Gao Shaoyi (), often known by his princely title Prince of Fanyang (), was an imperial prince 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 ...

Northern Qi dynasty 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 ...

. He claimed the Northern Qi throne in exile under the protection of Tujue after the rival

Northern Zhou dynasty Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty an ...

seized nearly all of Northern Qi territory and captured the emperors, Gao Shaoyi's cousin

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 ...

and Gao Wei's son

Gao Heng Gao Heng (; 570–577), often known in history as the Youzhu of Northern Qi (, meaning 'child ruler'), was briefly an emperor of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. In 577, Northern Qi was under a major attack by rival Northern Zhou. Gao Heng's fa ...

in 577. In 580, Tujue, after negotiating a peace treaty with the Northern Zhou, turned Gao Shaoyi over to the Northern Zhou, and he was exiled to modern

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, ending his claim on the Northern Qi imperial title. Most historians do not consider Gao Shaoyi a legitimate emperor of the Northern Qi.

Background

Gao Shaoyi was the third son of Emperor Wenxuan,

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 ...

's first emperor. His mother was Emperor Wenxuan's

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 Feng, who carried the title of ''Shifu'' (世婦), a title for third class imperial consorts. It is not known when he was born. In 559, Emperor Wenxuan created him the Prince of Guangyang. After Emperor Wenxuan's death later that year, Gao Shaoyi's older brother Gao Yin became emperor (as Emperor Fei), and around the new year 560, Emperor Fei changed Gao Shaoyi's title to Prince of Fanyang. During Emperor Fei's reign and the subsequent reigns of Gao Shaoyi's uncles Emperor Xiaozhao and Emperor Wucheng, Gao Shaoyi was gradually promoted through the official ranks, and, during Emperor Wucheng's reign, he was the mayor of the capital Yecheng. He was said to like drinking with his associates, and he was accused of having his

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

s kill his teacher Ren Fangrong (任方榮). Emperor Wucheng caned him 200 times, and then sent him to Emperor Wenxuan's wife Empress Li Zu'e, who further caned him 100 times. Nothing is known about Gao Shaoyi's activities in the following years. In 577, with rival

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty a ...

having launched a major attack on Northern Qi, then-emperor

(Emperor Wucheng's son) fled from the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) back to Yecheng, and he made Gao Shaoyi the governor of Ding Province (定州, roughly modern

Baoding Baoding (), formerly known as Baozhou and Qingyuan, is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2010 census, Baoding City had 11,194,382 inhabitants out of which 2,176,857 lived in the b ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

). Subsequently, after Gao Wei was captured by Northern Zhou forces, most Northern Qi provinces surrendered. However, Zhao Mu (趙穆), the former gubernatorial secretary of Northern Shuo Province (北朔州, roughly modern

Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, in 2010, a pop ...

, Shanxi), captured the Northern Zhou general (and former Northern Qi general) Feng Fuxiang (封輔相), whom

Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou ((北)周武帝) (543 – 21 June 578), personal name Yuwen Yong (宇文邕), Xianbei name Miluotu (禰羅突), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. As was the case of the reigns of his broth ...

had made the military governor of the Northern Shuo Province and tried to welcome Gao Shaoyi's uncle Gao Jie (高湝) the Prince of Rencheng to Northern Shuo Province to head the resistance, but could not do so. He therefore welcomed Gao Shaoyi instead, and when Gao Shaoyi arrived at Mayi (馬邑), the capital of Northern Shuo Province, the people of the local region supported his resistance movement. He led his troops south to try to recapture Jinyang, but was unsuccessful in first sieging Xinxing (新興, in modern

Xinzhou Xinzhou, ancient name Xiurong (秀荣), is a prefecture-level city occupying the north-central section of Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei to the east, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the northwest ...

, Shanxi), and Northern Zhou's counterattack was successful in capturing Lu Qiong (陸瓊), the governor of Xian Province (顯州, part of modern Xinzhou), and Gao Shaoyi retreated to Mayi. As the Northern Zhou general Yuwen Shenju (宇文神舉) approached Mayi and defeated Gao Shaoyi, Gao Shaoyi decided to flee to Tujue. At this time, he still had about 3,000 men, and he issued an order, "If you want to return, do so." More than half took up his offer and left him. When Gao Shaoyi arrived at Tujue, Tujue's Tuobo Khan, who had long admired Emperor Wenxuan, saw that Gao Shaoyi, like Emperor Wenxuan, had a particularly large ankle, and therefore particularly favored and respected Gao Shaoyi. He transferred the former Northern Qi subjects, whether they fled to or were captured to Tujue, to be under Gao Shaoyi's command.

Imperial claim in exile

Almost all of Northern Qi territory fell into Northern Zhou hands, but Gao Baoning (高寶寧), a distant relative of the Gao imperial line and governor of Ying Province (營州, roughly modern Chaoyang, Liaoning), refused to surrender. Around the new year 578, Gao Baoning, sent a petition to Gao Shaoyi, requesting that he take imperial title. Gao Shaoyi therefore declared himself emperor, with military assistance from Tujue. In summer 578, Northern Zhou's Emperor Wu died, and Gao Shaoyi believed this to be a good opportunity to reestablish Northern Qi. At the same time, Lu Changqi (盧昌期), the leader of an agrarian rebellion at

Youzhou You Prefecture or You Province, also known by its Chinese name Youzhou, was a prefecture ('' zhou'') in northern China during its imperial era. "You Province" was cited in some ancient sources as one of the nine or twelve original provinces ...

(modern Beijing Municipality) captured Fanyang (范陽, in modern Baoding) and welcomed Gao Shaoyi to join him. Gao Shaoyi, commanding Tujue forces, sought to aid Lu by attacking Jicheng (modern Beijing), and he defeated Yuwen Shenju's subordinate Yuwen En (宇文恩), but meanwhile, Yuwen Shenju captured Fanyang and killed Lu. Gao Shaoyi took up mourning clothes and publicly mourned Lu, but then withdrew back to Tujue. Gao Baoning, who had also tried to come to Lu's aid, also withdrew back to Ying Province. In spring 579, Tuobo Khan sought peace with Northern Zhou.

Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou (北周宣帝) (559 – 22 June 580), personal name Yuwen Yun (宇文贇), courtesy name Qianbo (乾伯), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. He was known in history as an erratic and was ...

created the daughter of his uncle Yuwen Zhao (宇文招) the Prince of Zhao the Princess Qianjin, offering to give her to Tuobo Khan in marriage if Tuobo Khan would be willing to surrender Gao Shaoyi. Tuobo Khan refused.

Death

In 580, after Emperor Xuan's death, Yang Jian, the regent for Emperor Xuan's son

Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou ((北)周靜帝) (July or August 573 – 10 July 581), personally name né Yuwen Yan (宇文衍), later Yuwen Chan (宇文闡), was the last emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty. He became empero ...

, nevertheless sent Princess Qianjin to Tujue to marry Tuobo Khan. After the marriage, Yang then sent the official Heruo Yi (賀若誼) to Tujue to bribe Tuobo Khan to give up Gao Shaoyi. Tuobo Khan agreed, and as a ruse, he invited Gao Shaoyi to a hunt, but instead had Heruo Yi capture Gao Shaoyi. In fall 580, Gao Shaoyi was delivered to Northern Zhou's 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 S ...

, and he was exiled to modern

. Meanwhile, his wife Princess Feng had fled back from Tujue, and while they were not able to reunite, Gao Shaoyi sent her a letter that stated, "The barbarians were faithless, and they sent me here." He eventually died in exile, but the year of his death is not known.

Era name

* ''Wuping'' (武平 wǔ píng) 578–580

Personal information

* Father **

Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi Emperor Wenxuan of (Northern) Qi ((北)齊文宣帝) (526–559), personal name Gao Yang (高洋, Wade–Giles: Kao Yang), courtesy name Zijin (子進), Xianbei name Hounigan (侯尼干), was the founding Emperor of China, emperor of the Northern ...

* Mother ** Consort Feng, Emperor Wenxuan's

* Wife ** Princess Feng, daughter of Feng Xiaowan (封孝琬)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gao Shaoyi 6th-century births 6th-century deaths Northern Qi emperors Northern Zhou people