Yuan Xun (元恂) (27 May 483–497), né Tuoba Xun (拓拔恂, changed 496),
courtesy name
A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
originally Yuandao (元道), then Xuandao (宣道, changed 496), was a
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 ...
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
Northern Wei dynasty
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 imperial dynasty of Chi ...
of China.
Tuoba Xun was born in May 483, as
Emperor Xiaowen's oldest son. His mother was Consort Lin. At the time he was born, Emperor Xiaowen's step-grandmother
Grand Empress Dowager Feng was the
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 ...
, and she opined that, pursuant to Northern Wei's tradition that a crown prince's mother should be forced to commit suicide, Consort Lin, because Tuoba Xun would presumably eventually become crown prince, should be forced to commit suicide. Even though Emperor Xiaowen did not want to follow that tradition, he did not want to disobey Grand Empress Dowager Feng, and Consort Lin was forced to commit suicide. He did, however, posthumously honor her as Empress Zhen, and buried her at the ancestral tomb of the emperors.
Grand Empress Dowager Feng raised Tuoba Xun herself. In 486, when he was three (four by East Asian reckoning), she formally named him "Xun", and also gave him the courtesy name "Yuandao". She died in 490, and it is not clear who raised him after that point. In 493, Emperor Xiaowen created him crown prince. In 494, when Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital from Pingcheng (平城, in modern
Datong,
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 ...
) to
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 ...
as a major part of
sinicization
Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies or groups are acculturated or assimilated into Chinese culture, particularly the language, ...
campaign, Tuoba Xun accompanied his father south. In 496, when Emperor Xiaowen changed the imperial clan's family name from Tuoba to Yuan, the crown prince's courtesy name was changed from Yuandao to Xuandao.
Yuan Xun was described as obese and uninterested in studies, but liked horseriding. Because he could not endure Luoyang's much warmer weather, he often wanted to return to Pingcheng, but did not get a chance to do so until 495, when Emperor Xiaowen sent him to Pingcheng to mourn Grand Empress Dowager Feng's brother Feng Xi (馮熙), who was in charge of the old capital. From this point on, whenever Emperor Xiaowen conducted campaigns against rival
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 ...
, Yuan Xun would often be formally in charge of the capital, although high-level officials were actually responsible for important matters. It was also around this time that Emperor Xiaowen considered having him marry Feng Xi's granddaughter as his wife, but because she was young, Emperor Xiaowen took for Yuan Xun two
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 ...
s first—Consorts Liu and Zheng, both daughters of his officials. However, on advice of Yuan Xun's teachers, who believed that overly engaging in sexual relations would stunt the crown prince's growth and interfere with his studies, Emperor Xiaowen did not permit him to have sexual intercourse with them during the day. (The implication of the passage in question from the ''
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 ...
'' appears to suggest that he did not have sexual relations with them at all, but it is not clear; in any case, neither had children.)
In fall 496, while Emperor Xiaowen was away from the capital, Yuan Xun, unable to endure the heat in Luoyang, made an impulsive decision to seize horses and flee with his attendants to Pingcheng. His assistant Gao Daoyue (高道悅) tried to persuade him not to carry out this action, and Yuan Xun killed him. However, the news leaked, and the general Yuan Yan (元儼) closed the city gates and prevented the crown prince from leaving. Once Emperor Xiaowen returned to the capital, he, along with his brother Yuan Xi (元禧) the Prince of Xianyang, caned Yuan Xun more than 100 times, and then imprisoned him. About one and a half months later, Emperor Xiaowen deposed Yuan Xun and demoted him to commoner rank, changed his courtesy name to Xuandao and put him under house arrest with minimal supplies. On 23 February 497,
[According to Emperor Xuanwu's biography in ''Book of Wei'', he was made crown prince on the ''jiawu'' day of the 1st month of the 21st year of the ''Taihe'' era of Emperor Xiaowen's reign. This corresponds to 23 Feb 497 on the Julian calendar. 太和)二十一年正月甲午,立为皇太子。''Wei Shu'', vol.08] Emperor Xiaowen created Yuan Xun's oldest younger brother
Yuan Ke as crown prince, to replace him.
Once deposed, Yuan Xun much regretted his actions. However, the official Li Biao (李彪), in charge of guarding him, then made a false report to Emperor Xiaowen that Yuan Xun was still plotting with his attendants. In summer 497, Emperor Xiaowen sent Yuan Xi and the official Xing Luan (邢巒) to give Yuan Xun poison and order him to take it. He was given a commoner's burial near his place of house arrest. His mother Consort Lin was posthumously demoted from empress to commoner status as well.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xun, Yuan
Northern Wei imperial princes
483 births
497 deaths
Place of birth missing
Chinese crown princes who never acceded
Suicides in Northern Wei
Chinese royalty who died as children