kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Ran Wei

350 CE – 352 CE · capital Ye

The brief empire of Ran Min, a Chinese general who seized the Later Zhao capital in 350 and ordered the massacre of the Jie and other northern peoples.

Origins

Ran Min was a Chinese general adopted into the family of the Later Zhao emperor Shi Hu. In the civil war after Shi Hu's death he seized Ye, and in 350 he proclaimed himself emperor of a new Wei dynasty.

Rule and society

Ran Min ordered the killing of the Jie and other non-Chinese in Ye; sources claim some 200,000 died. The massacre made his regime a rallying point for Chinese hostility to the northern conquerors but left it surrounded by enemies. Ran Wei held little more than the Ye region and was constantly at war with Later Zhao remnants.

Decline and legacy

In 352 the Former Yan general Murong Ke defeated and captured Ran Min at Liantai; he was executed, and Ye fell later that year. In modern times Ran Min has been both condemned for genocide and praised by nationalists.

Lineage

Later Zhao 319 CE – 351 CERan Wei

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ran Wei. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ran-wei
MLA
“Ran Wei.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ran-wei. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ran Wei.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ran-wei.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ran Wei’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ran-wei (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻