Emperor Gong of Western Wei
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Emperor Gong of Western Wei | |||||||||||||||||
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Emperor of Western Wei | |||||||||||||||||
Reign | 554 – 14 February 557[1] | ||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Emperor Fei | ||||||||||||||||
Regent | Yuwen Tai (554–556) Yuwen Jue & Yuwen Hu (556–557) | ||||||||||||||||
Born | 537 | ||||||||||||||||
Died | 557 (aged 19–20) | ||||||||||||||||
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House | Tuoba (Yuan) | ||||||||||||||||
Dynasty | Western Wei |
Emperor Gong of Western Wei ((
Background[edit]
Yuan Kuo was born in 537, as the fourth son of Emperor Wen. His mother's name is not recorded in history. In 548, Emperor Wen created him the Prince of Qi. He subsequently served under Dugu Xin as one of Western Wei's twelve great generals. However, nothing else is known about his activities during his father's reign, during which the paramount general Yuwen Tai largely controlled power. Yuwen's hold on power appeared to be even firmer after Emperor Wen died in 551 and was succeeded by Yuan Kuo's older brother Yuan Qin (as Emperor Fei). During Yuan Kuo's stint as the Prince of Qi, he married the daughter of the general Ruogan Hui (
In 554, Emperor Fei, angry over Yuwen Tai's execution of the official Yuan Lie (
Reign[edit]
Emperor Gong appeared to be even more powerless than his father and brother, and the power remained in Yuwen's hands. He created his wife, Princess Ruogan, empress. Later in 554, Yuwen poisoned the deposed Emperor Fei to death. Later that year, an army dispatched by Yuwen and commanded by Yu Jin (于謹) captured rival Liang Dynasty's capital Jiangling (
Later in 555, Yuwen required Tuoba Yu (
In fall 556, while Yuwen Tai was on a tour of the northern provinces, he became ill at Qiantun Mountain (牽屯
In spring 557, Yuwen Hu, believing that Yuwen Jue's youth meant that he needed to take imperial title to affirm his authority, forced Emperor Gong to yield the throne to Yuwen Jue, ending Western Wei and starting Northern Zhou.
Death[edit]
Yuwen Jue (Emperor Xiaomin) initially created Tuoba Kuo the Duke of Song. However, less than two months after Tuoba Kuo yielded the throne, he was killed. His wife, the former Empress Ruogan, became a Buddhist nun.
Personal information[edit]
- Father
- Wife
- Empress Ruogan (created 554)
- Children
- Tuoba Chu (555 - killed 557), eldest son, presumably killed along with him
Ancestry[edit]
Ancestors of Emperor Gong of Western Wei | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References[edit]
- ^ According to Yuwen Jue's biography in Book of Zhou, Emperor Gong relinquished the throne on the gengzi day of the 12th month of the 3rd year of his reign. This corresponds to 14 Feb 557 in the Julian calendar. ([
魏 恭 帝 三 年 ]十 二 月 丁 亥 ,魏 帝 诏以岐阳之 地 封 帝 为周公 。庚 子 ,禅 位 于帝。) Zhou Shu, vol.03 - ^ Volume 167 of Zizhi Tongjian indicated that Emperor Gong was killed between the jiawu day of the 2nd month and the gengzi day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of the Yongding era of Chen Baxian's reign; the dates corresponds to 9 and 15 Apr 557 in the Julian calendar.
- ^ Later his surname was changed to Tuoba
- ^ Originally surnamed Tuoba but had it changed to Yuan