Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei facts for kids

The daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei (12 February 528 – ?), whose given name is unknown, was briefly the emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. She bore the surname Yuan (Chinese: 元; pinyin: Yuán), originally Tuoba. 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. Xiaoming's daughter was not recognised as an emperor (huangdi) by later generations. No further information about her is available.

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. Because Emperor Xiaoming was still young, she became his regent. 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.

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. Both her lifestyle and her ruling style elicited widespread dissatisfaction among officials and from her son. Emperor Xiaoming gathered the people to oppose her. 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. When she learned about the plot, she discussed strategies with the officials who supported her.

As these events were occurring, on 12 February 528, Consort Pan, one of Emperor Xiaoming's nine concubines, gave birth to a daughter. Empress Dowager Hu falsely declared that the child was a son; 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).

Accession and dethronement

On 31 March 528, Emperor Xiaoming suddenly died in Xianyang Palace (显阳殿). 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. 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.

Just a few hours later, Empress Dowager Hu issued an edict to dethrone the infant Emperor and declared that Yuan was a girl. She placed Yuan Zhao—son of the deceased Yuan Baohui (元宝晖), Prince of Lintao—on the throne instead. Yuan Zhao ascended the throne on 2 April 528, the day after Empress Dowager Hu issued the edict.

As he was too young to rule, Yuan Zhao was made a puppet emperor under Empress Dowager Hu. 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.

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. Erzhu Rong made Yuan Ziyou (507–531) emperor. 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 (河阴). Empress Dowager Hu begged him for mercy, but he refused and had her and Yuan Zhao executed. Erzhu later killed thousands of Han Chinese officials and their families who had served at the Northern Wei court during her regency. This massacre is known as the Heyin Incident (河阴之变). 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, while Erzhu controlled the northern part of the empire. This division eventually led to the downfall of the dynasty.

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.