Dynasties of ChinaNorthern and Southern DynastiesNorthern Wei Dynasty
Jingming and others · Reign 499—515
After Cheng Xiaowen's reform, he took Shouchun and Hanzhong from the south, worshiped Buddhism and built temples, and appointed his relative Gao Zhao. The prosperity of the Northern Wei Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline.
Yuan Ke is the second son of Emperor Xiaowen. His biological mother, Gao Zhaorong, was born in the Bohai Gao family. She died suddenly on the way to Luo. It is said that she was killed by Feng Zhaoyi. Crown Prince Yuan Xun was deposed in 496, and Yuan Ke was established as Crown Prince the following year. He ascended the throne in 499 at the age of seventeen. Emperor Xiaowen issued a posthumous edict and ordered Xianyang Wang Yuanxi and other clan members and ministers to assist the government. In 501, he took charge of the government, and immediately sentenced Yuan Xi to death for treason. After that, he alienated other kings and relied heavily on his uncle Gao Zhao.
During his reign, the Northern Wei accepted the surrendered generals of the Southern Qi and captured Shouchun and Hanzhong, but were defeated by the Liang army in the Battle of Zhongli. Emperor Xuanwu was a devout believer in Buddhism, built monasteries and grottoes, and the number of Buddhist temples in Luoyang increased day by day. When he established Yuan Xu as Crown Prince in 512, he broke the old rule of "the death of the son and the mother," and saved his biological mother Hu Chonghua. He died of illness in 515, at the age of thirty-three.
PoliticsAscended to Luyang
Emperor Xiaowen died of illness during the southern expedition. The seventeen-year-old Crown Prince Yuan Ke ascended the throne in Luyang. The imperial edict was to assist the government with royal families and ministers such as Xianyang Wang Yuanxi, Beihai Wang Yuanxiang, and Rencheng Wang Yuan Cheng.
MilitaryGet Shouchun
Pei Shuye, the governor of Yuzhou in the Southern Qi Dynasty, surrendered to the Wei Dynasty in Shouchun, and the Northern Wei Dynasty sent Prince of Pengcheng Yuan Xie and others to take over. From then on, they controlled Shouchun, an important town in the middle reaches of the Huaihe River, posing a threat to the Southern Dynasty.
CultureDigging Binyang Cave
He ordered to imitate the Yungang Grottoes and dig a cave for Emperor Xiaowen and Empress Wenzhao in Longmen. Later, an additional cave was opened for Emperor Xuanwu. By 523, more than 802,000 people were employed, and only the middle cave of Binyang was completed.
Lasting legacyThe reliefs "Emperor Xiaowen Worshiping Buddha" and "Empress Wenzhao Worshiping Buddha" in Binyang Zhongdong were stolen in the 1930s and are now in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in the United States.
PoliticsYuanxi rebellion
After Emperor Xuanwu took office, King Yuanxi of Xianyang was dissatisfied with the seizure of power and plotted to raise an army. However, he was sentenced to death after the incident was revealed. After that, Emperor Xuanwu alienated the clan and favored his uncle Gao Zhao.
MilitaryCapture Hanzhong
Xiahou Dao, the general in charge of Hanzhong in the Liang Dynasty, moved his city to surrender to the Wei Dynasty. The Northern Wei Dynasty immediately sent troops to respond and captured Hanzhong, opening the door to the invasion of Bashu.
MilitaryZhongli was defeated miserably
Prince of Zhongshan Yuan Ying led hundreds of thousands of troops to besiege Zhongli of the Liang Dynasty. Liang generals Wei Rui and Cao Jingzong took advantage of the swollen Huai River to attack and burn the Wei army's pontoon bridge with fire. The Wei army was defeated, and more than 100,000 people were drowned and killed.
PeopleYuan Xie was killed
Jizhou's governor, Jingzhao Wang Yuanyu, raised an army and proclaimed himself emperor, but was quickly put down. Gao Zhao took the opportunity to frame the respected Prince of Pengcheng Yuan Xie for conspiring with Yuan Yu. Emperor Xuanwu summoned Yuan Xie into the palace to die, which made the government and the public feel sorry for him.
PoliticsAbolish the death of the noble mother
The prince Yuan Xu was made the Crown Prince, and his biological mother Hu Chonghua was not killed according to the old system. The century-long "death of the son's mother" ended with this, and the future of Hutaihou came from this.
PoliticsDeath of illness ceremony
He died of illness in Luoyang Shiqian Hall in the first month of the year at the age of thirty-three. The leader Yu Zhong and others supported the six-year-old Crown Prince Yuan Xu, recalled Gao Zhao on his way to conquer Shu, and executed him.
Uncle Emperor Xuanwu, his ancestors moved back to the Central Plains from Goguryeo. He was deeply favored and promoted to Situ, ostracizing the clan and framing the Prince of Pengcheng Yuan Xie. In 514, he led his troops to attack Shu. After the death of Emperor Xuanwu, he was recalled and executed.
A native of Anding Linjing, Emperor Xuanwu's concubine, Yuan Xu was born. Emperor Xuanwu was revered as the empress dowager after his death, ruled as regent, worshiped Buddhism and was extravagant. In 528, when Er Zhurong invaded Luoyang, she was sunk into the Yellow River.
A famous general from the clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, he had many military exploits in the southern expedition. In 507, he was defeated miserably in the siege of Zhongli and was expelled from the rank of citizen. He was soon restored to the rank of nobility.
One of the leading generals in the Battle of Zhongli, the military governor built forts overnight and burned the Wei army's pontoon bridge with fire, destroying hundreds of thousands of people in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Wei people called him "Wei Hu".