The Siege of Baideng opened the Way of Peace with the Xiongnu in the Western Han Dynasty. Liu Bang married the daughter of the clan to Mu Dun Shan Yu as a princess and was about brother with Mo Dun Shan Yu, so the descendants of Mo Dun Shan Yu appeared with the surname of Liu. But whether it was Liu Bang or Mao Dun Shan Yu, they would never have thought that in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, there would be a Xiongnu surnamed Liu who opposed the Western Jin Dynasty under the banner of the Han Dynasty, and this person was Liu Yuan.
Liu Yuan(?) ~310), courtesy name Yuanhai, was a Xiongnu clan, said to be a descendant of Mao Dun Shan Yu, his grandfather was the Southern Xiongnu Shan Yu Yu Fuluo, his father was Liu Bao, the King of Zuoxian, and his mother was Hu Yan. Although they were Xiongnu, they had already moved inland since the time of their grandfather Yufuluo, so Liu Yuan, in addition to inheriting the bravery of the Xiongnu, was able to learn the knowledge and culture of the Han people, and even worshiped the party member Cui You as a teacher. When he grew up, Liu Yuan was also quite prestigious, and even Wang Hun, the son of Cao Wei Sikong Wang Chang and a future important minister of the Western Jin Dynasty, had a general relationship with him.
After Liu Yuan became a hostage and went to Luoyang, he and Sima Zhao's father and son began to intersect, which of course was indispensable to Wang Hun's credit. Under the persuasion of Wang Hun's father and son, Sima Yan once planned to use Liu Yuan to participate in the campaign against Wu, but only gave up under the persuasion of Kong Gong, Yang Jue and others. When the bald tree function was able to rebel in the northwest, Li Xi again recommended Liu Yuan to go to suppress the rebellion, but was once again dissuaded by Kong Ke, and Sima Yan completely broke the idea of reusing Liu Yuan.
The depressed Liu Yuan went to Wang Mi for drinking and crying, and as a result, Sima You learned of this. Sima You directly persuaded Sima Yan to kill Liu Yuan, and liu Yuan escaped by relying on Wang Hun's strength to protect him.
Later, Liu Bao died, and Liu Yuan was able to leave Luoyang to take over his father's post, and successively served as the northern governor, the general of Jianwei, and the governor of wubu, and was knighted as the Marquis of Hanguang Township. However, the good times did not last long, because the tribesmen defected from Sai, and Liu Yuan was dismissed from office. At this time, another of his noblemen, Sima Ying, appeared, and Sima Ying recommended Liu Yuan to serve as the general of Ning Shuo and the military commander of the Five Departments. Liu Yuan then became Sima Ying's subordinate.
As the Rebellion of the Eight Kings intensified, Liu Yuan's cousin Liu Xuan and others began to stir up trouble, and secretly jointly elected Liu Yuan as the Great Danyu. When Liu Xuan's envoy told Liu Yuan the contents of the plot, Liu Yuan was also overjoyed and asked Sima Ying to let him return to his hometown to perform the funeral ceremony, but Sima Ying did not agree.
Liu Yuan did not wait long, because the relationship with Wang Jun was broken, and Wang Jun, Sima Teng, and others came to attack Sima Ying with the army of the Xianbei people. Liu Yuan saw the opportunity and told Sima Ying to go back and lead five Xiongnu to help Sima Ying fight. Sima Ying was very pleased with Liu Yuan's ecstasy soup, so he appointed Liu Yuan as a northern Shan Yu and Counselor General and asked him to go back and gather troops.
Sima Ying would not have thought that he was letting the tiger return to the mountain, and after Liu Yuan returned to Zuo Guocheng, Liu Xuan and others would be liu Yuan's title of Da Shan Yu, and within twenty days, a crowd of 50,000 people would gather. Liu Yuan was also quite faithful, and although he was very dismissive of Sima Ying, he still planned to help him as agreed. However, after being resolutely persuaded by Liu Xuan and others, Liu Yuan was also moved, planning to rebel against Jin and stand on his own.
In 304 AD, Liu Yuan built an altar and set up a sacrifice, proclaimed himself the King of Han, pardoned prisoners in the territory, and the founding name was Yuan Xi. Liu Yuan's betrayal of the Western Jin Dynasty this time was under the banner of the Han Dynasty, he first posthumously honored Liu Chan as Emperor Xiaohuai, and then built the three ancestors and five sects below Han Gaozu to sacrifice in an attempt to attract people's hearts.
After that, Liu Yuan defeated all the forces of the Western Jin Dynasty and successively captured Taiyuan, The Huishi, Tunliu, Changzi, and Zhongdu. Then, following the advice of liu yin and Wang Yu, he began to enter Hedong and capture Pusaka and Pingyang. As Liu Yuan's power grew, Wang Mi, Shi Le, and others surrendered to Liu Yuan one after another.
In 308, Liu Yuan officially declared himself emperor, changed his era name to Yongfeng, and moved the capital to Pingyang. He then ordered his sons Liu Cong and Wang Mi to attack Luoyang twice, but both were met with stubborn resistance from the Western Jin Dynasty and failed to capture Luoyang.
In 310 AD, Liu Yuan died of illness in the Guangji Temple, with the posthumous title of Emperor Guangwen and the temple name Gaozu, and was buried in the Yongguang Tomb.