Empress Yuan (12 February 528[3] – after 1 April 528), personal name unknown, was briefly an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty.[4] She bore the surnameYuan (Chinese: 元; pinyin: Yuán), originally Tuoba.[note 2] Yuan was the only child of Emperor Xiaoming (r. 515–528), born to his concubine Consort Pan. Soon after her birth, her grandmother the Empress Dowager Hu, who was also Xiaoming's regent, falsely declared that she was a boy and ordered a general pardon. Emperor Xiaoming died soon afterwards. On 1 April 528, Empress Dowager Hu installed the infant on the throne for a matter of hours before replacing her with Yuan Zhao the next day. Emperor Xiaoming's daughter was not recognised as a legitimate emperor (huangdi) by later generations. No further information about her or her mother is available.[6]
Birth
Empress Dowager Hu (d. 528), known posthumously as Empress Dowager Ling, was originally one of Emperor Xuanwu's (483–515, r. 499–515) consorts; she gave birth to his only living heir Yuan Xu (510–528). Following Xuanwu's death, Yuan Xu ascended the throne as Emperor Xiaoming, and Hu was honoured as Consort Dowager, and soon Empress Dowager.[7] Because Emperor Xiaoming was still young, she became his regent.[7] To exert her power as the highest ruler of Northern Wei, she addressed herself as Zhen (Chinese: 朕; pinyin: Zhèn), a first-person pronoun reserved for use by the emperor after the Qin dynasty. Officials addressed her as Bixia (Chinese: 陛下; pinyin: Bìxià), an honorific used when addressing the emperor directly.[8]
When Emperor Xiaoming grew up, however, his mother refused to hand authority over to him. She successfully eliminated many of her opponents, including favourites of the emperor.[9] The ancient Chinese historians who wrote the official history of the Northern Wei portrayed her as promiscuous.[10] Both her lifestyle and her ruling style elicited widespread dissatisfaction among officials and from her son.[11] Emperor Xiaoming gathered the people to oppose her and executed her lover Yuan Yi (元怿) in 520,[12] causing deep hatred from his mother.[13] After several failed attempts to overthrow the empress dowager, Xiaoming secretly ordered General Erzhu Rong to send troops to the capital Luoyang to coerce her into handing over the authority.[14] When she learned about the plot, she discussed strategies with the officials who supported her.[15]
As these events were occurring, on 12 February 528, Consort Pan, one of Emperor Xiaoming's nine concubines, gave birth to a daughter.[16][17] Empress Dowager Hu falsely declared that the child was a son;[16] she issued an edict the following day, ordering a general pardon and changing the emperor's reign title from Xiaochang (孝昌) to Wutai (武泰).[18][19]
Accession and dethronement
On 31 March 528, Emperor Xiaoming suddenly died in Xianyang Palace (顯陽殿).[20] The following day (1 April 528), Empress Dowager Hu declared the 50-day-old baby girl Yuan the new emperor, while she herself continued to be regent.[21] She ordered another general pardon. As the year of Emperor Xiaoming's reign had not ended, the era name was not changed and the name "Wutai" remained in use. Empress Dowager Hu continued to be effectively in power.[21]
Within 1 April 528, Empress Dowager Hu issued an edict[22][23] to dethrone the infant Emperor and declared that Wutai was a girl. She placed Yuan Zhao—son of the deceased Yuan Baohui (元寶暉), Prince of Lintao—on the throne instead.[24] Yuan Zhao ascended the throne on 2 April 528, the day after Empress Dowager Hu issued the edict.[25]
As he was too young to rule, Yuan Zhao was made a puppet emperor under Empress Dowager Hu.[26] The series of events involving her son's death and the installation of the infant girl and the three-year-old Yuan Zhao on the throne occurred to ensure the continuation of her regency.[26]
Outcome
Because Empress Dowager Hu replaced the emperor in an unbridled manner, General Erzhu Rong sent in troops to overthrow her, stating that she had deceived Heaven as well as the Imperial Court by letting the infant girl succeed to the throne.[27] Erzhu Rong made Yuan Ziyou (507–531) emperor.[28] Not long after, Erzhu Rong sent troops to occupy the capital Luoyang, and Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Zhao were held captive. They were delivered to his camp at Heyin (河陰). Empress Dowager Hu begged him for mercy, but he refused and had her and Yuan Zhao drowned in the Yellow River.[29] Erzhu later killed thousands of Han Chinese officials and their families who had served at the Northern Wei court during her regency.[30][31] This massacre is known as the Heyin Incident (河陰之變).[32] Erzhu Rong became the highest authority of the empire. From that time on, political power fell into the hands of powerful ministers and warlords. Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai were generals during the Erzhu Rong era who respectively controlled Eastern Wei and Western Wei following the split of the dynasty,[33] while Erzhu controlled the northern part of the empire. This division eventually led to the downfall of the dynasty.[31]
For the acts she committed during her regency, Empress Dowager Hu was discredited and became infamous in history for causing the downfall of the dynasty.[34][35]
Controversy
Wutai's status as an emperor (huangdi) remains controversial and is not recognised by many. Official historical records have never listed her as a legitimate sovereign because she was a puppet under Empress Dowager Hu and reigned for less than a day. She was also an impostor for the throne as a boy. Hence, Wu Zetian remains as the first and only recognised female huangdi in Chinese history.[36] Researcher Cheng Yang (成扬) believes that the fact that Yuan was the "first female in history to ascend the imperial throne" cannot be denied despite it being a plot by Empress Dowager Hu. According to Cheng, Wu Zetian was not the only female huangdi, but the only one to have reigned over the empire.[37] Luo Yuanzhen (罗元贞), another researcher on Wu, thinks that modern historians should not acknowledge Wutai's title as Huangdi as ancient Chinese historians did not.[36]
Yuan briefly appeared in Chapter 47—Xiao Baoyin's rebellion and capture by Erzhu Rong (Chinese: 蕭寶夤稱尊叛命 爾朱榮抗表興師) of the Romance of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (Chinese: 南北史演義) of Republic of China novelist Cai Dongfan's Popular Romance of Dynasties (Chinese: 歷朝通俗演義); the story largely conforms with the historical account.[38]
See also
Chen Shuozhen, another female monarch of China not widely recognised by future generations
^The surname of the Northern Wei ruling family was changed from Tuoba to Yuan by the Emperor Xiaowen (r. 471–499).[5]
References
^Chen (陳), Junqiang (俊強); Gao (高), Mingshi (明士) (2005). 皇恩浩蕩: 皇帝統治的另一面 [Infinite Royal Graciousness: The Other Side of an Emperor's Reign] (in Chinese). Wu-Nan Book Inc. (五南圖書出版股份有限公司). p. 305. ISBN9571139947. Retrieved 2014-05-25.
^Consort Pan's name being "Wailian" is from volume 16 of Bei Shi (嵩以帝嫔潘外怜有幸,说云,元叉欲害之。嫔泣诉于帝云:“叉非直欲杀妾,亦将害陛下。”). Consort Pan was mentioned in Yuan Cha's biography in Bei Shi as having convinced Emperor Xiaoming that Yuan Cha would either harm her or the emperor. Yuan Cha was then stripped of the rest of his posts and demoted to commoner status. Yuan Cha's biography in Wei Shu did not indicate that Consort Pan had any role in Yuan Cha being demoted to commoner status, while Zizhi Tongjian's record of the incident (in volume 150) only indicated Consort Pan's surname.
^According to Emperor Xiaoming's biography in Book of Wei, Lady Yuan was born on the yichou day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the Wutai era of his reign. This corresponds to 12 Feb 528 on the Julian calendar. [(武泰元年春正月)乙丑,...皇女生,秘言皇子] Wei Shu vol. 09
^Lei (雷), Haifeng (海锋) (2013). 历代经典文丛——处事绝学 [Ancient Classics – Secrets of doing things] (in Chinese). Green Apple Data Center. p. 302. Retrieved 2014-05-25.
^历史上短命的皇帝有哪些 [Short-lived emperors in history]. Shangdu.com (in Chinese). Henan Culture Web (河南文化网). 2013-07-16. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
^Book of Wei, vol. 13, "Biographies of Empresses" (後改令稱詔,羣臣上書曰陛下,自稱曰朕).
^Book of Wei, vol. 13, "Biographies of Empresses" (太后自以行不修,惧宗室所嫌,于是内为朋党,防蔽耳目,肃宗所亲幸者,太后多以事害焉).
^Book of Wei, vol. 13, "Biographies of Empresses" (时太后得志,逼幸清河王怿,淫乱肆情,为天下所恶).
^LAU Lai Ming; Priscilla Ching-chung (2007). "Hu, Consort of Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei". In Lily Xiao Hong Lee; A. D. Stefanowska (editors-in-chief) (eds.). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E.-618 C.E. M.E. Sharpe Inc. p. 298. ISBN978-0-7656-1750-7. {{cite book}}: |editor2= has generic name (help)
^Book of Wei, vol. 22 (正光元年七月,叉與劉騰逼肅宗於顯陽殿,閉靈太后於後宮,囚懌於門下省,誣懌罪狀,遂害之,時年三十四。)
^Book of Wei, vol. 13, "Biographies of Empresses" (时太后得志,逼幸清河王怿,淫乱肆情,为天下所恶...于禁中杀怿...胡氏多免黜...母子之间,嫌隙屡起).
^Mei (梅), Yi (毅) (2008). 華麗血時代:兩晉南北朝的另類歷史(下) [History of Jins and Northern and Southern Dynasties (II)] (in Chinese). Hyweb Technology Co. Ltd. p. 173. ISBN978-9866410093. Retrieved 2014-05-25.
^Book of Wei, vol. 13, "Biographies of Empresses" (荣遣骑拘送太后及幼主于河阴。太后对荣多所陈说,荣拂衣而起。太后及幼主并沉于河).
^Xie (谢), Zhiqiang (志强) (2013). 不可不知的万事由来 [The Origin of All Things You May Not Know] (in Chinese). Green Apple Data Center. p. 19. Retrieved 2014-05-25.
^Cai Dongfan. 萧宝夤称尊叛命 尔朱荣抗表兴师 [Xiao Baoyin's rebellion and capture by Erzhu Rong]. 南北史演義 [Romance of the Northern and Southern Dynasties] (in Chinese). Bookfree.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
Further reading
Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article: