Gao Bainian (高百年) (556–564) was a

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 ...

of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

dynasty.

Early life

Gao Bainian was born in 556. He was Emperor Xiaozhao's second son but was considered his proper heir because he was born of his wife Empress Yuan. After he became emperor in 560, therefore, he created Gao Bainian crown prince. It was during Gao Bainian's tenure as crown prince that he married his wife Crown Princess Hulü, a daughter of the general

Hulü Guang Hulü Guang () (515–572), courtesy name Mingyue (明月), was an ethnic Tiele general of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. During the late years of the dynasty—the reigns of Emperor Wucheng and Gao Wei, traditionally viewed as a period of corru ...

. In 561, Emperor Xiaozhao suffered severe injuries after falling off a horse. Believing himself to be near death, he decided that Gao Bainian was too young to take the throne, at age five, so he issued an edict giving the throne instead to his brother Gao Zhan the Prince of Changguang. In a letter to Gao Zhan, Emperor Xiaozhao wrote, "Bainian is innocent. You can do anything with him, but please do not kill him!" He died later that day, and Gao Zhan took the throne as Emperor Wucheng. Emperor Wucheng created Gao Bainian the Prince of Leling.

Execution

In 564, there were ominous astrological signs that suggested ill fortune for the emperor. Emperor Wucheng wanted to deflect the ill fortune onto Gao Bainian. The scholar Jia Dezhou (賈德冑) had been earlier commissioned to be Gao Bainian's teacher, and while Gao Bainian learned

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

, he had once written several instances of the character ''chi'' (敕) -- a character that meant "imperial edict," and which only the emperor was supposed to use. Jia sealed the characters ''chi'' that Gao Bainian had written and submitted them to Emperor Wucheng. Emperor Wucheng summoned Gao Bainian to the palace, and Gao Bainian, believing that he was about to be killed, took off the jade pendant that he wore and gave it to Princess Hulü. Once in the palace, Emperor Wucheng ordered Gao Bainian to write the character ''chi'', and the handwriting matched the ''chi'' characters that Jia submitted. Emperor Wucheng then had his guards batter Gao Bainian severely with sticks, and then drag him around Liangfeng Hall (涼風堂) and continue to batter him. His blood was everywhere, and he pleaded for his life, to no avail. Eventually, Emperor Wucheng had him beheaded and his body thrown into a pool, staining the pool red. Princess Hulü was so saddened by her husband's death that she refused to eat, and she died after a month of not eating. Later, during the reign of Emperor Wucheng's son

Gao Wei Gao Wei (高緯) (29 May 556 – November 577According to volume 10 of ''History of the Northern Dynasties'', Gao Wei was killed in the 10th month of the 6th year of the ''Jiande'' era of Yuwen Yong's reign. This corresponds to 28 Oct to 25 Nov ...

, a number of imperial halls were torn down and rebuilt. As one of the halls was torn down, a small body wearing an imperial prince robe was found, and it was thought to be Gao Bainian's. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Bainian Northern Qi people 556 births 564 deaths