The daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei (12 February 528 – after 1 April 528), whose given name is unknown, was briefly the emperor of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...

-led Chinese

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

. She bore the surname Yuan (), originally

Tuoba The Tuoba (reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation: *''tʰak-bɛt''), also known as the Taugast or Tabgach ( otk, 𐱃𐰉𐰍𐰲 ''Tabγač''), was a Xianbei clan in Imperial China.Wei Shou. ''Book of Wei''. Vol. 1 During the Sixteen Kingdo ...

. Yuan was the only child of Emperor Xiaoming (r. 515–528), born to his

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

Consort Pan. Soon after her birth, her grandmother the Empress Dowager Hu, who was also Xiaoming's

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

, 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 An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

(''huangdi'') by later generations. No further information about her or her mother is available.

Birth

Empress Dowager Hu (d. 528), known posthumously as Empress Dowager Ling, was originally one of

Emperor Xuanwu Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei (May or June 483 – February 12, 515) was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty (499-515). He was born Tuoba Ke, but later changed his surname so that he became Yuan Ke. During Xuanwu's reign, N ...

'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

. To exert her power as the highest ruler of Northern Wei, she addressed herself as ''Zhen'' (), a first-person pronoun reserved for use by the emperor after the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

. Officials addressed her as ''Bixia'' (), an

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

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. The ancient Chinese historians who wrote the official history of the Northern Wei portrayed her as promiscuous. Both her lifestyle and her ruling style elicited widespread dissatisfaction among officials and from her son. Emperor Xiaoming gathered the people to oppose her and executed her lover Yuan Yi (元怿) in 520, causing deep hatred from his mother. After several failed attempts to overthrow the empress dowager, Xiaoming secretly ordered General Erzhu Rong to send troops to the capital

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang ...

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.''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...

'', vol. 152 (乙丑，魏潘嫔生女，胡太后诈言皇子).'' Book of Wei'', vol. 9, "Basic Annals of Suzong IX" (乙丑...皇女生，祕言皇子). 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).''

'', vol. 152 (丙寅，大赦，改元武泰).

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.'' Book of Wei'' – ''Biographies of Empresses'' – ''Biography of Empress Ling'' (太后乃奉潘嫔女言太子即位). She ordered another general pardon. As the year of Emperor Xiaoming's reign had not ended, the

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

was not changed and the name "Wutai" remained in use. Empress Dowager Hu continued to be effectively in power. Within 1 April 528, Empress Dowager Hu issued an edict to dethrone the infant Emperor and declared that Yuan was a girl. She placed Yuan Zhaoson of the deceased Yuan Baohui (元宝晖), Prince of Lintaoon the throne instead. Yuan Zhao ascended the throne on 2 April 528, the day after Empress Dowager Hu issued the edict.''

'', vol. 152 (甲寅，太后立皇女为帝...乙卯，钊即位). As he was too young to rule, Yuan Zhao was made a puppet emperor under Empress Dowager Hu.''

'', vol. 152 (钊始生三岁，太后欲久专政，故贪其幼而立之). 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 drowned in the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

. Erzhu later killed thousands of

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

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

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

s. Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai were generals during the Erzhu Rong era who respectively controlled

Eastern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period, the Eastern We ...

and

Western Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Western Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei. One of the Northern dynasties during the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the weste ...

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.

Controversy

Yuan's status as an

(''huangdi'') remains controversial and is not recognised by many. Official historical records have never listed her as a legitimate sovereign because she was a puppet under Empress Dowager Hu and reigned for less than a day. She was also an impostor for the throne as a boy. Hence,

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

remains as the first and only recognised female ''huangdi'' in Chinese history.''Was

China's only female ''huangdi''?'' () of the appendix of ''Collections of

'' by Luo Yuanzhen (罗元贞), Shanxi People's Press, 1987, cited from the ''Historical Knowledge'' () magazine, 1985 Issue 5,

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

, China Researcher Cheng Yang (成扬) believes that the fact that Yuan was the "first female in history to ascend the imperial throne" cannot be denied despite it being a plot by Empress Dowager Hu. According to Cheng, Wu Zetian was not the only female ''huangdi'', but the only one to have reigned over the empire. Luo Yuanzhen (罗元贞), another researcher on Wu, thinks that modern historians should not acknowledge Yuan's title as '' Huangdi'' as ancient Chinese historians did not.

Ancestry

In fiction and popular culture

Yuan briefly appeared in Chapter 47''

Xiao Baoyin Xiao Baoyin () (487–530), courtesy name Zhiliang (智亮), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Southern Qi dynasty. In 502, as Southern Qi was on the edge of being taken over by the general Xiao Yan, who was preparing by killing the imperial p ...

's rebellion and capture by Erzhu Rong'' () of the ''Romance of the Northern and Southern Dynasties'' () of Republic of China novelist Cai Dongfan's ''Popular Romance of Dynasties'' (); the story largely conforms with the historical account.

Birth

Accession and dethronement

Outcome

Controversy

Ancestry

In fiction and popular culture

See also

Explanatory notes

References

Further reading