&mm=12&dd=&dcanzi=%A4v%A5f | title=中央研究院網站}}</ref><ref>''Zizhi Tongjian'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷094|vol. 94]].</ref>
| p1                     = Jin dynasty (266–420)
| s1                     = Later Zhao
| image_map              = Sixteen Kingdoms 317 AD (2).jpg
| image_map2             = Sixteen Kingdoms 326 AD (2).jpg
| image_map_caption      = Han-Zhao before split, ''c.'' 317, northern China
| image_map2_caption     = Han-Zhao (Former Zhao) after split, ''c.'' 326
| capital                = Lishi (304–305)<br>Liting (305–308)<br>Puzi (308–309)<br>[[Linfen|Pingyang]] (309–318)<br>[[Chang'an]] (318–329)<br>Shanggui (329)
| religion               = [[Tengriism]], [[Buddhism]]
| leader1                = [[Liu Yuan (Han Zhao)|Liu Yuan]]
| leader2                = [[Liu He (Han Zhao)|Liu He]]
| leader3                = [[Liu Cong (Han Zhao)|Liu Cong]]
| leader4                = [[Liu Can]]
| leader5                = [[Liu Yao]]
| year_leader1           = 304–310
| year_leader2           = 310
| year_leader3           = 310–318
| year_leader4           = 318
| year_leader5           = 318–329
| title_leader           = Emperor
| representative1        = [[Liu Xi (Han Zhao)|Liu Xi]]
| year_representative1   = 329
| stat_year1             = 316
| stat_area1             = 2000000
| ref_area1              = <ref>Rein Taagepera "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.", Social Science History Vol. 3, 115–138 (1979)</ref>
| today                  = [[China]]
}}
The '''Han-Zhao''' ({{lang-zh|s=汉赵|t=漢趙|p=Hàn Zhào}}; 304–329 AD), or '''Former Zhao''' ({{lang-zh|s=前赵|t=前趙|p=Qián Zhào}}), was a [[Dynasties of China|dynastic state of China]] ruled by the Liu ([[Luandi]]) clan of [[Chuge]]-[[Xiongnu]] ethnicity during the [[Sixteen Kingdoms]] period of Chinese history.<ref name=Rene>{{Cite book |last=Grousset |first=Rene |title=The Empire of the Steppes |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=1970 |isbn=0-8135-1304-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/56 56–57] |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/56 }}</ref> In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the '''Northern Han''' ({{lang|zh-Hant|北漢}}; {{Transliteration|zh|Běi Hàn}}) for the state proclaimed in 304 by [[Liu Yuan (Han-Zhao)|Liu Yuan]], and the '''Former Zhao''' ({{lang|zh-Hant|前趙}}; {{Transliteration|zh|Qián Zhào}}) for the state proclaimed in 319 by [[Liu Yao]]. The reference to them as separate states can be misleading, given that when Liu Yao changed the name of the state from "Han" to "Zhao" in 319, he treated the state as having been continuous from when Liu Yuan founded it in 304; instead, he de-established his imperial lineage from the [[Han dynasty]] and claimed ancestry directly from [[Modu Chanyu]].

The reason it is also referred to as "Former Zhao" in historiography is to distinguish it from the [[Later Zhao]] founded by [[Shi Le]] in 319, which was also known officially as "Zhao". Since both the Former Zhao and Northern Han were ruled by the same family, Chinese scholars often conditionally combined them into a single Han-Zhao regime. Numerous Western texts refer to the two states separately; others referred to the Han state as the "Northern Han" (not to be confused with [[Northern Han]] of the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]]).

During the Han period, the capital was frequently moved around [[Shanxi]] before finally settling in [[Linfen|Pingyang]]. The Han was a driving force during the [[upheaval of the Five Barbarians]], as they brought the [[Disaster of Yongjia]] and demise of the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Western Jin dynasty]] by 317. At the height of its power, the Han ruled Shanxi, [[Shaanxi]], eastern [[Gansu]], and large parts of [[Shandong]], [[Hebei]], and [[Henan]]. After [[Jin Zhun]]'s coup in 318, the empire, which renamed itself to (Former) Zhao in 319, was split into two between [[Liu Yao]] and the warlord, [[Shi Le]]. Liu Yao moved the capital to the west in [[Chang'an]], retaining Shaanxi and eastern Gansu, while the eastern portion of the empire fell to Shi Le's [[Later Zhao|Later Zhao dynasty]].