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 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 ...

name Kebozhen (可博真), was briefly an

emperor 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 ( ...

of the Xianbei-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 ...

. He was placed on the throne by 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 millenni ...

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, Northern Wei dynasty i ...

after Zong assassinated his father Emperor Taiwu in spring 452, and Zong was largely in control of the regime during his reign. Later in the year, when Tuoba Yu tried to assert his own authority, Zong had him assassinated as well, but then was overthrown by a group of officials, who put Tuoba Yu's nephew Tuoba Jun (the son of Tuoba Yu's older brother,

Tuoba Huang 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 name Tianzhen (天真), formally Crown Prince Jingmu (景穆太� ...

the

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 w ...

, who had predeceased their father) on the throne as Emperor Wencheng.

Background

It is not known when Tuoba Yu was born, but it is known that he was the youngest of Emperor Taiwu's six sons who survived childhood. His mother Consort Yujiulü (i.e. Lu Zuo Zhaoyi) was a sister of

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 Organizat ...

'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 warri ...

, who had become an imperial consort of Emperor Taiwu's as part of a peace-marriage arrangement in 434, whereby he married Consort Yujiulü while marrying his sister or cousin Princess Xihai to Yujiulü Wuti. He was created the Prince of Wu in 442, and 450, when his father was counter-attacking after a major

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

attack, and Crown Prince Huang was defending the northern borders against a potential Rouran attack, Prince Yu was left in charge of 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 ce ...

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-leve ...

), a sign that Emperor Taiwu trusted his abilities. In 452, his title was changed to Prince of Nan'an. Sometime late in Emperor Taiwu's reign, Tuoba Yu became friendly with Emperor Taiwu's eunuch

, who in 451 had falsely accused Crown Prince Huang's associates Chouni Daosheng (仇尼道盛) and Ren Pingcheng (任平城) of crimes, causing many members of Crown Prince Huang's staff to be executed and Crown Prince Huang himself to fall ill in fear and die. In spring 452, in fear that Emperor Taiwu would punish him, Zong assassinated Emperor Taiwu. The officials initially did not announce Emperor Taiwu's death, but were debating between whether to make Crown Prince Huang's oldest son Tuoba Jun or Emperor Taiwu's oldest surviving son Tuoba Han (拓拔翰) the Prince of Dongping emperor. Zong, who was also on poor terms with Tuoba Han, summoned Tuoba Yu to the palace instead, and forged an edict of Emperor Taiwu's wife

Empress Helian Empress Helian (赫連皇后) (died 453), formally Empress Taiwu (太武皇后), was an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Taiwu. She was a daughter of the Hu Xia's founding emperor Helian Bobo (Em ...

to ambush and put the officials in favor of either Tuoba Jun or Tuoba Han to death. He then executed Tuoba Han as well and made Tuoba Yu emperor.

Brief reign

Tuoba Yu honored Empress Helian as

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere. The title was a ...

, and he bestowed Zong a number of high level posts, including prime minister, making it clear that Zong was actually in control of the regime, as well as creating him the Prince of Fengyi. Tuoba Yu's ascension to the throne was apparently largely without major opposition, but he knew that he bypassed his older brothers, as well as his nephew (who by

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

principles of succession should have been emperor), and therefore tried to gather officials' support by giving them rewards so large that the treasury was exhausted. It was also described that Tuoba Yu drank often, and often spent time on entertainment and hunting, with little time for important matters of state. Zong, as prime minister, was in charge of imperial guards as well, and he became extremely arrogant. Eventually, Tuoba Yu grew tired of Zong's antics and planned to strip him of his authority. Zong heard about this, and in winter 452, while Tuoba Yu was making a sacrifice to his great-grandfather Emperor Daowu at night, Zong sent his assistant Jia Zhou (賈周) to assassinate him. He was on the throne for only slightly over seven months. Several officials subsequently overthrew Zong and made Tuoba Jun emperor (as Emperor Wencheng). Emperor Wencheng buried Tuoba Yu with honors due an imperial prince, but not due an emperor, and gave him a posthumous name.

Era name

* ''Chengping'' (承平 chéng píng) 452

Ancestry

In popular culture

* Portrayed by

Vanness Wu Vanness Wu (; born August 7, 1978) is a Taiwanese-American singer and actor. He is a member of the Taiwanese boyband F4 and the Korean Mandopop duo Kangta & Vanness. Early life Wu was born in Santa Monica, California. He learned to breakda ...

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 f ...

''.

References

* ''

Book of Wei The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to ...

'', vol. 18. * ''

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 ...

'', vol. 1

* ''

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. 124, 125, 126. Northern Wei emperors 452 deaths 5th-century Chinese monarchs People from Datong Year of birth unknown Murdered Chinese emperors Yujiulü clan {{Rouran rulers