He was a controversial figure in Chinese history, as his military abilities were outstanding, but as he was forced to flee Former Yan due to the jealousies of the regent Murong Ping, he was taken in and trusted by the Former Qin emperor Fu Jiān, but later betrayed him and established Later Yan, leading to a reputation of him as a traitor.

Further, his reputation was damaged in that soon after his death, the Later Yan state suffered great defeats at the hands of Northern Wei dynasty's founder Emperor Daowu (Tuoba Gui), leading to the general sense that Murong Chui contributed to the defeats by not building a sound foundation for the empire and by choosing the wrong successor.

Murong Chui's biography in the Book of Jin described him as seven chi and seven cun tall (approximately 188.65cm) and having long arms.

In 344, for his contribution in the conquest of the Yuwen tribe, Murong Ba was created the Marquess of Duxiang.

During the next few years, Murong Chui participated in subduing many former Later Zhao generals who were still remaining semi-independent.

Perhaps at Empress Kezuhun's instigation, the eunuch Nie Hao (涅浩) falsely accused Princess Duan of witchcraft.

The results are dire, and I will not do this.As she was interrogated, Princess Duan replied logically and openly, and Murong Chui was able to avoid being dragged into the case, but she still died in prison, either from the torture or a secret execution.

Because of this, Murong Chui was briefly effectively exiled to be the governor of remote Ping Province (平州, modern eastern Liaoning).

Instead, he accepted his heir apparent Murong Ling (慕容令)'s suggestion, seeking to flee and take over Longcheng in order to try to force reconciliation with the imperial government.

He created Murong Chui the Marquess of Bintu and greatly honored him, despite misgivings by his prime minister Wang Meng.

Murong Ling, unable to verify either the truth or the falsehood of the message, decided to defect back to Former Yan.

Initially, he did not hide his disgust to those officials who failed to support him during the struggle with Murong Ping and Empress Dowager Kezuhun, but at Gao Bi's suggestion, he started to treat them with kindness, with the rebuilding of Yan in mind.

However, Former Qin forces, commanded by Fu Rong, was defeated by Jin forces at the Battle of Fei River despite great numerical superiority; Fu Rong was killed, and almost the entire army collapsed—although the forces under Murong Chui's command remained intact, and Fu Jiān, who suffered an arrow wound during the defeat, fled to Murong Chui.

Murong Chui told Fu Jiān that he was fearful that the people over the Former Yan territory would rebel, and that it would be best if he led a force to pacify the region.

On the way to Luoyang, however, Murong Chui killed Fu Feilong and his Di soldiers and prepared to openly rebel.

Murong Chui then entered into an alliance with Zhai Bin, who urged him to take imperial title.

When Zhai Bin, in disappointment over not given a prime ministerial title, considered switching sides again to Former Qin, Murong Chui killed him.

Briefly during early 385, he also had to battle Jin forces, which had taken most of the territory south of the Yellow River and was in a temporary alliance with Fu Pi.

While isolated pockets of Former Qin resistance remained, by the end of 385 Former Yan was largely in control of the territory north of the Yellow River and east of Taihang Mountains.

In 386, Tuoba Gui, the descendant of the Dai royal house, who had reestablished Dai earlier that year but subsequently claimed the title Prince of Wei (thus establishing Northern Wei) but faced internal rebellions and turmoil, submitted to Murong Chui as a vassal and sought Later Yan aid.

In 391, an incident that would have terrible consequences occurred to lead to the break of relations between Later Yan and Northern Wei.

Zhai sought aid from Western Yan, but Murong Yong declined to send a relief force, and Murong Chui quickly crossed the Yellow River and captured Huatai, conquering Zhai's Wei state.

Tuoba Gui withdrew his forces out of his capital Shengle (盛樂, in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) to the west of the Yellow River.

Murong Bao therefore decided to retreat, not realizing that Tuoba Gui was shadowing his army in the dark winter cold.

Murong Chui then launched the attack, quickly capturing Northern Wei's important city Pingcheng (平城, in modern Datong, Shanxi) and aimed for Shengle, and Tuoba Gui, in panic, considered abandoning Shengle again.

In response, the Later Yan forces began to withdraw, and on the way back to Zhongshan, Murong Chui died at Shanggu (上谷, in modern Zhangjiakou, Hebei).

Murong Bao succeeded him, but in less than a year most of Later Yan would fall into Northern Wei's hands.