Shi Hu (Chinese: 石虎; 295 – 26 May 349), courtesy name Jilong (季龍), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wu of Later Zhao (後趙武帝), was an emperor of the Jie-led Chinese Later Zhao dynasty. He was the founding emperor Shi Le (Emperor Ming)'s distant nephew and adopted brother, who took power in a coup after Shi Le's death from Shi Le's heir Shi Hong. Due to Tang dynasty naming taboo, he is referred to using his courtesy name (石季龍) in the Book of Jin.

Shi Hu was a talented general who rarely lost battles, and Shi Le relied on him heavily in his conquest of northern and central China. However, he was also exceedingly cruel in his military campaigns. After he became the ruler of Later Zhao under the title of "heavenly king" (Tian Wang), he ruled the empire with a heavy hand, imposing heavy tax and labor burdens and spending much of his effort on constructing palaces and collecting concubines. When two of his crown princes crossed him on separate occasions, he had them executed in brutal fashion. On the other hand, he was mindful of showing leniency towards his chief officials and propagated Buddhism by promoting religious freedom. While he was alive, his empire remained intact, but as soon as he died, his sons and adopted grandson Ran Min engaged in an internecine war that destroyed both the empire and the Jie people.

Shi Hu's father was named Koumi (寇覓) and was a son of a cousin of Shi Le's father Zhouhezhu (周曷朱). His father died early and he was raised by Zhouhezhu and his wife, Shi Le's mother Lady Wang, so Shi Hu was also sometimes referred to as Shi Le's brother. During the early 300s, a severe famine affected the Jie tribesmen, and Shi Hu became separated from Shi Le. Later, after Shi Le had become a powerful Han-Zhao general, Liu Kun the Jin governor of Bing Province (并州, modern northern and central Shanxi), where the Jie were from, located Shi Hu and Lady Wang and sent them to Shi Le along with messengers, trying to persuade Shi Le to defect from Han to Jin. Shi Le, in gratitude, sent horses and jewel to Liu, but did not accept his invitation. (Since the Jie did not appear to use family names, and Shi Le's own family name of "Shi" was given to him by his friend Ji Sang, presumably this was also the time that Shi Le gave Shi Hu the same family name and gave him the courtesy name Jilong as well, patterned after his own courtesy name Shilong (世龍).)

Shi Hu grew up in Shi Le's army, and when he was young, he became known for incessantly hunting and not following military orders, and particularly liked hitting people with sling bullets. Shi Le considered killing him, as the entire army was complaining about Shi Hu, but Lady Wang responded, "Before a fast bull grows up, it would often break wagons that it pulls. Endure him a little bit." By the time he got to age 18, he was about 184 cm tall, and he became known for his bravery in battle and skills in archery and horsemanship, and the entire army feared him. Shi Le gave him the sister of the general Guo Rong (郭榮) in marriage to him, but he favored his concubine Zheng Yingtao and, at Zheng's instigation, killed Lady Guo. The same happened to his next wife, Lady Cui. He also became known for his cruelty in governing his soldiers and in battle, as he often executed officers who disagreed with his wishes or had great abilities, and whenever he captured a city, he often slaughtered the entire population. Even though Shi Le rebuked him at times, he could not get Shi Hu to change his ways. However, despite his cruelty, he also gave his officers leeway in their tactics, and he often led them into battles fearless of dangers. Therefore, Shi Le trusted him greatly and made him one of his top lieutenants.

Shi Le frequently sent Shi Hu out in command of forces against important foes and gave him the title of Marquess of Fanyang. The enemies that Shi Hu engaged while serving under Shi Le included:

In 319, Shi Le, after a dispute of Liu Yao, declared independence as the Prince of Zhao (thus establishing Later Zhao, named as such due to Liu Yao changing his state's name from Han to Zhao, distinguished as the Former Zhao), and he bestowed Shi Hu a number of offices and the title the Duke of Zhongshan.

After Shi Le's establishment of Later Zhao, he, even more so than before, extensively relied on Shi Hu to defeat major enemies. The major battles that Shi Hu engaged in included:

As the years went by, Shi Hu began to develop an antagonistic relationship with Shi Le's key advisors Cheng Xia (the maternal uncle of Shi Le's crown prince Shi Hong) and Xu Guang, who had seen Shi Hu's ambitions and urged for Shi Le to curb his powers. The first conflict came in 326, when Shi Le, under Cheng's advice, had Shi Hong take over Yecheng's defenses, forcing Shi Hu's household to move out of the three towers. (Shi Hu retaliated by having soldiers in bandits' masquerades raid Cheng's home late at night, rape the women of his household, and rob them of their clothing.) In 330, after Shi Le successively claimed the titles of "Heavenly King" (Tian Wang) and emperor, Shi Hu was given title of Prince of Zhongshan, and two of his sons were also given title of princes as well. However, Shi Hu became incensed that he was not also given the title of Grand Chanyu, which Shi Le had granted to his son Shi Hong (石宏, note different character than his crown prince), and he secretly started plotting taking over after Shi Le's death. In 332, Shi Le tried to curb his powers by having the crown prince and the eunuch Yan Zhen (嚴震) participate in important decisions that were previously Shi Hu's to make, which only served to anger Shi Hu.