Emperor Wu of Southern Qi - Late Reign

Late Reign

In 490, in response to peace overtures that Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei made, Emperor Wu made peace with Northern Wei.

In fall 490, Emperor Wu's son Xiao Zixiang (蕭子響) the Prince of Badong and governor of Jing Province, who had been interested in military matters, was accused of making improper trades of weapon with barbarian tribes. His staff members secretly informed Emperor Wu of this, and when Xiao Zixiang learned of this, he killed the staff members who reported on him. In response, Emperor Wu sent a small detachment of soldiers under the command of general Hu Xiezhi (胡諧之), to force Xiao Zixiang to give up his post and return to Jiankang to receive punishment. Hu, however, mishandled the situation as he refused all attemptes by Xiao Zixiang to surrender, forcing Xiao Zixiang to engage him in battle and defeat him. Xiao Zixiang subsequently tried to head to Jiankang alone to confess his guilt, but on the way, he was intercepted by the general Xiao Shunzhi (蕭順之), whom Crown Prince Zhangmao, who was fearful of Xiao Zixiang, had secretly instructed to find someway to have Xiao Zixiang killed, and Xiao Shunzhi strangled Xiao Zixiang to death. Emperor Wu, while mourning Xiao Zixiang, publicly declared his guilt and posthumously demoted him to marquess.

In 491, in contravention with the traditional Confucian ceremonies of ancestral worship, Emperor Wu ordered that his parents (Emperor Gao and his wife Liu Zhirong) and grandparents (Emperor Gao's father Xiao Chengzhi (蕭承之) and mother Chen Daozhi (陳道止) make offerings, for sacrificial purposes, items that they favored as foods, rather than the Confucian requirement of sacrificing one pig, one cow, and one goat each. The items offered those ancestors, instead, were:

• Emperor Gao: ground pork sauce, pickled vegetable soup
• Liu Zhirong: green tea, fried dough strips, grilled fish
• Xiao Chengzhi: leavened bread, duck porridge
• Chen Daozhi: young bamboo shoots, duck eggs

Emperor Wu was heavily criticized by Confucian scholars for disobeying tradition (particularly because he also commissioned his sister-in-law, Xiao Ni's wife Princess Yu, to be in charge of the ancestral worship), but this act appeared to show quite a bit of humanity in his relationship with his parents and grandparents.

Also in 491, a project that Emperor Wu commissioned in 489—the revision of the penal statutes to eliminate contradictory provisions in the statutes written by the Jin officials Zhang Fei (張斐) and Du Yu -- was completed, which greatly eliminated arbitrary and unfair enforcement of the laws. However, while Emperor Wu also ordered that the national university add a department for legal studies to eliminate the issue where officials were not familiar with penal laws, the order was not actually carried out.

In 493, Crown Prince Zhangmao, to whom Emperor Wu had delegated part of imperial authority late in his reign, died. Emperor Wu created Crown Prince Zhangmao's son, Xiao Zhaoye the Prince of Nan Commandery, as crown prince to replace his father. Later that year, he died, and while there was initially an attempt by the official Wang Rong (王融) to have Xiao Ziliang made emperor instead, Xiao Zhaoye took the throne to succeed Emperor Wu.

The Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang, in his Zizhi Tongjian, had these comments about Emperor Wu:

When Shizu reigned, he was attentive to the important matters of state, oversaw what was importantant, was strict and intelligent, and resolute and decisive. He gave his commandery governors and county magistrate long office terms, and if their subordinates violated the law, he would send the imperial swords to the governors or magistrates to have them carry out the capital punishments. Therefore, during his era of Yongming, the people were rich and peaceful, and there was little crime. However, he also favored feasting and gaming, and while he expressed displeasure at luxuries and wastefulness, he could not avoid them himself.