The Han-Zhao (simplified Chinese: 汉赵; traditional Chinese: 漢趙; pinyin: Hàn Zhào; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao (simplified Chinese: 前赵; traditional Chinese: 前趙; pinyin: Qián Zhào), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Liu (Luandi) clan of Chuge-Xiongnu ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern Han (北漢; Běi Hàn) for the state proclaimed in 304 by Liu Yuan, and the Former Zhao (前趙; Qián Zhào) for the state proclaimed in 319 by Liu Yao. The reference to them as separate states can be misleading, given that when Liu Yao changed the name of the state from "Han" to "Zhao" in 319, he treated the state as having been continuous from when Liu Yuan founded it in 304; instead, he de-established his imperial lineage from the Han dynasty and claimed ancestry directly from Modu Chanyu.

The reason it is also referred to as "Former Zhao" in historiography is to distinguish it from the Later Zhao founded by Shi Le in 319, which was also known officially as "Zhao". Since both the Former Zhao and Northern Han were ruled by the same family, Chinese scholars often conditionally combined them into a single Han-Zhao regime. Numerous Western texts refer to the two states separately; others referred to the Han state as the "Northern Han" (not to be confused with Northern Han of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period).

During the Han period, the capital was frequently moved around Shanxi before finally settling in Pingyang. The Han was a driving force during the upheaval of the Five Barbarians, as they brought the Disaster of Yongjia and demise of the Western Jin dynasty by 317. At the height of its power, the Han ruled Shanxi, Shaanxi, eastern Gansu, and large parts of Shandong, Hebei, and Henan. After Jin Zhun's coup in 318, the empire, which renamed itself to (Former) Zhao in 319, was split into two between Liu Yao and the warlord, Shi Le. Liu Yao moved the capital to the west in Chang'an, retaining Shaanxi and eastern Gansu, while the eastern portion of the empire fell to Shi Le's Later Zhao dynasty.

Following the break-up of the Xiongnu Empire in the 1st century, the Southern Xiongnu branch surrendered to the Han dynasty and were resettled in the northern border commanderies. Under their chanyu, the Southern Xiongnu acted as a Han vassal state, providing assistance in defending the frontiers from nomadic forces. They settled down and fully took up agriculture, but kept a few aspects of their former nomadic lifestyle such as horse breeding. Relations with the Han were often times unstable with poor living conditions on the borders and the Chinese court meddling in their politics leading to several rebellions. In 188, just as the Han dynasty was about to fall into political turmoil, the Southern Xiongnu collapsed after dissenters within their ranks –allied with the rebelling Xiuchuge people– expelled their Han-backed chanyu and dissolved his government.

In 216, after the warlord, Cao Cao unified northern China, he had the exiled chanyu, Huchuquan detained as an honoured prisoner at Ye. He then reorganized what remained of the Southern Xiongnu into the Five Divisions around Taiyuan Commandery in Bing province. Each division was led by a commander, who were nobles from the tribes and were in turn supervised by a Chinese marshal. Huchuquan's uncle, Qubei was also sent to oversee the Five Divisions. No new chanyu was proclaimed after Huchuquan died, and the Five Divisions remained subservient to the Cao Wei dynasty.

During the Jiaping era (249–254), the Five Divisions became a concern for the Chinese court as the Commander of the Left Division, Liu Bao unified them and was mobilizing a great army. The Wei and later the Western Jin intervened, gradually forcing them back into five. Five Divisions nobility had to send their children as hostages to the capital, Luoyang, including Liu Bao's son, Liu Yuan. Sinicization was evident among the elites; Liu Yuan became proficient in the Confucianist classics and befriended members of the Chinese aristocracy such as the Wang clan of Taiyuan. He was even considered for the post of commander of the Jin forces for the conquest of Eastern Wu but was later dismissed because of his ethnicity.

Nonetheless, among the Five Divisions, a sense of separate identity from the Chinese was retained. Discontent towards Jin rule and of their subordinate position prompted them to seek an independent or self-governing entity. As one of the elites, Liu Xuan, puts it:

“In the past, our ancestors and those of the Han acted like brothers through joy and sorrow. However, since the fall of Han and the rise of Wei and Jin, our titles of chanyus hold no value, and we have not gained a foot of land since. Although we have been bestowed with many noble ranks, our households are all equally low."