Tuoba Hong

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Tuoba Hong was born into the Northern Wei imperial family and was the eldest son of Tuoba Jun, Emperor Wencheng. On the gengzi day of the seventh lunar month of Xingguang 1, August 14, 454, he was born north of the Yin Mountains while his father was traveling there. The Book of Wei, volume 5, records that the emperor traveled to the Yin Mountains in the sixth lunar month and that prince Hong was born in the seventh.

In the second lunar month of 456, Tuoba Hong was designated crown prince. Historical accounts describe him as intelligent and quick to understand, already possessing as a child the qualities of a ruler capable of aiding the people, profoundly filial, and respectful toward teachers and friends.

Accession as a Youth and the Dominance of Yihun

On May 11, 465, Emperor Wencheng died in Taihua Hall at age twenty-six. The following day, the twelve-year-old crown prince Tuoba Hong ascended the throne and honored his father’s principal wife Lady Feng as Empress Dowager.

General of Chariots and Cavalry Yifu Hun then seized the opportunity to monopolize power. Taking advantage of the young emperor, he forged edicts and killed Minister Yang Baonian, Jia Airen, Duke of Pingyang, Zhang Tiandu, Duke of Nanyang, and the guard official Mu Duohou. On May 16, Palace Attendant, Minister over the Masses, and Prince of Pingyuan Lu Li returned from Tangquan and was also killed by Yifu Hun. Yifu Hun then made himself Grand Commandant and Director of the Department of State Affairs and in the seventh lunar month was appointed Chancellor above the princes. The source summarizes his control by saying that all matters, great or small, were decided by him.

The young emperor was powerless before this violence and reportedly could only weep before Empress Dowager Feng. At first she too did not dare directly oppose Yifu Hun and confirmed him as Chancellor to stabilize the situation. His ambitions continued to grow, however, and he plotted a palace coup to make himself emperor.

Empress Dowager Feng’s Regency and the Emperor’s Personal Rule

On the second day of the second lunar month of 466, Empress Dowager Feng struck first. She ordered Yuan Pi, Yuan He, Niu Yide, and others to surround Yifu Hun’s residence and execute him. With the political situation still unstable, she then issued an edict taking court affairs into her own hands and managed military and civil government.

During her regency, Northern Wei fought Liu Song in the Xuzhou region. In 466, Northern Wei commanders together with Xue Andu and others defeated Liu Song general Zhang Yong. The source states that corpses lay for more than sixty li. Governors in Xuzhou and other areas surrendered to Northern Wei and joined Wei forces against Song. Northern Wei successively acquired Qing, Ji, Xu, and Yan provinces north of the Huai River as well as nine commanderies of Yu Province west of the river, greatly expanding its territory.

In the eighth lunar month of 467, Lady Li, a consort of Tuoba Hong, gave birth to his eldest son Yuan Hong, later Emperor Xiaowen. In the sixth lunar month of 469, Lady Li was ordered to die under Northern Wei’s “mother dies when the son becomes noble” practice.

Abdication and the Title of Retired Emperor

In the eighth lunar month of 471, the seventeen-year-old Emperor Xianwen, described in the Chinese source as detached from current affairs and frequently inclined to leave worldly life behind, grew weary of government and resentful of Empress Dowager Feng’s continuing dominance. He proposed abdicating in favor of his uncle Tuoba Zitui, King of Jingzhao. Ministers strongly opposed the plan, and he abandoned it.

On August 21, he instead issued an edict transferring the throne to crown prince Yuan Hong. Ministers argued that the new emperor was too young to handle government and requested that Tuoba Hong continue directing all major affairs. They gave him the title “Retired Emperor,” distinguished in the source from the title used for the father of Emperor Gaozu of Han, who did not actually rule. On August 23, Tuoba Hong moved to Chongguang Palace. Its facilities were simple, with earthen steps, but major affairs of state still had to be reported to him.

Military and Political Activity as Retired Emperor

Abdication did not remove Tuoba Hong from power. He continued to direct major state and military affairs. In 472, when Rouran attacked, he left the capital in military dress and personally led troops north of the Yin Mountains, where he defeated Rouran and pursued them to the southern edge of the desert, forcing them to withdraw thousands of li. In the eleventh lunar month of the same year he led another campaign and again advanced as far as south of the desert.

In the sixth lunar month of 474, Tuoba Hong ordered that all cases be handled according to law, that decisions be based on facts, and that punishments be applied cautiously. In 475, although already retired from the throne, he conducted a major military review in the northern suburbs, attracting wide attention at court.

Unusual Death

On July 20, 476, the xinwei day of the sixth lunar month of Chengming 1, the twenty-three-year-old Tuoba Hong died unexpectedly in Yong’an Hall. The Book of Wei records his posthumous title Emperor Xianwen and temple name Xianzu and states that he was buried at the Jinling mausoleum in Yunzhong. The Chinese source states that later historians generally believed Empress Dowager Feng poisoned him. Wei Shou’s Book of Wei remarked that Tuoba Hong had early cherished a desire to abandon worldly affairs and ultimately suffered a palace upheaval, phrasing that the source interprets as an allusion to a court coup.

Tuoba Hong was the eldest son of Emperor Wencheng, Tuoba Jun, by the Lady Li. He was born north of the Yinshan on 14 August 454 (the gengzi day of the seventh month of Xingguang 1) and was made heir apparent in the second month of 456. The Book of Wei calls him intelligent and quick, with a boyhood resolve to succor the people, perfectly filial and respectful to teachers and friends. Emperor Wencheng died at the Taihua Hall on 11 May 465 at twenty-six, and the next day Tuoba Hong took the throne, proclaimed a general amnesty and honored the empress, Lady Feng, as empress dowager.

At the outset the chariot general-in-chief Yi Hun forged an edict and killed the director of the Secretariat Yang Baonian and the Dukes of Pingyang, Jia Airen, and of Nanyang, Zhang Tiandu, inside the palace; he then killed the palace attendant and minister Lu Li of Pingyuan on his arrival at court, made himself grand commandant and director of the Secretariat, and in the seventh month chancellor above all princes, so that nothing great or small was decided without him; he took the title Prince of Taiyuan and plotted further usurpation. In the second month of 466 Empress Dowager Feng ordered ministers to surround Yi Hun's residence with troops and put him to death; with order unsettled she proclaimed herself regent and took charge of military and civil affairs.

In the eighth month of 471, caring nothing for the business of the world and minded to withdraw from it, Emperor Xianwen wished to abdicate in favor of his uncle, the Prince of Jingzhao, Tuoba Zitui, and desisted only before the firm opposition of his ministers. On the dingwei day he issued the edict yielding to the heir apparent Tuoba Hong; because the new emperor was young and the machinery of government still required him, the ministers offered him the title of retired emperor — the first person in Chinese history to bear it. On the jiyou day he moved to the Chongguang Palace, its beams unplaned and its steps of packed earth, and great affairs of state were still reported to him. He did not wholly withdraw: in the second month of 472 he rode out in armor and led his generals to drive off a Rouran attack at the northern suburb, and in the eleventh month he campaigned against the Rouran as far as the southern desert. He ordered artisans, merchants and entertainers to take up farming, forbade the wanton slaughter of livestock to protect agriculture, promoted incorruptible governors and punished the rapacious. In the sixth month of 474 he ordered that all cases be judged according to law, on the facts, with careful use of punishment. The Book of Wei records that in the second month of 468 he hunted at the western hills and shot tigers and leopards himself, that in the fifth month he hunted at Guoshan, and that in 475, as retired emperor, he reviewed troops at the northern suburb.

Tuoba Hong died at the Yong'an Hall on 20 July 476 (the xinwei day of the sixth month of Chengming 1) at only twenty-three, posthumously Emperor Xianwen with the temple name Xianzu, and was buried at Jinling in Yunzhong. The Book of Wei judges him wise and decisive from youth, able to clear the deserts and open the south, yet says that he early harbored a wish to renounce the world and so met with a palace calamity, leaving a pointed remark on his death. His consort, Lady Li of Anxi in Zhongshan, daughter of the Prince of Nanjun, Li Hui, entered the Eastern Palace at eighteen, became his lady upon his accession and bore Emperor Xiaowen; in the third year of Huangxing she was put to death under the rule that the mother of an heir must die, and in Chengming 1 she was posthumously honored with titles and her tablet placed in the ancestral temple as Empress Si.

During Xianwen's reign and his years as retired emperor the war with the Liu Song continued. In 466 the Song governor of Xuzhou, Xue Andu, surrendered his province to Wei and the Wei army moved south to receive him, routing the Song generals Zhang Yong and Shen Youzhi; the four provinces north of the Huai — Qing, Ji, Xu and Yan — and the nine commanderies of western Henan in Yuzhou passed to Wei in succession. In 475 the retired emperor reviewed troops at the northern suburb and died not long after. In his reign he carried on the migration and agricultural policies begun under Emperor Daowu, moving Xianbei and other peoples from beyond the frontier into the east of the passes to restore the long-devastated farming of the central plains; yet the early Northern Wei still retained strong remnants of slavery, officials had no regular salaries, and bribery and usury flourished, abuses only gradually cleared away in Emperor Xiaowen's reforms. The History of the Northern Dynasties praises Xianwen as wise and decisive from youth, able to clear the deserts and open the south, while dismissing his death with the phrase "a palace catastrophe"; later historians have speculated much but proved nothing.

As retired emperor he still presided over the great review at the northern suburb and the campaigns against the Rouran, and on his death the succession passed to Emperor Xiaowen.

Major Activities

Political Measures

After accession, Tuoba Hong continued migration policies associated with Tuoba Gui. Large numbers of houses were built at Pingcheng and elsewhere, and Xianbei and other non-Han populations from beyond the frontier were moved into regions east of the passes. The source describes this as a compulsory state migration intended to restore and develop Central Plains areas damaged by long warfare. Officials often enforced the policy harshly, however, generating resentment and organized banditry in some commanderies and counties.

When disorder grew, Tuoba Hong did not immediately choose large-scale military suppression. After consulting senior ministers, he accepted advice attributed in the source to Cui Hong, a man of Qinghe, to use a general amnesty and conciliation. The source quotes the argument that a sagely ruler governed in order to secure and unite the people, not to compete with them. After the amnesty, unrest reportedly subsided. Those who continued to resist were suppressed by General Yu Li with ten thousand troops.

Tuoba Hong also sought to reform official conduct by promoting honest administrators and harshly punishing corruption. He ordered merchants and performers to turn to agriculture, restricted indiscriminate slaughter of livestock, and protected agricultural production. Governors who were self-disciplined and devoted to public duty were promoted, while greedy and violent officials were punished. In 474 he again ordered judges to apply law according to facts and use punishments cautiously.

Military Activities

Although Tuoba Hong became emperor at a young age, the source credits him with substantial military ability. He enjoyed military exercises from childhood and personally led troops after accession. In the second lunar month of 468 he hunted at West Mountain and personally shot tigers and leopards; in the fifth lunar month he hunted at Guo Mountain.

In 472, during a Rouran invasion, Tuoba Hong personally commanded troops as Retired Emperor and drove the invaders back north of the Yin Mountains. In the eleventh lunar month he campaigned again, pursuing the enemy to south of the desert and forcing a withdrawal of several thousand li. In 475 he conducted a major military review in the northern suburbs.

In foreign relations around 470, Northern Wei contacted Gaoche and Yueban to counter Tuyuhun and Hephthalites. Later Hephthalites established friendly relations with Gaoche, intermarried with Rouran, sent tribute to Northern Wei, and maintained peaceful relations with Tuyuhun. The source states that Northern Wei gradually gained the advantage in competition with Rouran over the Western Regions and became the leading power there.

Society and Economy

The source states that productive capacity in Northern Wei gradually recovered and developed during Tuoba Hong’s period of rule. Northern China had been devastated by warfare from the Yongjia disorders of the Western Jin (310) through the Sixteen Kingdoms period. After Northern Wei unified the north, long-term labor by people of various groups and adjustments in productive relations produced noticeable development.

According to the Chinese source, reforms under Tuoba Hong significantly increased the number of independent farming households. The total number of households had already reached more than five million, more than twice the number in the Western Jin Taikang era. Agriculture and handicraft production developed markedly. The Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang later described the late Northern Wei population as prosperous, with good harvests and ordinary people broadly able to secure food and clothing. In handicrafts, the Qiankou smelting works in Xiang Province, in present-day Anyang, Henan, produced sharp steel knives and represented advances in steelmaking. Commerce also gradually revived: before the Taihe era northern commerce was nearly stagnant and money and goods circulated poorly, but by Tuoba Hong’s period many people under Yuan Shu, administrator of Hedong, were leaving farming for trade.

Personal Relations

• Tuoba Jun: father; Emperor Wencheng
• Lady Li: mother; Empress Yuan of Wencheng
• Empress Dowager Feng: principal mother; Empress Wenming of Wencheng
• Lady Li: empress posthumously styled Empress Si of Xianwen; mother of Emperor Xiaowen; ordered to die in Huangxing 3 under the “mother dies when the son becomes noble” system
• Yuan Hong: son; Emperor Xiaowen
• Yuan Xi: son; King of Xianyang
• Yuan Gan: son; King Ling of Zhao Commandery
• Yuan Yu: son; King Hui of Guangling
• Yuan Yong: son; King Wenmu of Gaoyang
• Yuan Xie: son; King Wuxuan of Pengcheng
• Yuan Xiang: son; King Ping of Beihai
• Princess Changshan, Princess Lelang, Princess Pengcheng, Princess Le'an, and Princess Gaoping: daughters
• Zhaoyi, of the Feng clan: consort and mother of Yuan Xi
• Guiren, of the Han clan: consort and mother of Yuan Gan and Yuan Yong
• Guiren, of the Pan clan: consort and mother of Yuan Xie
• Jiaofang, of the Meng clan: consort and mother of Yuan Yu
• Jiaofang, of the Gao clan: consort and mother of Yuan Xiang
• Consort Hou: consort, formerly of the Hougu clan clan and granddaughter of high-ranking tribal leader Houqi Wanqin
• Consort Zhang: consort and daughter of Zhang Baize, Cavalier in Regular Attendance and Minister of the Palace
• Consort Cheng: consort not recorded in the standard histories but attested in an epitaph
• Yifu Hun: powerful official who monopolized power early in Tuoba Hong’s reign and was killed by Empress Dowager Feng in 466
• Empress Dowager Feng: principal mother who ruled for an extended period, struggled with Tuoba Hong over power, and is said in the Chinese source to have poisoned him
• Tuoba Zitui: uncle and King of Jingzhao, to whom Tuoba Hong initially proposed abdicating before ministers objected
• Cui Hong: man of Qinghe whose advice for conciliation by general amnesty was accepted during unrest caused by migration policy
• Hou Qu: man of Yuancheng who advocated executing the principal offenders and pardoning the rest; his proposal was not adopted

Historical Assessment

Northern Wei / Contemporary Assessments

• The Book of Wei, volume 6, describes the emperor as intelligent, perceptive, and quick to understand, possessing from childhood the qualities of a ruler able to aid the people, and as profoundly filial and respectful toward teachers and friends.
• Wei Shou’s Book of Wei states that he matured early in intelligence and decision and was able to clear the northern deserts and expand in the south, but also notes his early desire to withdraw from worldly affairs and the palace upheaval that ended his life.
• When ministers bestowed the title Retired Emperor, they argued that while the Three Sovereigns were praised for non-action in an age of simplicity, the new young emperor was still a child and Tuoba Hong should continue to direct major affairs.

Sui and Tang Periods

• Li Yanshou’s History of the Northern Dynasties, volume 2, likewise describes Tuoba Hong as mature early, decisive, successful in the northern steppe and southern expansion, yet ultimately caught in a palace crisis after developing an early distaste for worldly affairs.
• Tang historians generally followed the evaluations of the Book of Wei and History of the Northern Dynasties, praising his precocious intelligence and decisiveness while treating his early withdrawal from politics as a factor in the palace upheaval.

Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Periods

• Sima Guang’s Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance records Tuoba Hong’s abdication and alleged poisoning and expresses regret over his detachment from current affairs and tendency to seek withdrawal from the world.
• Ming and Qing historians often focused on the Northern Wei “mother dies when the son becomes noble” system and on Empress Dowager Feng’s domination, interpreting Tuoba Hong’s abdication as a reluctant response to her pressure.

Modern Assessments

• Lü Simian, in History of the Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, argued that Northern Wei’s strength recovered during Tuoba Hong’s reign and regarded his military ability positively.
• Modern studies cited in the Chinese source place Tuoba Hong between Empress Dowager Feng’s reform period and Emperor Xiaowen’s later cultural transformation, arguing that his efforts to reform administration and develop production helped prepare the way for subsequent reforms.
• Modern scholars generally interpret his death as a result of Empress Dowager Feng’s consolidation of power and as an example of the brutality of Northern Wei court politics.