Yuan Baoju

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Yuan Baoju was born into the Northern Wei imperial house. His grandfather was Yuan Hong, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, and his father was Yuan Yu, Prince of Jingzhao. His mother, Consort Yang Ao, came from the Yang clan of Hongnong. Her courtesy name was Wanying, and she was a descendant of the Han grand commandant Yang Zhen. Her epitaph records the family's genealogy, indicating that she came from a family of considerable standing.

In 508, the first year of Yongping, Yuan Yu rebelled while serving as Inspector of Jizhou. He killed his Chief Clerk Yang Lingyin and Major Li Zun, erected an altar south of Xindu, announced his cause to Heaven, proclaimed himself emperor, adopted the era name Jianping, and made his concubine Lady Li empress. A little more than a month later, Yuan Yu was defeated and captured. He died by suicide while being escorted to Luoyang at the age of twenty-one. After Yuan Yu's death, Yuan Baoju and his siblings were implicated and imprisoned together in the Court of the Imperial Clan. The History of the Northern Dynasties, vol. 5, records that because of their father Yuan Yu's offense, the brothers were all confined there. Yuan Baoju was still a child and was imprisoned together with his elder brothers Yuan Baoyue and Yuan Baohui and his younger siblings.

In 515, the fourth year of Yanchang, Emperor Xuanwu died and Yuan Baoju and his brothers were finally pardoned and released. Afterward, Yuan Baoju was taken in by his uncle Yuan Yi. His childhood experience of imprisonment gave him direct experience of political struggle, and he thereafter generally acted with caution and restraint.

Career under Northern Wei

During the Zhengguang era, Yuan Baoju served as General of the Direct Guard. Emperor Xiaoming Yuan Xu was then on the throne, while Empress Dowager Hu exercised regency and favored corrupt courtiers. Yuan Baoju joined Emperor Xiaoming in a plot to eliminate one of the empress dowager's favorites, but the plan was exposed and he was dismissed. During the Wutai era in 528 he was created Marquis of Shao County. In 530, the third year of Yongan, he was promoted to Prince of Nanyang. When Emperor Xiaowu Yuan Xiu took the throne in 532, Yuan Baoju was appointed Defender-in-chief and Palace Attendant. In 533 he was promoted to Grand Protector, granted an independent office, and made Prefect of the Masters of Writing.

In the seventh month of 534, the third year of Yongxi, Emperor Xiaowu Yuan Xiu broke with the powerful minister Gao Huan. Gao Huan marched south from Jinyang. Unable to resist him, Yuan Xiu led his followers west into Guanzhong and sought the support of Yuwen Tai. Yuan Baoju accompanied Yuan Xiu and was appointed Grand Steward and Supervisor of the Affairs of the Secretariat. Northern Wei was thereby divided into Eastern Wei and Western Wei.

Installed as Emperor

After Yuan Xiu entered Guanzhong, he quickly fell out with Yuwen Tai. While in Luoyang, Yuan Xiu had maintained sexual relations with female cousins, including Princess Ande, Yuan Jili, and Yuan Baoju's sister Yuan Mingyue. Yuwen Tai strongly disapproved and hinted that princes of the Yuan clan should secretly execute Yuan Mingyue. Yuan Xiu became deeply hostile toward Yuwen Tai and often displayed his anger publicly by drawing his bow or overturning tables. Yuwen Tai consequently began considering a change of ruler.

On February 3, 535, the guisi day of the intercalary twelfth month of the third year of Yongxi, Yuwen Tai poisoned Yuan Xiu. In discussions over the choice of a new ruler, many officials favored Yuan Zan, Prince of Guangping, but Yuan Shun, Prince of Puyang, argued that an older man should be chosen to stabilize the situation. Yuwen Tai agreed and installed Yuan Baoju. On the first day of the first month of 535, the first year of Datong, Yuan Baoju took the imperial throne west of Chang'an, proclaimed a general amnesty, and adopted the era name Datong. He posthumously honored his father Yuan Yu as Emperor Wenjing and his mother Lady Yang as Empress Wenjing. Yuwen Tai was promoted to commander of all military forces inside and outside the capital, Supervisor of the Affairs of the Secretariat, and head of the great field administration, and was re-created Duke of Anding Commandery. Yuan Baoju made his wife Lady Yifu empress and his eldest son Yuan Qin crown prince.

Western Wei Period

During Yuan Baoju's seventeen-year reign, military and political power remained in Yuwen Tai's hands. As the nominal supreme ruler of Western Wei, Yuan Baoju provided legal and dynastic authority for Yuwen Tai's reforms. Measures implemented by Yuwen Tai in the Guanzhong region—including reforms to the fubing military system, household registration, and government institutions—were promulgated in Yuan Baoju's name and helped stabilize Western Wei rule.

During Yuan Baoju's reign, orders were issued twice to cast Datong wuzhu coins, standardizing currency circulation within Western Wei territory, as recorded in the "Treatise on Food and Money" of the Book of Sui. In foreign affairs, Western Wei fought repeatedly with Eastern Wei while also facing military pressure from the Rouran to the north. To stabilize the northern frontier, Yuan Baoju, following Yuwen Tai's advice, adopted a marriage-alliance strategy and married Lady Yujiulü, daughter of the Rouran khan Anagui, as empress.

Final Years and Death

On March 28, 551, the sixth day of the third month of the seventeenth year of Datong, Yuan Baoju died at Qian'an Hall in Chang'an at the age of forty-five. On the gengchen day of the fourth month (April 27, 551), he was buried at Yong Mausoleum, north of Dazhongbao in Hejia Village, Liugu Township, Fuping County, Shaanxi. He was posthumously titled Emperor Wen. Crown Prince Yuan Qin succeeded him as Emperor Fei of Western Wei.

Yuan Baoju was a grandson of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei and son of Yuan Yu, prince of Jingzhao, by a lady of the Yang. In 508 Yuan Yu rose in rebellion in Jizhou, killing those officials who would not join him — the chief secretary Yang Lingyin and the marshal Li Zun — and set up an altar south of Xindu to take the imperial title, changing the era to Jianping. A month or so later he was defeated and taken, and sighing that he had no face to meet his sovereign again, he died at twenty-one. For his father's crime Yuan Baoju and his brothers and sisters were confined in the court of the imperial clan, and were not cleared and released until Emperor Xuanwu's death in 515.

In the Zhengguang years Yuan Baoju was a general of the palace guards. The empress dowager Hu then held the court, favouring flatterers and disordering the palace, and Yuan Baoju plotted with Emperor Xiaoming to destroy these men; the plot leaked and he was dismissed. Made marquis of Shao county in the Wutai years, he was advanced to prince of Nanyang in 530. When Emperor Xiaowu mounted the throne in 532 he was made minister of war and cavalier attendant, and in 533 grand guardian, with the right to open a staff, and president of the department of state affairs. When Xiaowu broke with Gao Huan and, too weak to resist, abandoned the state and fled west into the passes to join Yuwen Tai, the Northern Wei split into Eastern and Western Wei. Yuan Baoju went with him into the passes and was made grand steward and supervisor of the department of state affairs.

At Luoyang Xiaowu had lived incestuously with his cousins the princesses Ande and Yuan Jili and with Yuan Mingyue, Yuan Baoju's own sister, all three ennobled out of order as princesses for that reason. Yuwen Tai, disgusted by these relations, had Yuan Baoju and the other princes of the Yuan seize Yuan Mingyue and put her to death in secret. Xiaowu was furious and broke openly with Yuwen Tai, often drawing his bow or overturning tables in public. In the twelfth month of 534 Yuwen Tai had him poisoned and set Yuan Baoju on the throne. It is recorded that Xiaowu, feasting in the Xiaoyao garden that night, drank and died of poison; and that after his death the chancellor Yuwen Tai with the nobles presented a memorial urging Yuan Baoju to take the throne, which he refused three times before consenting.

On the first day of the first month of 535 Yuan Baoju took the throne west of the city, proclaimed a general amnesty, changed the era name to Datong, and honoured his father posthumously as Emperor Wenjing and his mother as empress, becoming Emperor Wen of the Western Wei. The next day he advanced the chancellor Yuwen Tai to command of all the armies within and without, supervision of the department of state affairs and the greater field headquarters, enfeoffing him as duke of Anding commandery; made the president of the department Hu Si Chun grand guardian and the prince of Guangping, Yuan Zan, minister of works. On the yimao day he made his consort the lady Yifu empress and his eldest son Yuan Qin heir apparent, and on the jiazi day made the prince of Guangling, Yuan Xin, grand tutor and Wanqi Shoulegang minister of works.

Yuan Baoju's first wife, the lady Yifu, was a daughter of the governor of Xiyanzhou. Beautiful and of high birth, she had been the darling of her parents, who used to point her out to their kin and say that a daughter was nothing to regret when she was such a one, better indeed than a son. Merciful and frugal by nature, she wore old clothes and ate plain food and never adorned herself with pearls or silks. In 525, at sixteen, she married Yuan Baoju and bore him twelve children, most of whom died young; only Yuan Qin and Yuan Wu survived. At the founding of the Western Wei the state meant to march east, and the Rouran took the occasion to raid the frontier; to secure peace with them Yuan Baoju put away the lady Yifu, took as empress Yujiulü, daughter of the Rouran qaghan, and lodged Yifu in another palace, afterward having her shave her head and become a nun. The new empress, only fourteen, was jealous of her, and Yuan Baoju moved Yifu to Qinzhou to live with her son Yuan Wu, governor of Qinzhou and prince of Wudu.

Afterward, remembering her kindness, he secretly had her let her hair grow, meaning to bring her back. In the spring of 540 the Rouran crossed the river with the whole nation, and word went about the Western Wei camp that the invasion was on account of the deposed empress. Yuan Baoju said that a million men would not march for the sake of one woman, but that having given rise to such talk he had no face to meet his generals; and he sent the chief eunuch Cao Chong with a decree in his own hand ordering the lady Yifu to take her own life.

Major Activities

Establishment of Western Wei

Yuan Baoju was installed by Yuwen Tai and became the founding ruler of Western Wei. After Northern Wei split in 534, Yuan Baoju's accession at Chang'an marked the formal establishment of the Western Wei regime. Western Wei thereafter confronted Eastern Wei until Northern Zhou replaced Western Wei and Northern Qi replaced Eastern Wei; Northern Zhou ultimately destroyed Northern Qi and unified northern China.

Marriage Alliance with the Rouran

At the beginning of Western Wei, the regime faced military pressure from Gao Huan's Eastern Wei in the east and repeated Rouran incursions in the north. To avoid fighting on two fronts, Yuwen Tai persuaded Yuan Baoju to seek a marriage alliance with the Rouran. Under pressure, Yuan Baoju deposed Empress Yifu and married Lady Yujiulü, daughter of the Rouran khan Anagui. The alliance eased military pressure on Western Wei's northern frontier and allowed the regime to focus its forces against Eastern Wei.

Deposition and Forced Death of Lady Yifu

Yuan Baoju and Lady Yifu had a close relationship. She was known as benevolent and frugal and bore him twelve children. Political need for the Rouran marriage alliance nevertheless forced Yuan Baoju to depose her. In 540, the sixth year of Datong, the Rouran invaded southward in force, and rumors in the army claimed the campaign was connected to Lady Yifu. Yuan Baoju reportedly remarked that it was unreasonable to imagine an army of a million rising for one woman, but under political pressure he still sent the Palace Attendant Cao Chong with a handwritten order requiring Lady Yifu to commit suicide. She was thirty-one. She was later posthumously honored as Empress Wen and buried with Yuan Baoju at Yong Mausoleum. In the same year, Empress Yujiulü died in childbirth at the age of sixteen.

Coinage

During Yuan Baoju's reign, orders were issued twice to cast Datong wuzhu coins in order to standardize currency circulation in Western Wei territory. The measure helped stabilize economic activity and provided a financial basis for Yuwen Tai's reforms, as recorded in the Book of Sui.

Enfeoffment of the Imperial Clan

Yuan Baoju enfeoffed his sons as princes in order to preserve the political standing of the Yuan imperial clan. His eldest son Yuan Qin was crown prince, while other sons received titles including Prince of Jin, Prince of Wudu, the future Emperor Gong, Prince of Liang, Prince of Zhao, Prince of Yan, Prince of Wu, and Prince of Yidu. After Northern Zhou was established, many of these princes were reduced to ducal rank.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather: Yuan Hong (Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei)
• Grandmother: Noble Lady Yuan
• Father: Yuan Yu (Prince of Jingzhao; posthumously Emperor Wenjing)
• Mother: Consort Yang Ao (posthumously Empress Wenjing)
• Elder brothers: Yuan Baoyue (Prince of Lintao) and Yuan Baohui (Prince of Lintao; his son Yuan Zhao briefly became a child ruler of Northern Wei)
• Younger brother: Yuan Baozhang (also written Yuan Baoming)
• Younger sister: Yuan Mingyue (Princess of Pingyuan)
• Empresses: Lady Yifu (Empress Wen, mother of twelve children, many of whom died young); Lady Yujiulü (Empress Dao, a Rouran princess)
• Consort: Xi Huihua (mother of Yuan Ru and others)
• Eldest son: Yuan Qin (Emperor Fei of Western Wei)
• Second son: Yuan Jin (Prince of Jin)
• Third son: Yuan Wu (Prince of Wudu)
• Fourth son: Yuan Kuo (Emperor Gong of Western Wei, later restored the surname Tuoba)
• Fifth son: Yuan Ning (Prince of Zhao)
• Sixth son: Yuan Jian (Prince of Liang)
• Seventh son: Yuan Ru (Prince of Yan)
• Eighth son: Yuan Gong (Prince of Wu)
• Ninth son: Yuan Shi (Prince of Yidu)
• Yuwen Tai: powerful minister who exercised effective control over Western Wei military and political affairs.
• Yuan Xiu: Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei and a clansman of Yuan Baoju; poisoned by Yuwen Tai.
• Husi Chun: Prefect of the Masters of Writing and a senior official in early Western Wei.
• Yuan Xin: Prince of Guangling and Grand Tutor.

Historical Assessment

Northern Dynasties and Contemporary Period

Wei Shou's Book of Wei criticized Yuan Baoju as impetuous, morally weak, and given to wine and women. Because the work reflected an Eastern Wei/Northern Qi political standpoint, this assessment should be read in its political context.

Li Yanshou's History of the Northern Dynasties stated that although Emperor Wen possessed a strong temperament, he ultimately preserved himself through a yielding posture, emphasizing the contrast between personal strength and political restraint.

Sui and Tang Periods

Sui and Tang historians often assessed Yuan Baoju within the institutional continuity from Western Wei through Northern Zhou to Sui and Tang. Although they did not attribute major achievements to him personally, they regarded his reign as providing the political legitimacy under which Yuwen Tai carried out reforms and as an important stage in the formation of the Guanzhong-Longxi power bloc.

Ming and Qing Periods

The Qing scholar Li Ciming, in Reading Notes from the Yueman Hall, harshly criticized Yuan Baoju's treatment of Lady Yifu, condemning both the deposition undertaken to secure a marriage alliance with the Rouran and the later order forcing his former empress to die.

Modern Scholarship

Modern historians often assess Yuan Baoju within the changing political structure of the Northern Dynasties. In Chen Yinke's theory of the Guanzhong-Longxi group, the establishment of Western Wei was an important stage in the formation of that political bloc, while Yuan Baoju's function as ruler was primarily symbolic and legitimating. Zeng Lei of the University of International Business and Economics, drawing on the excavated epitaph of Hu Zhi, has argued that Yuan Baoju may have been killed by Yuwen Tai; this interpretation remains disputed.