Former Liang

The Former Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms period in north-western China, usually dated from 320 to 376, with its centre at Guzang, the present-day Wuwei in Gansu. Its ruling house was the Zhang family of Han Chinese officials who had served the Western Jin. Zhang Gui, appointed inspector of Liang province in 301, made Guzang his base, encouraged agriculture and founded schools, and the relative calm of the region attracted refugees from the war-torn heartland. Although later historiography counts the state from Zhang Gui's appointment or from Zhang Shi's assumption of power, the rulers generally kept the title Duke of Xiping and nominally acknowledged the Eastern Jin, and several of them accepted kingship only when pressed by stronger neighbours such as the Former Zhao, the Later Zhao and the Former Qin. At its height the Former Liang controlled Gansu together with parts of Ningxia, Shaanxi, Qinghai and Xinjiang. Its position on the Silk Road corridor made it a meeting point for Buddhist and commercial traffic, and the state is remembered for the cave temples and manuscript culture of the region. It fell to the Former Qin in 376, and historians added the prefix "Former" to distinguish it from the Di-led Later Liang that followed.