389–396:Prince of Sanhe(三河王) Lü Guang (Chinese: 呂光; 337–400), courtesy name Shiming (世明), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Yiwu of Later Liang (後涼懿武帝), was the founding emperor of the Di-led Chinese Later Liang dynasty (although during most of his reign, he used the title "Heavenly King").
Lü Guang was ethnically Di (although he claimed ancestry from an ethnically Han man named Lü Wenhe (呂文和) who fled from Pei County (in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu, the same county that Han dynasty emperors' ancestors came) from a disaster and who settled in Di lands).
Lü Guang, however, was not well regarded by his father's colleagues, because he did not study much and instead concentrated his efforts on hunting and riding.
Later, after he served under Wang Meng in the campaign destroying rival Former Yan in 370, he was created the Marquess of Duting.
He made Bo Chun's brother Bo Zhen (帛震) the new king, and he also, in a move to show Former Qin suzerainty over Xiyu, ordered the Xiyu kings to turn over the Han dynasty imperial rods that they had still possessed and exchanged them for Former Qin ones.
Former Qin's governor of the rich Liang Province (涼州, modern central and western Gansu and eastern Xinjiang), Liang Xi (梁熙), was weary of Lü's intentions, and he considered sealing the borders and refusing Lü entry.
His advisor Yang Han (楊翰) suggested that he cut off the Gaowu Valley (高梧谷, in modern Turpan Prefecture, Xinjiang) or Yiwu Passes (伊吾關, in modern Kumul Prefecture, Xinjiang) to defeat Lü by thirst, but Liang refused.
In winter 386, upon hearing the news of Fu Jiān's death (Fu Jiān having died in 385), he changed the era name to Tai'an—signifying a declaration of independence, although at this point he claimed no formal regal or imperial titles—and therefore 386 is typically considered the date of Later Liang's founding.
In 394, Lü Guang received nominal submission by the powerful Xianbei chief Tufa Wugu, the words of whose advisor Shizhen Ruoliu (石真若留) indirectly showed that Later Liang was in its prime at this point—as Shizhen regarded Later Liang capable of destroying the Tufa tribe at will.
However, Qifu Gangui soon regretted this arrangement, and executed his officials Mi Guizhou (密貴周) and Mozhe Gudi (莫者羖羝), who suggested it.
Later Liang's power appeared to start to fall apart in 397, when Lü Guang, determined to punish Qifu Gangui for his shifting positions, launched a major attack against Western Qin's capital Xicheng (西城, in modern Baiyin, Gansu).
Lü Guang sent his general Dou Gou (竇苟) to attack Tufa Wugu, but was defeated.
Juqu Nancheng persuaded the governor of Jiankang Commandery, Duan Ye, who was already fearful that Lü Guang would blame him for the Juqus' rebellion, to join them, and Juqu Nancheng offered the title of Duke of Jiankang to Duan Ye, thus establishing Northern Liang.
At this time, the magician Guo Nen (郭黁), whom Lü Guang and his people had trusted greatly, prophesied that Later Liang was about to be destroyed, and therefore started a rebellion himself within the capital Guzang, capturing even Lü Guang's eight grandsons and executing them cruelly.