Tuoba Yu (拓拔余) (died 29 October 452),

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

Prince Yin of Nan'an (南安隱王),

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 ...

name Kebozhen (可博真; "''The Gatekeeper''"), was briefly 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-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 was placed on the throne by 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 ...

Zong Ai Zong Ai (? - 31 October 452) was a eunuch who briefly came to great power in the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty in 452 after assassinating Emperor Taiwu and making his son Tuoba Yu emperor. Biography Little is known about Zong's caree ...

after Zong assassinated his father Emperor Taiwu in spring 452, and Zong was largely in control of the regime during his reign. Later in the year, when Tuoba Yu tried to assert his own authority, Zong had him assassinated as well, but then was overthrown by a group of officials, who put Tuoba Yu's nephew Tuoba Jun (the son of Tuoba Yu's older brother,

Tuoba Huang Tuoba Huang (拓拔晃) (428 – July 29, 451''wuchen day'' of the 6th month of the 1st year of the ''Zhengping'' era, per Emperor Gongzong's biography in ''Book of Wei''), Xianbei name Tianzhen (天真), formally Crown Prince Jingmu (景穆太子 ...

the

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 ...

, who had predeceased their father) on the throne as Emperor Wencheng.

Background

It is not known when Tuoba Yu was born, but it is known that he was the youngest of Emperor Taiwu's six sons who survived childhood. His mother Consort Yujiulü (i.e. Lu Zuo Zhaoyi) was a sister of

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 Chilian Khan

Yujiulü Wuti Yujiulü Wuti (; pinyin: Yùjiǔlǘ Wútí) was a ruler of the Rouran (July, 429 – September, 444) with the title of Chilian Khagan (敕連可汗; Rouran: ''Tengri Qaγan''). He was the son of Yujiulü Datan. Reign In 432, Northern Wei capture ...

, who had become an imperial consort of Emperor Taiwu's as part of a peace-marriage arrangement in 434, whereby he married Consort Yujiulü while marrying his sister or cousin Princess Xihai to Yujiulü Wuti. He was created the Prince of Wu in 442, and 450, when his father was counter-attacking after a major

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasti ...

attack, and Crown Prince Huang was defending the northern borders against a potential Rouran attack, Prince Yu was left in charge of the capital Pingcheng (平城, in modern

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population o ...

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 ...

), a sign that Emperor Taiwu trusted his abilities. In 452, his title was changed to Prince of Nan'an. Sometime late in Emperor Taiwu's reign, Tuoba Yu became friendly with Emperor Taiwu's eunuch

, who in 451 had falsely accused Crown Prince Huang's associates Chouni Daosheng (仇尼道盛) and Ren Pingcheng (任平城) of crimes, causing many members of Crown Prince Huang's staff to be executed and Crown Prince Huang himself to fall ill in fear and die. In spring 452, in fear that Emperor Taiwu would punish him, Zong assassinated Emperor Taiwu. The officials initially did not announce Emperor Taiwu's death, but were debating between whether to make Crown Prince Huang's oldest son Tuoba Jun or Emperor Taiwu's oldest surviving son Tuoba Han (拓拔翰) the Prince of Dongping emperor. Zong, who was also on poor terms with Tuoba Han, summoned Tuoba Yu to the palace instead, and forged an edict of Emperor Taiwu's wife Empress Helian to ambush and put the officials in favor of either Tuoba Jun or Tuoba Han to death. He then executed Tuoba Han as well and made Tuoba Yu emperor.

Brief reign

Tuoba Yu honored Empress Helian 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 ...

, and he bestowed Zong a number of high level posts, including prime minister, making it clear that Zong was actually in control of the regime, as well as creating him the Prince of Fengyi. Tuoba Yu's ascension to the throne was apparently largely without major opposition, but he knew that he bypassed his older brothers, as well as his nephew (who by

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

principles of succession should have been emperor), and therefore tried to gather officials' support by giving them rewards so large that the treasury was exhausted. It was also described that Tuoba Yu drank often, and often spent time on entertainment and hunting, with little time for important matters of state. Zong, as prime minister, was in charge of imperial guards as well, and he became extremely arrogant. Eventually, Tuoba Yu grew tired of Zong's antics and planned to strip him of his authority. Zong heard about this, and in winter 452, while Tuoba Yu was making a sacrifice to his great-grandfather Emperor Daowu at night, Zong sent his assistant Jia Zhou (賈周) to assassinate him. He was on the throne for only slightly over seven months. Several officials subsequently overthrew Zong and made Tuoba Jun emperor (as Emperor Wencheng). Emperor Wencheng buried Tuoba Yu with honors due an imperial prince, but not due an emperor, and gave him a posthumous name.

Era name

* ''Chengping'' (承平 chéng píng) 452

In popular culture

* Portrayed by

Vanness Wu Vanness Wu (; born August 7, 1978) is a Taiwanese-American singer and actor. He was a member of the Taiwanese boyband F4 (band), F4 and the Korean Mandopop duo Kangta & Vanness. Early life Born in Santa Monica, California, on August 7, 1978. ...

in the 2016 Chinese TV series '' The Princess Weiyoung''.

References

* ''

Book of Wei The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to 5 ...

'', vol. 18. * ''

History of Northern Dynasties The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618 CE: the histories of Northern Wei, Western ...

'', vol. 1

* ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vols. 124,

125 125 may refer to: *125 (number), a natural number *AD 125, a year in the 2nd century AD *125 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *125 (dinghy), a two person intermediate sailing dinghy *125 (New Jersey bus), a New Jersey Transit bus route *125 Liberatr ...

, 126. Northern Wei emperors 452 deaths 5th-century Chinese monarchs People from Datong Year of birth unknown Murdered emperors of China Yujiulü clan {{Rouran rulers