Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei


Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei , personal name Tuoba Hong, Xianbei name Didouyin, was an emperor of the Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei. He was the first emperor in Chinese history who, after retiring in favor of his son Emperor Xiaowen to become Taishang Huang in 471, continued to hold on to power until his death in 476—when the official history states vaguely that he may have been killed by his stepmother Empress Dowager Feng.

Family background

Tuoba Hong was born in 454, as Emperor Wencheng's oldest son. His mother was Consort Li, who had previously been captured in war and had become a concubine of Tuoba Ren the Prince of Yongchang, a distant relative of Emperor Wencheng, who was executed in 453 after having been accused of crimes. After Tuoba Ren's death, she was seized and taken into the palace, where she became Emperor Wencheng's concubine. In 456, Emperor Wencheng created Tuoba Hong crown prince—and, at the same time, according to Northern Wei customs, ordered Consort Li to commit suicide.

Reign

Under Yifu Hun's regency

In 465, Emperor Wencheng died, and the 11-year-old Crown Prince Hong ascended the throne as Emperor Xianwen. Emperor Wencheng's wife Empress Feng was honored as empress dowager, and Emperor Xianwen's deceased mother Consort Li was posthumously honored as Empress Yuan. Power soon fell into the hands of the official Yifu Hun, who assumed dictatorial powers and killed a large number of other officials, including Yang Baoping, Jia Airen the Duke of Pingyang, and Zhang Tiandu, Qiumuling Duohou, Tuoba Yu the Duke of Shunyang, and Emperor Wencheng's prime minister Buliugu Li. However, in 466, Empress Dowager Feng staged a coup and had Yifu arrested and executed. She assumed regency herself.

Under Empress Dowager Feng's regency

Empress Dowager Feng engaged Jia Xiu, Gao Yun, and Gao Lü as her assistants in the regency. Later, she also incorporated her brother Feng Xi into the decision-making circle.
Empress Dowager Feng was soon presented with a major opportunity to expand Northern Wei territory, as also in 466, rival Liu Song had a major dynastic succession struggle after Emperor Qianfei of Liu Song was assassinated in 465. Emperor Qianfei's uncle Emperor Ming of Liu Song was declared emperor in the capital Jiankang, while his brother Liu Zixun the Prince of Jin'an was declared emperor in early 466 in Xunyang. After Emperor Ming's forces defeated Liu Zixun's and captured and executed Liu Zixun in fall 466, the Liu Song general Xue Andu, the governor of Xu Province, who had initially declared for Liu Zixun, was apprehensive that he would be punished by Emperor Ming, and so decided to surrender to Northern Wei, and soon, he was joined by Bi Zhongjing the governor of Yan Province and Chang Zhenqi the governor of Ru'nan Commandery. Empress Dowager Feng sent the general Yuchi Yuan to accept the surrenders of these Liu Song generals and to secure the region just north of the Huai River, and Yuchi subsequently defeated two attempts by Emperor Ming to recapture those provinces. She also sent the general Murong Baiyao to attack and try to capture Liu Song's Qing and Ji Provinces, which were cut off from the rest of Liu Song after Xue's defection, and by 469, both provinces fell into Northern Wei hands, and all of the regions north of the Huai River were by now Northern Wei territory.
In 467, Emperor Xianwen's concubine Consort Li—a daughter of his uncle Li Hui and therefore his cousin—bore his oldest child Tuoba Hong, and Empress Dowager Feng personally raised the young prince. She soon terminated her regency and returned imperial powers to Emperor Xianwen, who was 13 years old at this point.

After assuming imperial authority

As emperor, Emperor Xianwen was described as hardworking and appropriate in his awards and punishments—in particular, in promoting honest officials and demoting corrupt ones, and it was said that only starting in his reign were Northern Wei officials praised for being honest. He was also said to be heavily into studies of religions and philosophies, including both Taoism and Buddhism.
In 469, Emperor Xianwen created Tuoba Hong crown prince. As Tuoba Hong's mother Consort Li died the same year and was described in traditional histories to be missed by all in the palace, she was probably forced to commit suicide pursuant to Northern Wei customs.
In 470, resentful that Murong Baiyao had flattered Yifu Hun while Yifu was in power, Emperor Xianwen, in an act that appeared to be uncharacteristic for his reign, falsely accused Murong Baiyao of treason and put him and his son Murong Ruyi to death.
Also in 470, an event would damage Emperor Xianwen's relationship with his stepmother Empress Dowager Feng. Empress Dowager Feng had taken the official Li Yi as her lover. In 470, the official Li Xin, who was a close friend of Li Yi's brother Li Fu, was accused of corruption, and Emperor Xianwen became aware of the accusations even though Li Fu tried to suppress the reports. He had known about his stepmother's relationship with Li Yi and, while he had not taken any actions against it at that point, disapproved of it. He sentenced Li Xin to death, but then informed Li Xin that if he could report on crimes that Li Fu and Li Yi had committed, he would be spared. After initial reluctance, Li Xin did so, and another man named Fan Biao also did so. Emperor Xianwen then executed Li Fu and Li Xin. Empress Dowager Feng became resentful of Emperor Xianwen after that point.
In 471, because of Emperor Xianwen's philosophical interests, he wanted to leave the throne to spend more time on his studies. He wanted to pass his throne to his uncle Tuoba Zitui the Prince of Jingzhao, who was highly praised by all officials. He therefore summoned an imperial council to discuss the matter. The officials largely opposed Emperor Xianwen's proposal, and suggested instead that if Emperor Xianwen wanted to leave the throne, he should pass the throne to Crown Prince Hong. He therefore did so, and the four-year-old crown prince took the throne as Emperor Xiaowen. Emperor Xianwen himself took the title of Taishang Huangdi.

As retired emperor

As retired emperor, however, Emperor Xianwen continued to be in control of the Imperial regime, and all important matters were still submitted to him. He spent much time on criminal law matters, and during this time, the criminal cases generally were paid more attention, and while they took longer to process, the results were considered more just.
In 476, legend claims that still resentful of Emperor Xianwen, Empress Dowager Feng killed him. However, studies by 周思源 Zhou Siyuan point out that if Feng had killed the monarch, chaos would have ensued, but nothing of the sort happened. Zhou reasons that after a failed attempt to oust Feng, the Emperor committed suicide. After his death and a smooth transition, Empress Dowager Feng assumed regency over Emperor Xiaowen.

Era names