Gao Yan

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Gao Yan was born in 534, the first year of Tianping under Eastern Wei. He was the sixth son of Eastern Wei's dominant official Gao Huan and his principal wife Lou Zhaojun. Gao Huan, enfeoffed as Prince of Bohai, was the real holder of power in Eastern Wei for sixteen years. Gao Yan grew up in an elite household and received a strong education. Lou Zhaojun came from a Xianbei aristocratic family and was known in the source for a firm character and strict discipline toward her sons. Gao Yan showed an early interest and talent in political affairs and was described as skilled in statecraft and able to understand the details of matters.

After Gao Huan died in 547, the fifth year of Wuding, his eldest son Gao Cheng inherited political control but was soon assassinated. Gao Yang then assumed power and in 550 accepted the abdication of Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei and founded Northern Qi. As a full brother of Gao Yang, Gao Yan was entrusted with important responsibilities.

Assisting Gao Yang

After Gao Yang proclaimed himself emperor in 550, Gao Yan was enfeoffed as Prince of Changshan. Over the following years he gradually entered the core of government and accumulated political experience. In the later years of Emperor Wenxuan's reign, however, Gao Yang became increasingly absorbed in drinking and pleasure, his conduct grew erratic, and the court became progressively disordered.

Gao Yan was deeply worried and repeatedly remonstrated. According to the Book of Northern Qi, Gao Yang once told him that because Gao Yan was handling state affairs, there was no reason he himself could not indulge in pleasure. Gao Yan knelt weeping and remained silent. Gao Yang, moved by this, pushed his wine cup to the ground and declared that anyone who dared offer him wine again would be executed; he also smashed his drinking vessels. Nevertheless, he later remained unable to give up drinking and pleasure and frequently engaged in rough games with officials without regard to rank. Whenever Gao Yan arrived, those present became quiet and orderly.

In 559, the tenth year of Tianbao, Gao Yang fell gravely ill. Knowing Crown Prince Gao Yin was young, he reportedly told Gao Yan that the throne could be yielded if necessary but that Gao Yin must not be harmed. Gao Yan agreed in tears. After Gao Yang's death, Gao Yin succeeded as the deposed emperor. Gao Yan assisted the government as the emperor's uncle and in practice came to dominate political affairs.

Coup and Seizure of the Throne

After Gao Yin's accession, Gao Yan and Prince of Changguang Gao Zhan joined forces and gradually removed political opponents. In 560, the first year of Qianming, Gao Yan launched a coup and demoted Gao Yin to Prince of Jinan. In the eighth month, with Lou Zhaojun's support, Gao Yan took the throne at age twenty-six and changed the era name to Huangjian.

After Gao Yan's accession, Lou Zhaojun required him to swear that he would never harm her grandson Gao Yin. Gao Yan agreed to her face but continued to fear that Gao Yin might become a political threat. In 561, the second year of Huangjian, he ultimately had his nephew secretly killed.

Diligent Rule and Reform

During his reign Gao Yan focused on reorganizing government. He attended closely to affairs of state, sought out capable officials, and pursued a comparatively orderly administration. He showed concern for the population, reduced labor and taxes, and sent envoys throughout the realm to inspect local customs, investigate popular hardships, and assess the successes and failures of local government.

Militarily, Gao Yan personally led an expedition north against the Kumo Xi. After the army passed beyond the Great Wall, the enemy fled. Gao divided his forces in pursuit and returned with large numbers of cattle and horses.

In economic affairs Gao introduced several measures. Grain prices had risen continuously since the time of Gao Huan under Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, to the point that even grain for imperial tribute was difficult to transport. After taking the throne, Gao Yan expanded military-agricultural colonies on both sides of the Yellow River. According to the Book of Northern Qi, they produced several hundred thousand shi of grain annually and substantially reduced shortages in Hebei. He also ordered the establishment of multiple granaries in Hebei to ease transport problems and improve the state's food supply.

Gao Yan was receptive to remonstrance and often reflected on shortcomings in government. To receive information quickly, he permitted officials such as Yang Xiuzhi and Cui Jie to enter his bedchamber directly to report affairs. He discussed policy with them through the night, reviewing the successes and failures of earlier dynasties and evaluating contemporary measures.

He also enforced the law strictly, reorganized court discipline, and punished favoritism and corruption. He pursued a policy of resting the troops and supporting the population, and the source describes few major wars with neighboring states during his reign. Among the six emperors in Northern Qi's twenty-eight-year history, Gao Yan is often regarded as one of the more capable rulers, though his reign was very short.

Fall from a Horse and Death

After killing Gao Yin, Gao Yan is described as feeling profound guilt toward his elder brother Gao Yang. The Book of Northern Qi records that he became mentally disturbed and believed Emperor Wenxuan was haunting him. Lou Zhaojun was deeply angered by the killing within the family and would not forgive Gao Yan even after he was badly injured.

In 561, the second year of Huangjian, Gao Yan went hunting to distract himself. His horse was startled and he fell, suffering serious injuries that worsened. Knowing he would soon die, he worried that if Crown Prince Gao Bainian succeeded, Gao Zhan might imitate Gao Yan's own precedent of deposing and killing a young nephew and then seize the throne. After long consideration, he changed the succession. Before death he removed the young crown prince and passed the throne to his younger brother Gao Zhan, Prince of Changguang, begging him not to repeat the cycle of killing among close relatives.

Gao Yan died in the eleventh month of 561 at age twenty-seven. He received the posthumous name Emperor Xiaozhao and temple name Suzong. Gao Zhan nevertheless later killed Gao Yan's son Gao Bainian.

Gao Yan was the sixth son of Gao Huan by the empress dowager Wu Ming, Lou Zhaojun. Distinguished from childhood and early showing the measure of a man who would accomplish great things, he was loved and valued by the empress dowager; in 538 he was enfeoffed as duke of Changshan commandery, and in the early Tianbao years of the Northern Qi he was advanced to prince. Skilled in the arts of government and clear in the analysis of affairs, he was made president of the Bing provincial department of state affairs in 554 and was decisive and strong in argument, so that the whole department stood in awe of him. In 556 he returned to Ye with Emperor Wenxuan, who, finding the memorials of the department often at odds, ordered Gao Yan to settle the rights and wrongs with the ministers before they were submitted; his judgments all accorded with reason, and the emperor marvelled at and prized him. In 557 he was made minister of works and supervisor of the department of state affairs, and in 558 general-in-chief, still supervising the department.

In his last years Emperor Wenxuan Gao Yang gave himself up to drinking and pleasure, and Gao Yan's grief and anger showed in his face. The emperor, seeing it, told him that while he managed the affairs of state there was no reason why he should not enjoy himself; Gao Yan only wept and bowed to the ground and said nothing. The emperor too was sad, pushed his cup to the floor and swore that from that day any man who offered him wine would be beheaded, and had all the cups he used smashed and thrown away. Yet he sank deeper still, sometimes wrestling and brawling in the houses of high and low alike, and only when the prince of Changshan came was there quiet within and without. Gao Yan secretly drew up articles for remonstrance; his friend Wang Xi thought it unwise, but he would not listen and spoke his mind at the first occasion, and drew down the emperor's rage. Gao Yan was severe by nature: if a bureau director misjudged a case he had him flogged, and clerks guilty of wrongdoing were tortured to confession. The emperor therefore made him stand before him, pressed the ring of his sword against his ribs, and summoned those Gao Yan had punished, threatening them with bared blades to state his faults; none could say anything, and he was released, and from that time was forbidden to flog bureau directors. Later the emperor gave him palace women of the Wei and, waking sober, forgot it and said Gao Yan had taken them of himself, and beat him at random with the sword ring, so that he was hurt; the empress dowager wept day and night and the emperor did not know what to do. Wang Xi, hitherto imprisoned, was released and ordered to attend him, and after a month or so Gao Yan recovered and dared not remonstrate again.

On Wenxuan's death in 559 Gao Yan stayed in the palace to manage the mourning; the dying emperor had said that the throne might if need be pass to him, but that Gao Yin must not be harmed. When Gao Yin came to the throne Gao Yan was made grand tutor and supervisor of the department, and all the government was decided by him; a month later he withdrew to his princely residence, and from then on the edicts were mostly issued without reference to him. In 560 he went with the young emperor to Ye and lodged in the headquarters of the guard. Yang Yin, Yan Zixian, Kezhu Hun Tianhe, Song Qindao and Zheng Zimo, fearing his prestige and the pressure of his power, asked that he be made grand preceptor, governor of Sizhou and supervisor of the department, and that the prince of Changguang, Gao Zhan, be made general-in-chief and released from command of the capital region. Suspected and pushed aside though he was the emperor's uncle, Gao Yan made a hunting appointment with Gao Zhan and laid his plot in the open country.

On the twenty-third day of the third month of 560 Gao Yan set out from the guard headquarters for his office, where the officials were assembled; when they had sat and drunk a few rounds he had the president of the department, Yang Yin, and others seized in their seats. In military dress he entered the palace by the Cloud Dragon gate with the prince of Pingyuan and the guard commander Liu Honghui, seized Zheng Zimo and the rest and had them killed in the imperial storehouse. At the east gallery gate the commander Cheng Xiuning drew his sword and denounced him; Gao Yan sent Gao Guiyan to reason with him, and Cheng shouted and would not obey — but Gao Guiyan, already commander of the guard and long obeyed by the soldiers, gave the word and they all threw down their arms, and Cheng stepped aside with a sigh. Gao Yan came to the Zhaoyang hall, where the emperor Gao Yin, the grand empress dowager Lou Zhaojun and the empress dowager Li Zu'e came out and took their seats. Gao Yan set out the crimes of Yang Yin and the others and asked punishment for having killed them without authority. Two thousand guards in the courtyard and the galleries stood in armour awaiting Gao Yin's word, and the guard E Yongle, a man of surpassing strength who had been favoured by Wenxuan, was ready to serve him; but Gao Yin, who stammered, did not know what to say in the suddenness of it. The grand empress dowager swore to the empress dowager Li that Gao Yan had no disloyal intent but only wished to remove a threat, and ordered the guards to stand down, whereupon E Yongle sheathed his sword and wept. Gao Yan then had Gao Guiyan take the guards in hand, brought the capital troops into the palace to hold the gates, and killed E Yongle in the Hualin garden. Gao Yin was forced to make Gao Yan chancellor, with the staff of his office raised a grade, and the army and the state were left to his decision.

On the renwu day of the eighth month of that year (8 September 560) the grand empress dowager deposed the emperor Gao Yin as prince of Jinan, giving him one commandery for his support and lodging him in a separate palace; the same day Gao Yan took the throne in the Xuande hall at Jinyang, proclaimed a general amnesty, changed the era name to Huangjian, restored the grand empress dowager to the title of empress dowager, and gave the empress dowager Li the title of empress Wenxuan with the Zhaoxin palace for her dwelling. On the throne he attended to government, sought out and employed able men, and kept the administration clean; he also campaigned north in person beyond the Great Wall, sending out divisions that took great numbers of cattle and horses. A filial son to his mother and affectionate to his brothers, he had promised the prince of Jinan no harm, but when diviners said the air of Ye was that of a son of Heaven, and fearing the prince might rise again, he sent him poisoned wine; the prince would not drink, and he had him strangled, and afterward repented it. Troubled by inner fever and haunted by apparitions until his mind grew disordered, he had the palace and its precincts swept with exorcisms. When the empress dowager came to his sickbed and three times asked where the prince of Jinan was, Gao Yan did not answer, and she said in anger that he had killed him, and that having ignored her words his death was deserved. In the tenth month he hunted outside the city, his horse shied and threw him, and he broke his ribs. On his deathbed he bowed his head on the pillow and begged for mercy, sent to summon the prince of Changguang, Gao Zhan, to succeed to the throne, and wrote with his own hand that his wife and children should be settled in some good place and that he should not follow the example of former men. He died at Jinyang in the ninth month of 561 at twenty-seven, and in the intercalary twelfth month his coffin was brought back to Ye, where he was given the posthumous title Emperor Xiaozhao and buried at Wenjing ling.

Major Activities

Political Reform

Gao Yan introduced a series of political reforms. He enforced law strictly, reorganized court discipline, and punished corruption and abuse of office. He emphasized the selection of capable officials and trusted men such as Yang Xiuzhi and Cui Jie, allowing them to enter the palace directly to report and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of past policies. He sent envoys across the realm to investigate local customs and hardships. These measures partially reversed the deterioration of government in the final years of Gao Yang's reign.

Economic Measures

His most important economic measure was the large-scale expansion of agricultural colonies. He established colony areas north and south of the Yellow River that reportedly produced several hundred thousand shi of grain each year, easing shortages in Hebei. He also created multiple granaries to address transport difficulties. These policies materially improved food supply and provided a basis for later economic stability in Northern Qi.

Military Action

Gao Yan personally led an expedition north against the Kumo Xi, passed beyond the Great Wall, and pursued the fleeing enemy in divided columns, returning with large numbers of cattle and horses. Apart from this campaign he generally favored resting the army and supporting the population and maintained relative peace with neighboring states.

Violence Within the Imperial Family

The most controversial act of Gao Yan's life was the killing of the deposed Gao Yin, son of Gao Yang and Gao Yan's nephew. Gao Yang had reportedly instructed him before death not to harm Gao Yin, and Gao Yan had agreed. Yet after taking the throne he continued to fear his nephew as a political threat and secretly killed him in 561. The act became the greatest moral stain on his reign and is presented in the source as a cause of lasting inner torment.

Personal Relations

• Father: Gao Huan, dominant official of Eastern Wei, posthumously honored by Northern Qi as Emperor Shenwu
• Mother: Lou Zhaojun, principal wife of Gao Huan and empress dowager of Northern Qi
• Elder brothers: Gao Cheng, Emperor Wenxiang; Gao Yang, Emperor Wenxuan
• Younger brothers: Gao Zhan, Emperor Wucheng; Gao Yu; Gao Shi; and others
• Empress: Lady Yuan, titled Empress Shuncheng
• Sons: Gao Bainian, Prince of Leling; Gao Liang, Prince of Xiangcheng; Gao Yanli, Prince of Runan; Gao Yande, Prince of Shiping; Gao Yanji, Prince of Chengyang; Gao Yankang, Prince of Dingyang; Gao Yanzhong, Prince of Ruyang; and others
• Yang Xiuzhi: Northern Qi official allowed to enter Gao Yan's bedchamber directly to report affairs
• Cui Jie: Northern Qi official trusted together with Yang Xiuzhi
• Gao Yin: Nephew and deposed emperor, removed and then killed by Gao Yan
• Gao Zhan: Younger brother and Prince of Changguang, to whom Gao Yan passed the throne; Gao Zhan later killed Gao Yan's son Gao Bainian

Historical Assessment

Northern Qi / Contemporary

• Li Baiyao, author of the Book of Northern Qi, wrote that Emperor Xiaozhao had long occupied high office, also commanded military affairs, was experienced in government, and was respected by court and country.
• The Book of Northern Qi also states that Gao Yan attended to statecraft and cared for the people's strength, and that although his reign was short, benevolent policies were genuinely implemented.
• Contemporary officials such as Yang Xiuzhi praised his diligence and willingness to accept remonstrance.

Tang Period

• Li Yanshou's History of the Northern Dynasties states that after Gao Yan took the throne he focused on government and cared for the common people, so that within several years the granaries became full, crediting his economic policies.
• Tang historians generally regarded him as one of Northern Qi's more capable rulers while criticizing his killing of Gao Yin.

Song and Yuan Periods

• Sima Guang's Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance records Gao Yan's activities and treats his diligence and concern for the population positively, while criticizing the killing of close relatives.
• Song and Yuan historical commentary often compared him favorably with contemporary southern rulers and regarded him as a capable Northern Qi emperor whose short reign prevented fuller achievements.

Modern Period

• Lü Simian, in History of the Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, regarded Gao Yan as the only relatively capable Northern Qi emperor and credited his agricultural-colony policy with materially easing the state's grain crisis.
• Modern scholars generally hold that Gao Yan's short reign nevertheless introduced political and economic measures that supported later stability, while his killing of Gao Yin helped establish a destructive cycle of violence within the Northern Qi imperial family that continued under Gao Zhan and Gao Wei and contributed to the dynasty's eventual fall.