Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei - Late Personal Reign

Late Personal Reign

Late in 494, under the stated reason that Southern Qi's Emperor Ming had usurped the throne (from his grandnephew Xiao Zhaowen), Emperor Xiaowen prepared a major campaign against Southern Qi, departing Luoyang about new year 495. He initially put the important cities Shouyang (壽陽, in modern Lu'an, Anhui) and Yiyang (義陽, in modern Xinyang, Henan) under siege, but could not capture them easily, and battles that his armies conducted against Southern Qi armies were largely indecisive. By late spring 495, he abandoned the campaign.

In summer 495, Emperor Xiaowen issued a number of edicts that made what was stated policy official law—that Xianbei clothing and language be prohibited, and that the Han clothing and language be used instead. (An exemption was given to those over 30.) In spring 496, he also ordered that the Xianbei family names be changed to Han ones, changing his own clan's name from Tuoba to Yuan. He also strengthened the social stratification that had already been underway for some time, making eight Xianbei clans and five Han clans particularly honored, and ordering that all political offices be given by clan status, not by abilities, despite heavy opposition by his official Li Chong. The particularly honored clans were:

• Xianbei
  • Mu (穆, originally Qiumuling)
  • Lu (陸, originally Buliugu)
  • He (賀, originally Helai)
  • Liu (劉, originally Dugu)
  • Lou (樓, originally Helou)
  • Yu (于, originally Wuniuyu)
  • Xi (奚, originally Daxi)
  • Yu (尉, originally Yuchi)
• Han
  • Lu (盧)
  • Cui (崔)
  • Zheng (鄭)
  • Wang (王)
  • Li (李)

Emperor Xiaowen went as far as ordering his six younger brothers to demote their current wives to concubine status, and taking the daughters of officials from the five Han clans to be their new wives, an action heavily criticized by historians.

Sometime prior to fall 496, Emperor Xiaowen had, perhaps due to recommendation from Empress Feng, welcomed her older sister Feng Run back to the palace to again be his concubine, and Feng Run, believing herself to be the older sister, refused to yield to Empress Feng and began to find ways to undermine her position. In summer 496, Emperor Xiaowen deposed Empress Feng, who then went to Yaoguang Temple (瑤光寺) and became a Buddhist nun.

Also in fall 496, the crown prince Yuan Xun, who did not adjust well to Han customs or the much hotter weather in Luoyang, plotted with his followers to flee back to Pingcheng, perhaps to hold that city against his father. His plot, however, was discovered, and Emperor Xiaowen, after asking his brother Yuan Xi (元禧) the Prince of Xianyang to cane Yuan Xun with him, deposed Yuan Xun. However, a second plot quickly arose, organized by the officials Mu Tai (穆泰) and Lu Rui (陸叡), who intended to again hold the northern regions against the Emperor. However, their plot was revealed by Emperor Xiaowen's distant uncle Yu Yi (元頤) the Prince of Yangping, whom they had intended to make their leader but who had only pretended to go along with their plot. Emperor Xiaowen sent a force commanded by his cousin Yuan Cheng (元澄) the Prince of Rencheng to Pingcheng, putting down the plot before it started in earnest, and putting Mu and Lu to death.

In spring 497, Emperor Xiaowen created another son, Yuan Ke, crown prince. Believing in reports by the official Li Biao (李彪), who then had the former Crown Prince Xun under house arrest, that Yuan Xun was still plotting rebellion, he forced Yuan Xun to commit suicide. In fall 497, Emperor Xiaowen created Feng Run to be empress, and when Yuan Ke's mother Consort Gao subsequently died, common belief was that Empress Feng had her secretly poisoned so that she could raise Yuan Ke herself.

Also in fall 497, Emperor Xiaowen launched another major attack against Southern Qi, this time first concentrating on the city Wancheng (宛城, in modern Nanyang, Henan). While he was able to capture Wancheng and Xinye (新野, also in modern Nanyang), the battles were still largely indecisive. During his absence, a major conflict erupted between Li Chong and Li Biao in the capital Luoyang, and Li Chong, after putting Li Biao under arrest, died in anger. Partly because of this and partly because, once Southern Qi's Emperor Ming died in fall 498, that he should not continue to attack a country that was mourning for its emperor, he ended the campaign in fall 498. At that same time, he himself was falling ill, and he entrusted the important matters to his brother Yuan Xie the Prince of Pengcheng, although he subsequently recovered and was able to return to Luoyang.

Meanwhile, however, in Emperor Xiaowen's absence, Empress Feng had been carrying on an affair with the attendant Gao Pusa (高菩薩). When she, also in Emperor Xiaowen's absence, tried to force Emperor Xiaowen's sister Princess Pengcheng, whose husband Liu Chengxu (劉承緒, Liu Chang's son) had died earlier, to marry her brother Feng Su (馮夙) the Duke of Beiping, Princess Pengcheng fled out of Luoyang and arrived at Emperor Xiaowen's camp, accusing Empress Feng of adultery. Once Emperor Xiaowen arrived back in Luoyang, he arrested Gao and Empress Feng's assistant Shuang Meng (雙蒙) and interrogated them. He then interrogated Empress Feng personally as well, concluding that she had in fact committed adultery. However, claiming that he did not want to shame the Feng clan, he did not depose her, but refused to see her again and also ordered Crown Prince Ke to not to see her again either.

Emperor Xiaowen, despite his own weakened physical state, then decided to again advance south to react against a retaliation campaign by the Southern Qi general Chen Xianda (陳顯達). He was able to repel and defeat Chen, but while on the campaign, he died. Yuan Xie and Yuan Cheng kept his death secret until his body could be returned to Luoyang, and then announced his death. Yuan Ke succeeded to the throne as Emperor Xuanwu. By Emperor Xiaowen's will, Empress Feng was forced to commit suicide.