Emperor Xiaoming Of Northern Wei
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Emperor Xiaoming of (Northern) Wei ((北)魏孝明帝) (510 – March 31, 528According to Emperor Xiaoming's biography in ''Book of Wei'', he died aged 19 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''guichou'' day of the second month of the first year of the ''Wutai'' era of his reign. This corresponds to 31 Mar 528 on the Julian calendar. 武泰元年春二月)癸丑, 帝崩於顯陽殿,時年十九。''Wei Shu'' vol.09), personal name Yuan Xu (元詡), was an
emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
of the
Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...
-led Chinese
Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...
dynasty. He ascended the throne in 515 at the age of five, and governmental matters were dominated by his mother Empress Dowager Hu (with an intervening regency by the official Yuan Cha from 520 to 525). In 528, Emperor Xiaoming tried to curb his mother's powers and kill her lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) by conspiring with the general Erzhu Rong. As a result, the 18-year-old emperor was poisoned by his mother, who was soon overthrown by Erzhu. From that point on, Northern Wei royal lineage had no actual power. The next ruler, Emperor Xiaozhuang (507–531) was established by Erzhu. After Erzhu was assassinated by Emperor Xiaozhuang in November 530, rival generals
Yuwen Tai Yuwen Tai () (505/7 – 21 November 556According to Yuwen Tai's biography in ''Book of Zhou'', he died aged 52 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''yihai'' day of the 10th month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei. This co ...
and Gao Huan enthroned two royal offsprings, causing the country to split into two rival polities,
Western Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Western Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei. One of the Northern dynasties during the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the weste ...
and
Eastern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Nor ...
, both of which did not last long on the political map of the
Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...
.


Background

Yuan Xu was born in 510. He was the only son of Emperor Xuanwu to be alive at that point. (Emperor Xuanwu had other sons before him, but each died in infancy or childhood, and only one of them, Yuan Chang (), the son of Emperor Xuanwu's first wife Empress Yu, is known to historians by name.) Yuan Xu's mother was Emperor Xuanwu's
concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...
Consort Hu. As the only male offspring of Emperor Xuanwu, Yuan Xu obtained much of his father's attention: Emperor Xuanwu selected several experienced mothers to be Yuan Xu's
wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...
s, forbidding his second wife Empress Gao and Consort Hu to be near him, perhaps because popular opinion at the time believed Yuan Chang to have been murdered by Empress Gao's (and Emperor Xuanwu's) uncle, Gao Zhao. In winter 512, Emperor Xuanwu created Yuan Xu
crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...
. Contrary to Northern Wei's tradition of putting the crown prince's mother to death at the time of creation, Emperor Xuanwu spared Consort Hu. In 515, Emperor Xuanwu died suddenly, and Yuan Xu succeeded him (as Emperor Xiaoming). The official Yu Zhong and the imperial princes Yuan Yong the Prince of Gaoyang and Yuan Cheng () the Prince of Rencheng seized power from Empress Gao and, after ambushing and killing Gao Zhao, replaced Empress Gao as
empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...
with Consort Hu. Empress Dowager Hu became
regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
over the five-year-old emperor.


First regency of Empress Dowager Hu

Empress Dowager Hu was considered intelligent, capable of understanding many things quickly, but she was also overly lenient and tolerant of corruption. She also became shamelessly promiscuous in her personal life. For example, in winter 515, the corrupt governor of Qi Province (岐州, roughly modern
Baoji Baoji ( zh, s= , t= , p=Bǎojī; ) is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a ...
,
Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
), Yuan Mi () the Prince of Zhao, provoked a popular uprising when he killed several people without reason, and while he was relieved from his post, as soon as he returned to the capital
Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...
, Empress Dowager Hu made him a minister because his wife was her niece. In Yuan Xu's childhood, Empress Dowager Hu's power, during these few years, were unchallenged, and while she tolerated—and, in certain circumstances, encouraged—criticism, including rewarding such officials as Yuan Kuang () the Prince of Dongping and Zhang Puhui () for their blunt words, she was slow to implement suggestions that would curb corruption. Empress Dowager Hu was a fervent
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, and during this part of the regency, she built magnificent temples in Luoyang. One she built, dedicated to her father Hu Guozhen () the Duke of Qin, after his death in 518, was particularly beautiful. Because of her influence, Emperor Xiaoming also became a dedicated Buddhist. In his youth, however, he also favored spending time in imperial gardens rather than studies or learning about important affairs of state. In 519, a serious riot occurred in Luoyang, after the official Zhang Zhongyu () proposed that the civil service regulations be changed to disallow soldiers to become civilian officials. The soldiers became angry and stormed both the ministry of civil service and the mansion of Zhang Zhongyu's father, Zhang Yi (), killing Zhang Yi and seriously injuring Zhang Zhongyu and his brother Zhang Shijun (). Empress Dowager Hu arrested eight leaders of the riot and executed them, but pardoned the rest, to quell the unrest. She also rejected the proposal to change the civil service regulations. This event is often seen as the turning point and the start of the unrest that would eventually tear Northern Wei apart. Despite these events, Empress Dowager Hu continued to tolerate corruption, and she often gave exuberant awards to officials, draining the treasury; the pressure on the treasury and the burden on the people were further increased by her orders that each province was to build a tower dedicated to Buddhas. Sometime before 520, Empress Dowager had forced Emperor Xiaoming's uncle Yuan Yi () the Prince of Qinghe, who was popular with the people and the officials because of his abilities and humility, to have an affair with her. Yuan Yi thereafter became the effective leader of government, and he tried to reorganize the administration to decrease corruption. He particularly tried to curb the powers of Empress Dowager Hu's brother-in-law Yuan Cha and the
eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...
Liu Teng (). Yuan Cha therefore falsely accused him of treason, but he was cleared after an investigation. Fearful of reprisals, Yuan Cha and Liu convinced Emperor Xiaoming that Yuan Yi was trying to poison him and carried out a coup against Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Yi, killing Yuan Yi and putting Empress Dowager Hu under house arrest. Yuan Yong became titular regent, but Yuan Cha became the actual power.


Regency of Yuan Cha

Yuan Cha was not particularly able as a regent, and he and Liu multiplied their corruption once they were in power. Yuan Cha himself was not dedicated at all to the affairs of state, but spent much of his time on feasting, drinking, and women. He put his father Yuan Ji and his brothers into positions of power, and they were just as corrupt. Yuan Cha's incompetence and corruption, together with the level of corruption that Empress Dowager Hu herself tolerated while in power, led to popular dissatisfaction with the regime and many agrarian revolts, although the first revolt was by a non-agrarian—Yuan Xi () the Prince of Zhongshan, who was friendly with both Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Yi—in fall 520, trying to avenge Yuan Yi and restore Empress Dowager Hu. Yuan Cha quickly had Yuan Xi's rebellion suppressed. In late 520, Yuan Cha spent much of Northern Wei's energy on trying to restore
Rouran The Rouran Khaganate ( Chinese: zh, c=, p=Róurán, label=no), also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan ( zh, c=, p=Ruǎnruǎn, label=no) (or variously ''Jou-jan'', ''Ruruan'', ''Ju-juan'', ''Ruru'', ''Ruirui'', ''Rouru'', ''Rouruan'' or ''Tantan'') ...
's khan Yujiulü Anagui, who had been overthrown by his cousin Yujiulü Shifa (), despite warnings that doing so would either be fruitless or counterproductive. The restoration was successful, but by 523 Yujiulü Anagui had rebelled and an enemy to Northern Wei again. In spring 521, the general Xi Kangsheng () made an attempt to restore Empress Dowager Hu, but failed. Yuan Cha had him put to death. In 523, the official Li Chong () saw that the people of the six northern military garrisons, largely ethnic
Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...
, who had for generations been forced to stay at those garrisons to defend against Rouran attacks, were stirring with discontent, and he suggested to Yuan Cha and Emperor Xiaoming that the garrisons be converted into provinces and that the people be given the rights of the people of other provinces. Yuan Cha refused. Later that year, the people of Huaihuang (懷荒, in modern Zhangjiakou,
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
) and Woye (沃野, in modern Baynnur,
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
) Garrisons rebelled—rebellions that Northern Wei forces could not quickly quell, and the rebellions soon spread throughout not only the six garrisons but throughout virtually the entire empire. The more important rebels included: * Poliuhan Baling (), with his rebellion concentrated around Woye * Hu Chen (),
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
tribal chief, with his rebellion concentrated around Gaoping Garrison (高平, in modern Guyuan,
Ningxia Ningxia, officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in Northwestern China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous ...
) * Mozhe Dati (), with his rebellion concentrated around Qin Province (秦州, roughly modern Tianshui,
Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
), later succeeded by his son Mozhe Niansheng (), who declared himself Emperor of Qin In 525, Yuan Faseng (), the governor of Xu Province (徐州, modern northern
Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...
), who had been a close associate of Yuan Cha, believing that Yuan Cha would soon fall, rebelled as well, declaring himself emperor. After some initial defeats at the hands of Northern Wei forces sent against him, he surrendered his post of Pengcheng (彭城, in modern
Xuzhou Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...
,
Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...
) to Northern Wei's southern rival
Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...
. By this point, Yuan Cha's precautions against Empress Dowager Hu had been greatly relaxed, particularly after Liu Teng's death in 523, as he no longer saw her as a threat. Empress Dowager Hu, Emperor Xiaoming, and Yuan Yong therefore took the chance to conspire against Yuan Cha. Empress Dowager Hu first threw Yuan Cha's guard off by often discussing about his overly trusting of Yuan Faseng, which caused Yuan Cha to be an apologetic mood. Then, with his agreement, she relieved him of his command of the imperial guards, replacing him with his associate Hou Gang (). In summer 525, she took sudden action and declared herself regent again, killing most of Yuan Cha's and Liu's associates and putting Yuan Cha under house arrest. However, she was initially hesitant to take further action against Yuan Cha, because of her relationship with her sister. Eventually, however, with popular opinion favoring Yuan Cha's death, she forced him and his brother Yuan Gua () to commit suicide, but still posthumously awarded him much honor.


Second regency of Empress Dowager Hu

Empress Dowager Hu, after resumption of her regency over Emperor Xiaoming, allowed her lover Zheng Yan to assume great power, and while Yuan Yong and Yuan Lüe () the Prince of Dongping (Yuan Xi's brother) were trusted and had high ranks, Zheng and Zheng's associate Xu Ge () were more powerful than they were. The agrarian and other revolts continued, and during these years, the more chief rebels included: * Xianyu Xiuli (), with his rebellion centering Ding Province (定州, roughly modern
Baoding Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2020 census, Baoding City had 11,544,036 inhabitants, of which 2,549,787 lived in the metropolitan area made of 4 out of 5 urban distri ...
,
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
. After Xianyu's death, his general Ge Rong () took over and became very strong, proclaiming himself the Emperor of Qi * Xiao Baoyin, son of Emperor Ming of Southern Qi, who sought to reestablish
Southern Qi Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succee ...
, with his rebellion centering
Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
* Xing Gao (), with his rebellion centering Beihai (北海, roughly modern
Weifang Weifang ( zh, s=潍坊, t=濰坊, p=Wéifāng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao ...
,
Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
) * Moqi Chounu (), who took over Hu Chen's army after Hu was killed by Poliuhan Baling Empress Dowager Hu sent a number of generals against these rebels without much success, and while Xiao Baoyin was defeated by his own subordinates and forced to flee to Moqi, no other major rebels were defeated by Northern Wei generals. Exacerbating the situation was the fact that Empress Dowager Hu did not like to hear about news of rebel successes, and therefore her attendants often made up good news, causing her to often refuse generals' requests for reinforcements. Several times, Emperor Xiaoming publicly declared that he would personally lead armies against the rebels, but each time he failed to actually do so. Meanwhile, during these internal troubles that Northern Wei, Liang took advantage by capturing a number of border cities, including the important city Shouyang (壽陽, in modern Lu'an,
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
). The only real military success that Northern Wei had during this time happened in late 525, when it was able to recapture Pengcheng from Liang—and the success was fortuitous, as the Liang prince Xiao Zong (), the son of
Emperor Wu of Liang Emperor Wu of Liang () (464 – 12 June 549), personal name Xiao Yan (蕭衍), courtesy name Shuda (叔達), childhood name Lian'er (練兒), was the founding Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty, during the Northern and Souther ...
and his concubine Consort Wu, who was previously the concubine of Southern Qi emperor
Xiao Baojuan Xiao Baojuan (蕭寶卷) (483 – 31 December 501), né Xiao Mingxian (蕭明賢), commonly known by his posthumously demoted title of Marquess of DonghunThe term "Donghun" (東昏) does not denote a place, but a derogatory description of Xiao Baoj ...
, became convinced that he was actually Xiao Baojuan's posthumous son, and surrendered to Northern Wei, causing his own army to collapse and allowing Northern Wei to reenter Pengcheng. During this period, Emperor Xiaoming, by now a teenager, was said to spend much of his time drinking. He was also said to favor his concubine Consort Pan greatly, to the exclusion of his wife Empress Hu (his cousin) and the other concubines.


Death

In 528, Emperor Xiaoming's favorite concubine Consort Pan bore him a daughter. However, Empress Dowager Hu falsely declared that Consort Pan's child was a son, and ordered a general pardon. By this time, Emperor Xiaoming, aged 18, was tired of the hold that his mother had on his administration, and he further despised Zheng Yan and Xu Ge. He therefore sent secret messengers to the general Erzhu Rong, who controlled the region around Bing Province (并州, modern central
Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
), ordering him to advance on Luoyang to force Empress Dowager Hu to remove Zheng and Xu. After Erzhu advanced to Shangdang (上黨, in modern
Changzhi Changzhi ( zh, s=长治) is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas ( ...
,
Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
), Emperor Xiaoming suddenly changed his mind and sent messengers to stop him, but the news leaked. Zheng and Xu therefore advised Empress Dowager Hu to have Emperor Xiaoming poisoned. She did so, and after initially announcing that Emperor Xiaoming's "son" by Consort Pan would succeed him, admitted that the "son" was actually a daughter, and instead selected Yuan Zhao the son of Yuan Baohui () the Prince of Lintao, two-years in age, to succeed Emperor Xiaoming. Erzhu Rong refused to recognize this arrangement, and soon arrived at and captured Luoyang, throwing Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Zhao into the
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
to drown.


Family


Consorts and issue

* Empress, of the Hu clan of Anding (), second cousin * ''Chonghua'', of the Pan clan (), personal name Wailian () ** Empress Wutai (b. 528)


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xiaoming of Northern Wei Northern Wei emperors 510 births 528 deaths 6th-century Chinese monarchs Northern Wei Buddhists Emperors from Luoyang Murdered emperors of China Chinese Buddhist monarchs