Emperor Fei of Western Wei ((西)魏廢帝) (died May or June 554), personal name Yuan Qin (元欽), was 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), ...

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 the ...

-led

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 ...

dynasty of China—a branch successor state of

Northern Wei 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 and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

. He, even more so than his father Emperor Wen, held little actual power in the face of overwhelming control of power by the paramount general

Yuwen Tai Yuwen Tai () (505 – 21 November 556According to Yuwen Tai's biography in ''Book of Zhou'', he died aged 52 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''yihai'' day of the 10th month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei. This corre ...

. In 554, he tried to plot to have Yuwen killed, but his plot was discovered, and Yuwen deposed him, and soon had him killed.

As crown prince

It is not known when Yuan Qin was born. What is known is that he was the oldest son of Yuan Baoju the Prince of Nanyang, a grandson of

Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝文帝) (October 13, 467 – April 26, 499), personal name né Tuoba Hong (拓拔宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of the Northern Wei from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499. Under the r ...

, by his wife Princess Yifu, and that he had one younger brother by Princess Yifu, Yuan Wu (元戊). Around the new year 535,

Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝武帝) (510 – February 3, 535), personal name Yuan Xiu (元脩 or 元修), courtesy name Xiaoze (孝則), at times known as Emperor Chu (出帝, "the emperor who fled"), was an emperor of the Xianbei-le ...

—a cousin of Yuan Baoju and the final emperor of the undivided Northern Wei state but who by now was only emperor over the western part of the state (i.e.,

) -- was poisoned by the paramount general

over a dispute developed when Yuwen disapproved of his

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

uous relationship with Yuan Baoju's sister Yuan Mingyue (元明月). Yuwen Tai made Yuan Baoju the new emperor (as Emperor Wen). Emperor Wen created Princess Yifu

empress 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), ...

, and created Yuan Qin

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

. In 538, while both Emperor Wen and Yuwen Tai were away on a campaign against

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 Wei ...

, Yuan Qin was nominally put in charge of the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

, although the official Zhou Huida (周惠達) was actually in charge. When former Eastern Wei captives, upon hearing initial news of Eastern Wei victories, rebelled within Chang'an with Zhao Qingque (趙青雀), Zhou and Li Hu (李虎) were forced to escort the crown prince out of Chang'an to flee the rebellion. Eventually, when Yuwen returned, Zhao's rebellion collapsed, and Emperor Wen and Yuan Qin were both able to return to Chang'an. Emperor Wen had little actual power, and also in 538, over Yuwen's desire for an alliance with

Rouran The Rouran Khaganate, also Juan-Juan Khaganate (), was a tribal confederation and later state founded by a people of Proto-Mongolic Donghu origin.*Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000)"Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organizati ...

, he was forced to depose Empress Yifu and marry the daughter of Rouran's Chiliantoubingdoufa Khan

Yujiulü Anagui Yujiulü Anagui (Rouran: Anakay; ; pinyin: Yùjiǔlǘ Ānàguī) (?–552) was ruler of the Rouran (520–552) with the title of Chiliantoubingdoufa Khagan (敕連頭兵豆伐可汗). First reign His reign started with troubles. First rebellion s ...

as his empress. In 540, he was further forced to initially send Empress Yujiulü away from Chang'an (to live with Yuan Qin's younger brother Yuan Wu), and then forced to order her to commit suicide. Sometime during Emperor Wen's reign, Yuan Qin married Yuwen Tai's daughter as his crown princess. It was said that he favored her greatly, and that he had no

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 ...

s. In 542, during an assault that Eastern Wei's paramount general

Gao Huan Gao Huan () (496 – 13 February 547), Xianbei name Heliuhun (賀六渾), formally Prince Xianwu of Qi (齊獻武王), later further formally honored by Northern Qi initially as Emperor Xianwu (獻武皇帝), then as Emperor Shenwu (神武皇帝 ...

launched on the border city Yubi (玉壁, in modern

Yuncheng Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

), Yuan Qin was made the defender of the important city Puban (蒲坂, in modern Yuncheng as well), while Yuwen launched an army to try to catch up with Gao as he retreated. It is not known how much responsibility or authority Yuan Qin actually had during this campaign. In 551, after Emperor Wen died, Yuan Qin took the throne as Emperor Fei.

As emperor

Emperor Fei appeared to have even less actual power than his father, to whom Yuwen Tai paid formal deference. He was able to rebury his mother Empress Yifu with his father Emperor Wen. He created his wife, Crown Princess Yuwen, empress. Apparently because Yuwen wanted to restore many

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

customs and traditions, Emperor Fei did not use an

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 o ...

; rather, the years of his reign were merely referred to as "the first year," "the second year," and so on. In 553, Yuwen Tai's nephew

Yuchi Jiong Yuchi Jiong (尉遲迥) (died 11 September 580''gengwu'' day of the 8th month of the 2nd year of the ''Daxiang'' era, per Emperor Jing's biography in ''Book of Zhou''), courtesy name Bojuluo (薄居羅), was a general of the Xianbei-led Western We ...

conquered the western provinces of

Liang Dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

, which had been previously under the control of the Liang

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...

to the throne, Xiao Ji, and added them to Western Wei territory. In late 553, the official Yuan Lie (元烈) plotted killing Yuwen, but his plot was discovered, and Yuwen killed him. After Yuan Lie's death, Emperor Fei became angry at Yuwen and often spoke against him. He also secretly plotted killing Yuwen, despite advice from Yuan Yu (元育) the Prince of Linhuai and Yuan Zan (元贊, the nephew of Emperor Xiaowu) the Prince of Guangping that plotting was dangerous. Emperor Fei's plot, however, was eventually discovered by Yuwen's other sons-in-law. Yuwen deposed and imprisoned Emperor Fei, making his younger brother Yuan Kuo emperor (as Emperor Gong). Soon thereafter, Emperor Fei was put to death. According to the ''

History of Northern Dynasties The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western We ...

'', his wife Empress Yuwen "also suffered death because she was faithful to Wei's imperial house," although it is unclear exactly how she died or whether she died the same year he did.

Personal information

*Father:

Emperor Wen of Western Wei Emperor Wen of Western Wei ((西)魏文帝) (507 – 28 March 551), personal name Yuan Baoju (元寶炬), was an emperor of Western Wei—a branch successor state to Northern Wei. In 534, Yuan Baoju, then the Prince of Nanyang, followed his cousi ...

*Mother:

Empress Yifu Empress Yifu (乙弗皇后, personal name unknown) (510–540), formally Empress Wen (文皇后, literally "the civil empress"), was an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Western Wei dynasty—a branch successor state of Northern Wei. Her husban ...

*Wife:

Empress Yuwen Empress Yuwen (宇文皇后, personal name unknown) (died 554?) was an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Western Wei dynasty — a branch successor state of Northern Wei. Her husband was Emperor Fei (Yuan Qin), and her father was Western Wei's par ...

(created 551?, d. 554?) **Eldest son (born 548)

Ancestry

References

* ''

'', vol.

* ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vols. 157, 158, 164, 165. , - style="text-align: center;" , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fei, Emperor of Western Wei Northern Wei emperors 554 deaths Year of birth unknown Murdered Chinese emperors