Haiyang Wang (海陽王)
Family name Chinese name Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"... :	Shi (石; shí)
Given name Chinese name Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"... :	Hong (弘, hóng)
Posthumous name Posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in East Asia after the person's death, and is used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life... :	None

Shi Hong (石弘) (313–334), courtesy name Daya (大雅), was briefly an emperor

Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...

 of the Chinese

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

/Jie

Jie (ethnic group)

The Jié were members of a small tribe in Northern China in the 4th century CE. They established the Later Zhao state.According to the Book of Wei, their name derives from the Jiéshì area where they reside....

 state Later Zhao

Later Zhao

The Later Zhao was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity...

 after the death of his father Shi Le

Shi Le

Shi Le , courtesy name Shilong , formally Emperor Ming of Zhao , was the founding emperor of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao...

, Later Zhao's founder. Because after his cousin Shi Hu

Shi Hu

Shi Hu , courtesy name Jilong , formally Emperor Wu of Zhao , was an emperor of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao...

 deposed him, he was created the Prince of Haiyang (海陽王), he is sometimes known by that title.

Background

Shi Hong was Shi Le's second son, by his concubine Consort Cheng

Empress Dowager Cheng

Empress Dowager Cheng was an empress dowager of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao. She was a concubine of Later Zhao's founding emperor Shi Le and gave birth to his crown prince and successor, Shi Hong...

. Unlike the militaristic Shi Le, Shi Hong was known for his literary studies and kindness. After his older brother Shi Xing (石興) died, Shi Le made him his heir apparent

Heir apparent

An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

. In 330, after Shi Le declared himself first "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang

Tian Wang

Tian Wang , translatable as either "heavenly prince" or "heavenly king," was a Chinese regal title that was most frequently used during the Sixteen Kingdoms era, among the kingdoms founded by members of the Wu Hu tribes, often used as an intermediate stage from claiming a prince/king title to an...

) and then emperor, he created Shi Hong crown prince

Crown Prince

A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

. Shi Le, concerned that his powerful nephew Shi Hu

Shi Hu

Shi Hu , courtesy name Jilong , formally Emperor Wu of Zhao , was an emperor of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao...

, a ferocious general, had too much power, began to transfer some of Shi Hu's power to Shi Hong, but this only served to aggravate Shi Hu, who already resented Shi Hong for being younger but yet crown prince, believing that, as the general who contributed the most to Shi Le's campaign successes, he should be crown prince.

Reign

In fall of 333, Shi Le died, and Shi Hu immediately seized power in a coup. In fear, Shi Hong offered to yield the throne to Shi Hu, but Shi Hu refused and forced Shi Hong to assume the throne and make him prime minister, and Shi Hong did so. Shi Hu killed Shi Le's advisors Cheng Xia (程遐), Shi Hong's uncle, and Xu Guang (徐光). Shi Hu further forced Shi Hong to create him the Prince of Wei, with intent to echo the powers that Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

 had while being Emperor Xian of Han

Emperor Xian of Han

Emperor Xian of Han , personal name Liu Xie, style name Bohe, was the last emperor of the Han Dynasty period of Chinese history...

's regent.

Shi Le's wife Empress Dowager Liu

Empress Liu (Ming)

Empress Liu was an empress of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao. Her husband was the founder of the empire, Shi Le....

 decided to take a chance. She conspired with Shi Le's adopted son Shi Kan (石堪) the Prince of Pengcheng to start a rebellion against Shi Hu, but Shi Kan was defeated and executed cruelly by burning. Empress Dowager Liu, after her role was discovered, was also executed. Shi Hong's mother Consort Cheng assumed the empress dowager

Empress Dowager

Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...

 title. Shi Hu also subsequently defeated the efforts by Shi Sheng (石生) the Prince of Hedong, Shi Lang (石朗), and Guo Quan (郭權) to overthrow him. In 334, unable to stand Shi Hu's persecution, Shi Hong personally visited Shi Hu and offered him the throne and the imperial seal, and Shi Hu refused—making it clear that it would be his initiative, not Shi Hong's, if he wanted the throne. Soon thereafter, claiming that Shi Hong had violated the customs on mourning, he deposed Shi Hong and demoted Shi Hong to the title of the Prince of Haiyang. Shi Hong was soon executed with his mother Empress Dowager Cheng and his brothers Shi Hong (石宏, note different character) the Prince of Qin and Shi Hui (石恢) the Prince of Nanyang. Shi Le's descendants were, by this point, exterminated by Shi Hu.

Personal information

• Father
  • Shi Le
    Shi Le
    Shi Le , courtesy name Shilong , formally Emperor Ming of Zhao , was the founding emperor of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao...
    
     (Emperor Ming)
• Mother
  • Consort Cheng
    Empress Dowager Cheng
    Empress Dowager Cheng was an empress dowager of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao. She was a concubine of Later Zhao's founding emperor Shi Le and gave birth to his crown prince and successor, Shi Hong...