Yuan Shanjian

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Yuan Shanjian was born into the Northern Wei imperial house and was a great-grandson of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, Yuan Hong. His grandfather Yuan Yi, Prince Wenxian of Qinghe, was noted among Emperor Xiaowen's sons for his literary refinement. His father Yuan Dan inherited the title Prince of Qinghe, while his mother Hu Zhi came from the Hu clan of Anding. Yuan Shanjian grew up within the palace precincts of Luoyang and received a good imperial education. Historical records describe him as fond of literature and handsome in appearance, and state that he could carry a stone lion over a wall and never missed with a bow, combining literary talent with martial skill.

In the final years of Northern Wei, political corruption and the Six Garrisons Rebellion fostered the rise of military strongmen. During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu Yuan Xiu, Gao Huan controlled the court, and tensions between emperor and minister steadily intensified. In July 534, the third year of the Yongxi era, Yuan Xiu broke completely with Gao Huan and personally led 100,000 troops to camp at Heqiao. His subordinates, however, defected one after another, forcing him to flee to Chang'an and seek refuge with Yuwen Tai in Guanzhong. Northern Wei thereafter split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei.

Enthronement

After Yuan Xiu fled, Gao Huan entered Luoyang. At first he promoted Yuan Dan, Prince of Qinghe, to Grand Marshal and allowed him to exercise authority on behalf of the throne. Yuan Dan, however, began using imperial ceremonial escorts before he had even ascended the throne, which greatly displeased Gao Huan. Gao Huan therefore decided instead to enthrone Yuan Dan's son Yuan Shanjian. When Yuan Dan learned of this, he panicked and fled south on a light horse, but Gao Huan had him brought back.

On November 8, 534, the seventeenth day of the tenth lunar month in the third year of the Yongxi era, the eleven-year-old Yuan Shanjian ascended the throne northeast of Ye, adopted Tianping as the era name, and formally established Eastern Wei. Gao Huan served as Grand Councilor and dominated the government. The capital was moved to Ye, and the palace establishment and population of Luoyang were transferred there.

The Period of Gao Huan's Regency

Because Gao Huan had broken with Emperor Xiaowu and driven a ruler from the throne, he treated Yuan Shanjian with elaborate outward respect. Historical records state that Gao Huan showed Emperor Xiaojing great ceremonial deference: at banquets he bowed low when offering birthday congratulations, and when the emperor rode in procession to burn incense at Buddhist assemblies, Gao Huan followed on foot carrying the incense burner, maintaining a submissive posture and watching the emperor's expression. In government, matters great and small were formally reported to the emperor, and his stated approval or disapproval was observed.

Yuan Shanjian accepted Gao Huan's outward deference and made no attempt to seize power during Gao Huan's lifetime. In 537, the fourth year of the Tianping era, Gao Huan married his second daughter to Yuan Shanjian as empress, creating a marriage alliance. For more than a decade thereafter, Yuan Shanjian lived in relative comfort and dignity under Gao Huan's protection.

Gao Cheng's Domination

In 547, the fifth year of the Wuding era, Gao Huan died. His son Gao Cheng succeeded as Grand Councilor and Grand General and continued to control the court. Gao Cheng was arrogant and treated Yuan Shanjian with far less respect than his father had. On one hunting trip, when Yuan Shanjian urged his horse forward, the guard commander Wunalu Shougongfa shouted from behind, warning the emperor not to ride so fast because the Grand General would be angry. The incident illustrated how little dignity Yuan Shanjian possessed before Gao Cheng.

Gao Cheng once asked his confidant Cui Jishu about Yuan Shanjian in contemptuous terms, calling him a fool. On another occasion, Gao Cheng offered the emperor wine. Yuan Shanjian angrily remarked that no state had ever escaped destruction and asked why he should continue living under such conditions. Gao Cheng flew into a rage, mocked the emperor's repeated use of the imperial pronoun, and ordered Cui Jishu to strike him three times. Afterward Yuan Shanjian, rather than retaliating, presented Cui Jishu with silk. He even bound one hundred bolts into a single bundle and remarked that it too was only “one piece,” revealing the depth of his humiliation.

Plot and Confinement

Unable to endure further humiliation, Yuan Shanjian once recited lines from a poem by Xie Lingyun about Zhang Liang avenging fallen Han and Lu Zhonglian refusing submission to Qin. The court lecturer Xun Ji understood his intent and joined Prince Yuan Daqi of Huashan and Yuan Jin in plotting to kill Gao Cheng. They planned to dig a tunnel from the palace to Dongbaitang in the northern city of Ye, where Gao Cheng resided. When the tunnel reached the area near Qianqiu Gate, guards heard noises underground and immediately informed Gao Cheng.

Gao Cheng entered the palace with troops and harshly accused Yuan Shanjian of rebellion, threatening to kill his consorts. Yuan Shanjian answered firmly that Gao Cheng himself wished to rebel and asked what the matter had to do with the women, adding that if he did not value his own life, still less would he cling to theirs. Gao Cheng had no reply. He climbed down, kowtowed in apology, and the two drank until late at night. Three days later, however, Gao Cheng confined Yuan Shanjian in Hanzhang Hall, while Xun Ji, Yuan Jin, Yuan Daqi, and the other participants were boiled to death in the marketplace.

Abdication and Death

In September 549, the seventh year of the Wuding era, Gao Cheng was assassinated in Ye by the kitchen servant Lan Jing. Yuan Shanjian rejoiced at the news and told those around him that the Grand General's death appeared to be Heaven's will and that imperial authority might now return to the ruling house. Gao Cheng's younger brother Gao Yang, however, quickly stabilized the situation. He entered the palace with eight thousand armored soldiers, claimed that family affairs required him to return to Jinyang, and departed. Watching him leave, Yuan Shanjian turned pale and remarked that this man too seemed unable to tolerate him and that he did not know on what day he would die.

In May 550, the eighth year of the Wuding era, Gao Yang forced Yuan Shanjian to abdicate and founded Northern Qi. Yuan Shanjian was reduced to Prince of Zhongshan with a fief of ten thousand households, while his three sons were made county dukes. After taking the throne, Gao Yang often brought Yuan Shanjian along on journeys to show that he supposedly harbored no suspicions of him.

On January 21, 552, the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of the Tianbao era, Gao Yang held a banquet for Yuan Shanjian's wife, Empress Gao. After she became drunk, he sent men to poison Yuan Shanjian, who died at the age of twenty-nine. Yuan Shanjian's three sons were subsequently executed as well. In the second lunar month of the third year of Tianbao, Northern Qi posthumously honored him as Emperor Xiaojing and buried him west of the Zhang River in Ye County.

After driving out Emperor Xiaowu, Yuan Xiu, Gao Huan looked for another sovereign. He first made Yuan Dan minister of works and acting administrator of the government to test him, but Yuan Dan, before ever mounting the throne, put on the airs of an emperor and had the roads cleared whenever he went out. Gao Huan, despising such presumption, told him that he would rather set up his son than himself, and turned to Yuan Dan's son, Yuan Shanjian. Yuan Dan, frightened, rode south by night and was brought back by Gao Huan. On the seventeenth day of the tenth month of 534 Yuan Shanjian took the throne northeast of Ye at the age of eleven, proclaimed an amnesty and changed the era name to Tianping, becoming Emperor Xiaojing of the Eastern Wei.

Gao Huan, ashamed before the world of having expelled his sovereign, treated Yuan Shanjian with the greatest ceremony: at every banquet he bowed low to wish him long life, and when the emperor held a Buddhist assembly and rode in his carriage scattering incense, Gao Huan walked behind with the censer in his hand, bent and holding his breath, watching his countenance. His subordinates accordingly dared not treat the emperor with less respect. In all affairs great and small Gao Huan reported to the throne first and left the decision to the emperor's will, and so Yuan Shanjian enjoyed more than ten easy years under Gao Huan's protection, neither trying to recover power nor gathering loyal ministers about him.

On Gao Huan's death in 547 his son Gao Cheng took the power. Gao Cheng showed the emperor no reverence at all, holding that the state had been won by the Gao family and that its sovereign should bear that name. Once, hunting east of Ye, the emperor galloped so fast that he left Gao Cheng behind, and the guard commander Wuna Luo Shougongfa called after him that the Son of Heaven should not ride so hard, for the grand general was angry. To win over Cui Jishu, a favourite of Gao Cheng, the emperor used to tell him that he was his wet nurse; Gao Cheng made no secret of his contempt, writing to Cui Jishu to ask how the idiot was doing and whether his idiocy had abated. Once, drinking with the emperor, Gao Cheng raised his cup to urge him to drink, and the emperor, suddenly angry, said that no state had ever failed to perish and that he had no need to live by such means; Gao Cheng in a rage cried out "We! We! Dog-legged We!" — mocking his stammering claim to the imperial 'We' — and had Cui Jishu strike the emperor three blows before he swept out. The next day Gao Cheng sent Cui Jishu to inquire after him, and the emperor thanked him and gave him a hundred bolts of silk; Cui Jishu dared not take all of them, and Gao Cheng told him to take a piece, whereupon the emperor tied the hundred bolts into one great bundle and said that this too was a piece.

Unable to bear his shame, Yuan Shanjian chanted the poem of Xie Lingyun on Zhang Liang's rising at the fall of Han and Lu Zhonglian's shame at the emperor of Qin. The attendant and lecturer Xun Ji read his meaning and plotted with the prince of Huashan, Yuan Daqi, and Yuan Jin to pile up a hill within the palace and dig a tunnel northward, by which he meant to come out and attack Gao Cheng, who lodged in the eastern cypress hall of the north city of Ye. The tunnel had reached the Qianqiu gate when the guards heard the noise under ground and told Gao Cheng. Gao Cheng entered the palace with troops and demanded why the emperor had rebelled, saying that his father and he had preserved the state and had never wronged him, and would have killed the women about him. The emperor answered calmly that it was Gao Cheng who meant to rebel and that it was nothing to do with him, and that as he did not care for his own life he cared little for the lives of a few consorts. Gao Cheng bowed his head on the ground, wept bitterly and begged pardon, and the two drank deep until he left late in the night. Three days later he had the emperor confined in the Hanzhang hall, and Yuan Daqi and Yuan Jin were boiled alive in the market.

In the ninth month of 549 Gao Cheng was murdered by Lan Jing. The emperor said privately to those about him that with the grand general dead it seemed the will of Heaven, and that power should return to the imperial house. Soon after, Gao Cheng's brother Gao Yang came to audience in the Zhaoyang hall with eight thousand armoured men, more than two hundred of them mounting the steps with bared arms and hands on their blades as before an enemy, and had the herald announce that he had family business and must go to Jinyang, then bowed twice and left. The emperor, changing colour, watched him go and said that this man too seemed one who could not suffer him, and that he did not know on what day he would die. In the fifth month of 550 Yuan Shanjian abdicated in favour of Gao Yang, and the Eastern Wei came to an end; he was enfeoffed as a prince and withdrew from the throne.

Major Activities

Founding of Eastern Wei

In 534, the third year of the Yongxi era, Northern Wei split. Under Gao Huan's direction, Yuan Shanjian ascended the throne as the sole emperor of Eastern Wei. Eastern Wei controlled the eastern territories of the former Northern Wei, with its capital at Ye, and confronted Western Wei, which was controlled by Yuwen Tai and based at Chang'an. Although Yuan Shanjian was a puppet, his position as nominal sovereign provided symbolic legitimacy for the Eastern Wei regime.

Literature and Skills

Historical records describe Yuan Shanjian as fond of literature and handsome in appearance, able to carry a stone lion over a wall, and unfailingly accurate in archery. At festive banquets he often ordered ministers to compose and exchange poems and was said to possess a calm, refined bearing reminiscent of his great-grandfather Emperor Xiaowen.

Economic Policies

During Yuan Shanjian's reign, the Eastern Wei government established salt-boiling furnaces in coastal areas. Cangzhou had 1,484 furnaces, Yingzhou 452, Youzhou 180, Qingzhou 546, and Handan four. Annual production reached 209,702 hu and four sheng of salt, providing important state revenue. At the beginning of the Tianping era, because migrants in various regions had not yet established households and livelihoods, the court ordered the distribution of 1.3 million shi of grain for relief.

Plot to Assassinate Gao Cheng

In 549, the seventh year of the Wuding era, Yuan Shanjian, unable to endure Gao Cheng's humiliating treatment, conspired with Xun Ji, Yuan Jin, Yuan Daqi, and others to dig a tunnel and assassinate Gao Cheng. The plan was discovered; Yuan Shanjian was confined and his co-conspirators were boiled to death. It was the only occasion on which Yuan Shanjian actively attempted to strike back against the powerful ministers who controlled him, and it ended in failure.

Abdication to Northern Qi

In 550, the eighth year of the Wuding era, Gao Yang forced Yuan Shanjian to abdicate, bringing Eastern Wei to an end. After Northern Qi was established, Yuan Shanjian was made Prince of Zhongshan and retained symbolic privileges such as submitting memorials without calling himself a subject, receiving replies not styled as imperial edicts, carrying imperial banners, and continuing to use the Wei calendar. These courtesies did not save him from eventual poisoning.

Personal Relations

• Great-grandfather: Yuan Hong, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
• Grandfather: Yuan Yi, Prince Wenxian of Qinghe
• Father: Yuan Dan, Prince Wenxuan of Qinghe
• Mother: Hu Zhi, Princess Consort of Qinghe
• Empress: Empress Gao, Gao Huan's second daughter
• Consorts: Lady Hu; Consort Li (later a consort of Gao Zhan, Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi); Tuyuhun woman (Ronghua consort)
• Sons: Yuan Changren and two other sons, all executed by Gao Yang
• Brothers: Yuan Jingzhi, Yuan Wei, Yuan Qian
• Sisters: Princess of Henan (married Cui Zu'ang); Princess of Fengyi (married Gao Cheng)
• Gao Huan: Powerful minister who enthroned Yuan Shanjian; outwardly respectful but actually controlled the government
• Gao Cheng: Gao Huan's son; treated Yuan Shanjian with extreme disrespect and once ordered Cui Jishu to strike him
• Gao Yang: Gao Cheng's younger brother; forced Yuan Shanjian to abdicate and later poisoned him
• Xun Ji: Court lecturer who joined Yuan Shanjian's plot against Gao Cheng and was boiled to death after it failed
• Yuan Jin and Yuan Daqi: Imperial clansmen who joined the plot and were boiled to death after it failed
• Cui Jishu: Gao Cheng's confidant who struck Yuan Shanjian and later accepted his gifts

Historical Assessment

Northern Dynasties / Contemporary

• Wei Shou, author of the Book of Wei, compared Yuan Shanjian's abdication to the legendary abdications of Yao and Shun, an account generally regarded as euphemistic court historiography.
• Northern Qi historians acknowledged Yuan Shanjian's literary talent and handsome appearance.
• Gao Cheng contemptuously called Yuan Shanjian a “fool,” reflecting the real attitude of the powerful Gao clan toward him.

Tang Dynasty

• Li Yanshou wrote in the History of the Northern Dynasties that Yuan Shanjian was fond of literature, handsome in appearance, physically strong, highly skilled in archery, and calm and refined, with the bearing of Emperor Xiaowen.
• The Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance records in detail Yuan Shanjian's humiliation by Gao Cheng and his poisoning by Gao Yang, presenting the tragic fate of a puppet ruler.

Song and Yuan Periods

• Sima Guang's Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance records Yuan Shanjian's life without embellishment, showing sympathy for his humiliation and death while implicitly criticizing the impracticality of his plot.
• Hu Sansheng, in his commentary on the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, observed that Yuan Shanjian lived under the accumulated power of the Gao father and son; although he tried to recover imperial authority, he lacked the means to do so, illustrating the broader pattern of usurpation by powerful ministers in the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Modern Period

• Lü Simian, in History of the Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, argued that although Yuan Shanjian was a puppet, Eastern Wei experienced some economic development during his reign and its salt production laid foundations for Northern Qi.
• Modern scholars commonly regard Yuan Shanjian as a representative example of a puppet emperor in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, whose tragic fate reflected the decline of imperial authority and the dominance of military strongmen after the division of Northern Wei.
• Wang Zhongluo, in History of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, described Yuan Shanjian as talented in both literary and martial arts but born at the end of an age and constrained by powerful ministers, making his fate pitiable.