Tuoba Huang (拓拔晃) (428 – July 29, 451''wuchen day'' of the 6th month of the 1st year of the ''Zhengping'' era, per Emperor Gongzong's biography in ''Book of Wei''),

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 ...

name Tianzhen (天真), formally Crown Prince Jingmu (景穆太子) (literally "the decisive and solemn crown prince"), later further formally honored as Emperor Jingmu (景穆皇帝) with the

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...

Gongzong (恭宗) by his son Emperor Wencheng, 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

-led

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 the ...

of China. He was the oldest son of Emperor Taiwu, and was created crown prince in 432 at the age of four, and as he grew older, Emperor Taiwu transferred more and more authority to him. However, in 451, he incurred the wrath of his father due to false accusations of the

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 millennium ...

Zong Ai Zong Ai (; ? - 31 October 452''wushen'' day of the 10th month of the 29th year of the ''Yuanjia'' era, per volume 126 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'') was a eunuch who briefly came to great power in the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty in 452 after as ...

, and many of his associates were put to death. He himself grew ill in fear, and died that year. He is also recorded as one of the youngest fathers in the world, who fathered his son

Tuoba Jun Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei ((北)魏文成帝) (July or August 440 – 20 June 465), Chinese name Tuoba Jun (拓拔濬), Xianbei name Wulei (烏雷), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He became emperor aged 12 ...

at the age of 12.

Early life

Tuoba Huang was born in 428, as Emperor Taiwu's oldest son. His mother's name was rendered as Consort He (賀夫人), but since both the Helan (賀蘭) and Helai (賀賴) clans later changed their names to He (during the reign of Tuoba Huang's great-grandson

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

), it is unclear whether her name was Helan or Helai. She died the year that she gave birth to him, suggesting that she might have died in childbirth, but there is no conclusive evidence that it happened. On 17 February 432, Emperor Taiwu created Tuoba Huang

, at the same time that he created one of his consorts, Consort Helian, empress. He became a highly ranked official in his father's administration that same year, although, at age four, the position was likely nominal. In 433, Emperor Taiwu tried to negotiate a marriage between Crown Prince Huang and one of the daughters of

Emperor Wen of Liu Song Emperor Wen of (Liu) Song ((劉)宋文帝, (Liu) Song Wen-di) (407 – 16 March 453), personal name Liu Yilong (劉義隆), childhood name Che'er (車兒), was an emperor of the Liu Song dynasty of China. He was the third son of the dynastic foun ...

, but Emperor Wen, while not immediately rejecting the proposal, did not agree either. In 439, when Emperor Taiwu was on a campaign to conquer

Northern Liang The Northern Liang (; 397–439) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was ruled by the Juqu family of Lushuihu origin (a branch of the Xiongnu). Although Duan Ye of Han ethnicity was initially enthroned as the Northern Liang ...

, he had Crown Prince Huang assume imperial authority at the capital Pingcheng (平城, in modern

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 cens ...

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 ...

), assisted by the high-ranking official Qiumuling Shou (丘穆陵壽), to guard against a

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 ...

attack. However, Qiumuling, not believing that Rouran would actually attack, took little actual precautions, and when Rouran's Chilian Khan

Yujiulü Wuti Yujiulü Wuti (; pinyin: Yùjiǔlǘ Wútí) was a ruler of the Rouran (July, 429 – September, 444) with the title of Qilian or Chilian Khagan (敕連可汗). He was the son of Yujiulü Datan. Reign In 432, Northern Wei captured 20 Rouran warr ...

attacked, Pingcheng was caught nearly defenseless. Qiumuling wanted to escort Crown Prince Huang to the hills south of Pingcheng and take up defense position there, but at the opposition of Emperor Taiwu's

wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, or if she is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cu ...

Empress Dowager Dou, Crown Prince Huang remained in Pingcheng, and when Northern Wei forces subsequently defeated Rouran forces, Yujiulü Wuti was forced to withdraw. (By this point, although he was only 11, Crown Prince Huang was apparently already participating in major military and policy decisions, as he had opposed his father's Northern Liang campaign, but was overruled by his father, who trusted

Cui Hao Cui Hao () (died 450 CE), courtesy name Boyuan (伯淵), was a ''shangshu'' of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. Largely because of Cui's counsel, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei was able to unify northern China, ending the Sixteen Kin ...

's advice that Northern Liang was easily defeatable.) By 442, Crown Prince Huang appeared to be already a devout

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, and when his father, at the suggestion of Cui and the

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

monk

Kou Qianzhi Kou Qianzhi () (365–448) was a Taoist reformer who reenvisioned many of the ceremonies and rites of the Way of the Celestial Master form of Taoism and reformulated its theology into a new movement known as The Northern Celestial Masters. His in ...

, built the very high and difficult-to-construct Jinglun Palace (靜輪宮), he tried to oppose on account of cost, but Emperor Taiwu did not agree. In 443, Crown Prince Huang accompanied his father on a campaign against Rouran, and when they suddenly encountered Yujiulü Wuti, Crown Prince Huang advised an immediate attack, but Emperor Taiwu hesitated, allowing Yujiulü Wuti to escape. From that point on, Emperor Taiwu began to listen to Crown Prince Huang's advice in earnest, and in winter 443, he authorized Crown Prince Huang to carry out all imperial duties except the most important ones, under assistance from Qiumuling, Cui, Zhang Li (張黎), and Tuxi Bi (吐奚弼). Crown Prince Huang soon instituted a policy to encourage farming—by mandatorily requiring those who had extra cattle to loan them to those without, to be animals of burden, with the lease being paid for by those without cattle by tilling the grounds of the cattle owners, increasing the efficiency of the farmlands greatly.

After Emperor Taiwu's partial transfer of authority

In 446, while Emperor Taiwu was attacking the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

rebel Gai Wu (蓋吳), he found a large number of weapons in Buddhist temples in

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 ...

. Believing that the monks were aligned with Gai, he slaughtered the monks in Chang'an. Cui Hao used this opportunity to encourage Emperor Taiwu to slaughter all monks throughout the empire and destroy the temples, statues, and sutras, and notwithstanding Kou Qianzhi's opposition, Emperor Taiwu proceeded to slaughter the monks in Chang'an, destroy the statues, and burn the sutras. He then issued an empire-wide prohibition of Buddhism. Crown Prince Huang, however, used delaying tactics in promulgating the edict, allowing Buddhists to flee or hide, but it was said that not a single Buddhist temple remained standing in Northern Wei. This was the first of the

Three Disasters of Wu 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...

. By 450, Crown Prince Huang appeared to be in direct conflict with Cui over administration of the state. When Cui recommended a number of men to be commandery governors, Crown Prince Huang objected strenuously, and yet the men were commissioned over his objection at Cui's insistence. It appeared that Crown Prince Huang had a hand when, later in 450, Cui was put to death with his entire clan, on account of having defamed imperial ancestors, as Crown Prince Huang argued hard to spare one of Cui's staff members, Gao Yun, and during that process, Gao gave some statements regarding Cui that could be viewed either as exculpatory or inculpatory. In fall of 450, when Liu Song's Emperor Wen sent his general Wang Xuanmo (王玄謨) to attack Huatai (滑台, in modern

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It had a ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

), Emperor Taiwu personally led an army to relieve Huatai, and subsequently, after defeating Wang, advanced deeply into Liu Song territory, all the way to the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

. During Emperor Taiwu's campaign against Liu Song, pursuant to his instructions, Crown Prince Huang was on the northern border, defending against a potential Rouran attack.

Death and aftermath

Crown Prince Huang was described to be highly observant, but trusting of his associates and also spending much effort on managing orchards and farms, to earn money from them. Gao Yun tried to advise him against engaging in commercial ventures and in overly delegating authorities, but he did not listen. Rather, in 451, he became embroiled in a conflict with the eunuch

, whose corruption he had found out and whom he disliked immensely. Zong, apprehensive that Crown Prince Huang's trusted associates Chouni Daosheng (仇尼道盛) and Ren Pingcheng (任平城) would accuse him of crimes, acted pre-emptively and accused Chouni and Ren of crimes. In anger, Emperor Taiwu executed Chouni and Ren, and many other associates of Crown Prince Huang were entangled in the case and executed as well. In fear, Crown Prince Huang became ill and died. Emperor Taiwu soon became aware that Crown Prince Huang was not involved in any crimes, and he regretted his actions greatly. Around the new year 451, he created Crown Prince Huang's oldest son

the Prince of Gaoyang, but soon removed that title on the account that the crown prince's oldest son should not be a mere imperial prince—a strong sign that he was intending to create Tuoba Jun crown prince eventually. Zong, in fear that Emperor Taiwu would punish him, assassinated Emperor Taiwu in spring 452, and then seized power, killing a number of officials and Crown Prince Huang's younger brother Tuoba Han (拓拔翰) the Prince of Dongping, while making another younger brother of Crown Prince Huang's,

Tuoba Yu Tuoba Yu (拓拔余) (died 29 October 452''bingwu'' (1st) day of the 10th month of the 2nd year of the ''Zhengping'' era, per volume 4 (part 2) of ''Book of Wei''), formally Prince Yin of Nan'an (南安隱王), Xianbei name Kebozhen (可博真), wa ...

the Prince of Nan'an emperor. Zong controlled the imperial regime, and when Tuoba Yu tried to assert his own power in fall 452, Zong assassinated him as well. Officials led by

Yuan He Yuan He (源賀) (407 – October 22, 479), né Tufa Poqiang (禿髮破羌), Xianbei name Hedouba (賀豆跋), formally Prince Xuan of Longxi (隴西宣王), was a high-ranking official of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei, Northern Wei dynasty of China ...

, Baba Kehou (拔拔渴侯), Dugu Ni (獨孤尼), and

Buliugu Li Buliugu Li () (died 465), more commonly known in historical accounts as Lu Li (陸麗) (after the change of Xianbei names to Han names in 496, Xianbei surname "Buliugu" was changed to "Lu"''Book of Wei'', vol. 113.), Xianbei nickname Yili (伊利) ...

rose against Zong and killed him, making Tuoba Jun emperor, and Tuoba Jun, after he took the throne as Emperor Wencheng, posthumously honored Tuoba Huang as an emperor.

Family

Consorts and Issue: *

Empress Gong Consort Yujiulü (郁久閭椒房, personal name unknown) (died 452), formally Empress Gong (恭皇后, literally "the respectful empress"), was a consort of Tuoba Huang (Crown Prince Jingmu), a crown prince of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynast ...

, of the Yujiulü clan () **

, Emperor Wencheng (; 440–465), first son * ''Jiaofang'', of the Yuan clan () ** Tuoba Xincheng, Prince Yangpingyou (; d. 470), second son * ''Jiaofang'', of the Wei clan () ** Tuoba Zitui, Prince Jingzhaokang (; d. 477) ** Tuoba Xiaoxincheng, Prince Jiyinxuan (; d. 467) ** Tuoba Hu'er, Prince Lelingkang (; d. 468) * ''Jiaofang'', of the Yang clan () ** Tuoba Tianci, Prince Ruyinling () * ''Jiaofang'', of the Meng clan () ** Tuoba Yun, Prince Renchengkang (; 446–481) ** Tuoba Xiu, Prince Andingjing (; d. 494) * ''Jiaofang'', of the Liu clan () ** Tuoba Zhen, Prince Nan'anhui (; 447–496), 11th son ** Tuoba Changshou, Prince Chengyangkang (; d. 474) * ''Jiaofang'', of the Murong clan () ** Tuoba Tailuo, Prince Zhangwujing (; d. 468) * Unknown ** Tuoba Wanshou, Prince Leliangli (; d. 462) ** Tuoba Luohou, Prince Guangpingshang (; d. 461) ** ''Tuoba Shen, Prince Zhao'' (; d. 454) ** Princess Zhangwu (), first daughter *** Married Mu Tai (; d. 496), and had issue (two sons) *** Married Fang Pusa () ** Princess Anle () Second daughter *** Married Yi Gangui of Henan, Prince Xiping (; 445–475) ** Princess Boling () Third daughter *** Married Feng Xi of Changle, Prince Changli (; 438–495), and had issue (one son) ** Princess Leping () Fourth daughter *** Married Mr. Lü (), and had issue (one son)

Ancestry

In popular culture

* Portrayed by Wang Yujing in the 2016 Chinese TV series ''

The Princess Weiyoung ''The Princess Weiyoung'' () is a 2016 Chinese television series starring Tiffany Tang in the title role, alongside Luo Jin, Vanness Wu, Mao Xiaotong and Li Xinai. It is adapted from the novel ''The Poisonous Daughter'' () by Qin Jian and is a fi ...

''.

Notes

{{Yuan Wei emperors Northern Wei Buddhists Northern Wei imperial princes 428 births 451 deaths People from Datong Chinese Buddhist monarchs