Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaoming of (Northern) Wei ((北)魏孝明帝) (510 – March 31, 528), personal name
Yuan Xu (元詡), was an
emperor of the
Xianbei-led Chinese
Northern Wei dynasty. He ascended the throne in 515 at the age of five, and governmental matters were dominated by his mother
Empress Dowager Hu (with an intervening regency by the official
Yuan Cha from 520 to 525). In 528, Emperor Xiaoming tried to curb his mother's powers and kill her lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) by conspiring with the general
Erzhu Rong. As a result, the 18-year-old emperor was poisoned by his mother, who was soon overthrown by Erzhu. From that point on, Northern Wei royal lineage had no actual power. The next ruler,
Emperor Xiaozhuang (507–531) was established by Erzhu. After Erzhu was assassinated by Emperor Xiaozhuang in November 530, rival generals
Yuwen Tai and
Gao Huan enthroned two royal offsprings, causing the country to split into two rival polities,
Western Wei and
Eastern Wei, both of which did not last long on the political map of the
Northern and Southern dynasties.
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