Helian Bobo

Helian Bobo (Chinese: 赫連勃勃; Middle Chinese Guangyun: [xɐk-li̯ɛn˩ bʰuət-bʰuət]; 381–425), né Liu Bobo (劉勃勃), courtesy name Qujie (屈孑), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wulie of Xia (夏武烈帝), was the founding emperor of the Xiongnu-led Hu Xia dynasty of China. He is generally considered to be an extremely cruel ruler, one who betrayed every benefactor whom he had, and whose thirst for killing was excessive even for the turbulent times that he was in.^[1] He built an impressive capital for his state at Tongwancheng (統萬城, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi) that remained difficult to besiege, even hundreds of years later during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.^[2] (Confusingly, the Book of Wei refers to him as Helian Qugai (赫連屈丐), based on a derogatory term that Emperor Mingyuan of Northern Wei used to refer to him.)