Later Yan

Yan 燕
384–409
Later Yan in 391 AD
Later Yan in 400 AD
Capital	Zhongshan (386–397) Longcheng (397–409)
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
• 384–396	Murong Chui
• 396–398	Murong Bao
• 398	Lan Han
• 398–401	Murong Sheng
• 401–407	Murong Xi
• 407–409	Murong Yun
History
• Established	384
• Establishment of Zhongshan as capital	8 February 386[1][2]
• Murong Chui's claim of imperial title	15 February 386[2][3]
• Evacuation of Zhongshan	27 April 397[4][5]
• Murong Xi's death	16 September 407[6][7]
• Disestablished	6 November[8][9] 409
Preceded by Succeeded by Former Qin Northern Wei Southern Yan Northern Yan
Today part of	China

Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (simplified Chinese: 后燕; traditional Chinese: 後燕; pinyin: Hòu Yān; 384 – 407 or 409), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms.^[10]

The prefix "Later" to distinguish them from the Former Yan before them and other Yan states from the period. Historiographers also consider the Former Yan and Later Yan as separate states despite both being ruled by the same imperial family, and the Later Yan's founder, Murong Chui, had intended his state to be a restoration. Due to the devastation inflicted on the old Yan capital, Ye, the city of Zhongshan (中山, in modern Baoding, Hebei) became the first capital of the Later Yan. The Later Yan managed to recover most of their old territory in Liaoning, Hebei, Shaanxi, Shandong and Henan by 394. However, after the Northern Wei invasion in 396, they were reduced to Liaoning and parts of northeastern Hebei, where they made Longcheng their new capital. Their territory was further reduced during their war with Goguryeo as they lost the Liaodong Peninsula.

The Later Yan rulers initially declared themselves "emperors", but towards the end they adopted the lesser title of "Tiān Wáng" (Heavenly King). Some historians consider Murong Xi the last ruler of Later Yan, while others consider it to be Gao Yun, an adopted member of the imperial family of Goguryeo ethnicity.