Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaowu[1] of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝武帝) (510 – February 3, 535[2]), personal name Yuan Xiu (元脩 or 元修), courtesy name Xiaoze (孝則), at times known as Emperor Chu (出帝, "the emperor who fled"),[3] was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. After the general Gao Huan rebelled against and defeated the clan of the deceased paramount general Erzhu Rong in 532, he made Emperor Xiaowu emperor. Despite Gao's making him emperor, however, Emperor Xiaowu tried strenuously to free himself from Gao's control, and in 534, he, aligning with the general Yuwen Tai, formally broke with Gao. When Gao advanced south to try to again take control of the imperial government, Emperor Xiaowu fled to Yuwen's territory, leading to Northern Wei's division into two (as Gao then made Yuan Shanjian the Heir Apparent of Qinghe emperor (as Emperor Xiaojing), establishing Eastern Wei). Emperor Xiaowu's relationship with Yuwen, however, soon deteriorated over Yuwen's refusal to condone his incestuous relationships with his cousins, and around the new year 535, Yuwen poisoned him to death. Emperor Xiaowu's successor Emperor Wen of Western Wei is typically regarded, then, as the first emperor of Western Wei, formalizing the division of the empire.
| Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei 北魏孝武帝 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor of Northern Wei | |||||||||||||
| Reign | June 13, 532 – February 3, 535 | ||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Yuan Lang | ||||||||||||
| Successor | Emperor Xiaojing (Eastern) Emperor Wen (Western) | ||||||||||||
| Regent | Gao Huan (532–534) Yuwen Tai (534–535) | ||||||||||||
| Born | 510 | ||||||||||||
| Died | February 3, 535 (aged 25) | ||||||||||||
| Consorts | Empress Yongxi | ||||||||||||
| Issue | Yuan Guangji | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Father | Yuan Huai | ||||||||||||
| Mother | Lady Li | ||||||||||||
Background
Yuan Xiu was born in 510, as the third son of Yuan Huai (元懷) the Prince of Guangping, a son of Emperor Xiaowen and a younger brother of the then-reigning Emperor Xuanwu. His mother Lady Li was Yuan Huai's concubine, although historical records were not clear on the issue. In 517, Yuan Huai died.[4] One of Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei's sisters was married to Zhang Huan, a Han Chinese, according to the Book of Zhou (Zhoushu). His name is given as Zhang Xin in the Book of Northern Qi (Bei Qishu) and History of the Northern Dynasties (Beishi) which mention his mariage to a Xianbei princess of Wei. His personal name was changed due to a naming taboo on the emperor's name. He was the son of Zhang Qiong.[5]
In Yuan Xiu's youth, he was considered to be quiet and smart, and he was interested in military matters. In 527, Emperor Xuanwu's son Emperor Xiaoming created Yuan Xiu the Duke of Ruyang. In 530, Emperor Xiaozhuang promoted him to the title of Prince of Pingyang.
In 532, the general Gao Huan defeated the members of the clan of the paramount general Erzhu Rong (who had overthrown and killed Emperor Xiaozhuang after Emperor Xiaozhuang killed Erzhu Rong in 530). During the campaign, Gao had declared Yuan Lang, a distant member of the imperial Yuan clan, emperor, to compete with Emperor Jiemin, whom Erzhu Rong's cousin Erzhu Shilong had made emperor. Gao, after victory, considered Yuan Lang an inappropriate choice to be emperor, given his distant relationship to the recent emperors. He considered keeping Emperor Jiemin on the throne, but decided against it when his generals Wei Lan'gen (魏蘭根) and Cui Ling (name not in Unicode) opined that Emperor Jiemin would be difficult to control in the future; he therefore had Emperor Jiemin imprisoned. He also considered making Yuan Yue (元悅) the Prince of Ru'nan, the only surviving son of Emperor Xiaowen, whom he welcomed back from rival Liang Dynasty (where Yuan Yue had fled earlier), emperor, but later changed his mind after hearing that Yuan Yue was violent and arbitrary. At that time, the imperial princes were all largely in hiding, and Yuan Xiu was hiding at a farm. Gao's ally, the general Husi Chun, located Yuan Xiu, and Gao wanted to make Yuan Xiu emperor. After a meeting with Gao, in which Gao vowed allegiance, Yuan Xiu decided to agree. Gao therefore forced Yuan Lang to yield the throne to Yuan Xiu, who then took the throne as Emperor Xiaowu.
Reign in Luoyang
One thing Emperor Xiaowu immediately started doing—for which he was criticized by historians—was eliminating potential claimants to the throne. Less than 10 days after taking the throne, he poisoned the deposed Emperor Jiemin to death. Six months later, he forced Yuan Lang and another former emperor, Yuan Ye, to commit suicide. He also executed his uncle Yuan Yue.
Although Gao made him emperor, Emperor Xiaowu also almost immediately tried to do what he could to avoid being controlled by Gao. Although he married Gao's oldest daughter as his empress around the new year 533, he, after initially appearing to show deference to Gao, began to rule with Husi Chun and his associate Wang Sizheng (王思政) as his assistants, making decisions contrary to Gao's opinion, particularly after Gao had defeated the final major member of the Erzhu clan, Erzhu Zhao. He secretly communicated with Heba Yue (賀拔岳), who controlled the western provinces, and also commissioned Heba Yue's brother Heba Sheng (賀拔勝) as the commander of the southern provinces, wanting to depend on the Heba brothers to resist Gao's hold. Tensions also increased over Gao's desire to control more provinces and Emperor Xiaowu's corresponding desire to wrest control of the provinces from Gao.
In spring 534, Heba Yue's friend and lieutenant, Houmochen Yue (侯莫陳悅), due to Gao's instigation, assassinated Heba Yue. Heba Yue's troops supported Heba Yue's assistant Yuwen Tai to replace him, and Yuwen soon defeated Houmochen, who committed suicide. Emperor Xiaowu continued to engage in talks with Yuwen (whom Heba Yue had previously sent to Emperor Xiaowu as a liaison) with an eye of depending on Yuwen to face off against Gao. In summer 534, Emperor Xiaowu prepared his troops and, believing he could catch Gao by surprise, issued secret edits to Gao pretending that he was suspecting Yuwen and Heba Sheng of rebellion and planning to attack them with Gao. Gao saw through Emperor Xiaowu's plot, however, and instead marched toward Luoyang. Wang Sizheng, believing that the imperial troops were not strong enough to resist Gao's, suggested Emperor Xiaowu to flee to Yuwen's territory, and Emperor Xiaowu decided to do so, rejecting Husi Chun's offer to take one final stand at Luoyang, particularly when Heba Sheng failed to come to the emperor's aid and when Yuwen's troops failed to arrive quickly. It took Gao only a month to reach Luoyang, and Emperor Xiaowu fled west, encountering Yuwen's troops on the way, and had them escort him back to Yuwen's headquarters at Chang'an, where he reestablished the imperial government and made Yuwen prime minister. He also married his sister Princess Fengyi to Yuwen.
Flight to Chang'an and death
Meanwhile, Gao Huan took over the Luoyang region, and soon also defeated Heba Sheng, taking over his territory and forcing him to flee to Liang. Gao then wrote repeated petitions to Emperor Xiaowu, requesting that he return to Luoyang and indicating that he was willing to return to the status quo ante. Emperor Xiaowu did not respond to any of Gao's overtures. Gao therefore made Yuan Shanjian, the son and heir apparent of Emperor Xiaowu's cousin Yuan Dan (元亶) the Prince of Qinghe emperor (as Emperor Xiaojing) and moving the capital from Luoyang to Yecheng, thus formally dividing the empire into two (Eastern Wei under Emperor Xiaojing and Western Wei under Emperor Xiaowu), albeit with each claiming to be the rightful one.
Meanwhile, Emperor Xiaowu's relationship with Yuwen Tai was deteriorating. While at Luoyang, he had previously entered into incestuous relationships with three of his cousins—Yuan Mingyue (元明月) the Princess Pingyuan, the Princess Ande, and Yuan Jili (元蒺藜), who was also created princess. Yuan Mingyue accompanied him on his flight to Chang'an, but Yuwen disapproved of the relationship, and persuaded the imperial princes to arrest and kill her. Emperor Xiaowu was very angry, and he often used his bow or pounded his table inside the palace as demonstrations of his displeasure. Around the new year 535, he drank wine spiked by poison—in all likelihood placed by Yuwen's assassins—and died. Yuwen made his cousin Yuan Baoju the Prince of Nanyang (Yuan Mingyue's brother) emperor (as Emperor Wen).
Family
Consorts and Issue:
- Empress Yongxi, of the Gao clan of Bohai (永熙皇后 渤海高氏)
- Lady Xing, of the Xing clan of Hejian (河间邢氏), personal Tong'e (同娥)
- Unknown
- Yuan Guangji, Prince Wu (吳王 元光基; 527–545), fourth son
- Princess Dongping (东平公主)
Ancestry
| Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei (440–465) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei (454–476) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Empress Yuan (d. 456) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (467–499) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Li Hui | |||||||||||||||||||
| Empress Si (d. 469) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Lady Han | |||||||||||||||||||
| Yuan Huai (488–517) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Gao Yang | |||||||||||||||||||
| Empress Wenzhao (469–497) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Lady Gai | |||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei (510–535) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Lady Li | |||||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ In the Twenty-Four Histories, the name "Xiaowu" was not used to refer to Yuan Xiu in Book of Wei; it was first used in Book of the Northern Qi. Later, Zizhi Tongjian also used this posthumous name to refer to him.
- ^ guisi day of the leap 12th month of the 3rd year of the Taichang era, per Emperor Chu's biography in Book of Wei
- ^ Emperor Xiaowu's posthumous name of "Xiaowu" was bestowed by Western Wei. Eastern Wei did not recognize it, and instead referred to him as Emperor Chu. Thus, the official history of Northern Wei, the Book of Wei, written by Wei Shou who served in Eastern Wei's successor state Northern Qi, referred to him as Emperor Chu. However, Chinese historians, following the lead of History of the Northern Dynasties, generally refer to him as Emperor Xiaowu.
- ^ Little is known about the rest of Yuan Xiu's family, as the biographies of Yuan Huai were inexplicably lost from extant editions of both the Book of Wei (zh:s:魏書/卷22) and the History of Northern Dynasties. Archived from the original on 2005-11-25. Retrieved 2006-10-16..
- ^ Adamek, Piotr (2017). Good Son is Sad If He Hears the Name of His Father: The Tabooing of Names in China as a Way of Implementing Social Values. Routledge. p. 242. ISBN 978-1351565219.
... Southern Song.105 We read the story of a certain Zhang Huan 張歡 in the Zhoushu, who married a sister of Emperor Xiaowu 宣武帝 of the Northern Wei (r.