Tuoba Kuo (537–557), The Western Wei Emperor Tuoba Kuo (537–557), han Chinese name Yuan Kuo, was a native of Luoyang, Henan, and a member of the Xianbei ethnic group. The last emperor of Western Wei (reigned 554–556), the fourth son of Emperor Wen of Western Wei, Yuan Baoju.
At the beginning, he was crowned prince and crowned king of Qi. In the twentieth year of the reign (554), under the support of Taishi Yuwen Tai, he officially ascended the throne, called the first year, and restored tuoba's original surname. In the second year (555), the assistant professor of Taixue was added. In the third year (557) of The Western Wei Emperor Gong, he was deposed by the powerful minister Yuwen Hu and demoted to the title of Duke of Song, where he was brutally killed.
So today Xiaobian will talk about the tragic life of Emperor Gong of Western Wei, let's take a look at it!
A brief biography of Emperor Gong of Western Wei
Tuoba Kuo (拓跋廓), courtesy name Yuankuo , was the fourth son of Emperor Wenzhao of Wei , Yuan Baoju , and the half-brother of Emperor Yuanqin of Wei , who was born in the third year of the reign of Emperor Yuanqin of Wei ( 537 ) . In the fourteenth year of the reign (550), he was crowned King of Qi.
In the first month of the third year (554) of the Western Wei Dynasty, Yuwen Tai, the Duke of Anding, deposed the Wei deposed Emperor Yuanqin and proclaimed Yuankuo the Prince of Qi as emperor. Yuan Kuo succeeded to the throne, but still did not have a year name, called the first year. After Yuan Kuo succeeded to the throne, the power completely fell into the hands of Yuwen Tai, and he declared himself Taishi and Otsuka Zai.
Subsequently, he coerced Yuan Kuo to restore his original surname Tuoba. Yuwentai actively improves his prestige and strengthens his strength. In the winter of the same year, Yu Jin, Yuwen Hu, Yang Zhong, and others were sent to lead 50,000 troops to attack Jiangling, capture and kill the Liang Yuan Emperor Xiao Xuan, and abduct tens of thousands of people below the Liang Dynasty princes and civilians as slaves, and reward the three armies.
In the third year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei (556), he fell ill and died on a northern tour. Before Yuwen Tai died, because his son was young, he asked his nephew Yuwen Hu to help his eldest son, Yuwen Jue, preside over the affairs of the military state. After Yuwen Tai's death, Tuoba Kuo made Yuwen Jue the Duke of Taishi, Ōtsuka Zai, and The Duke of Anding Commandery, and soon after, Yuwen Jue was made the Duke of Zhou. On the day of Gengzi in December of the same year, Yuwen Hu felt that the time had come to usurp Wei, so he threatened Tuoba Kuo to give Yuwen Jue the throne.
In the first month of the third year (557), Yuwen Jue proclaimed Wei the king and established Northern Zhou as Emperor Xiaomin, and Western Wei fell, deposing Emperor Gong as the Duke of Song. Soon emperor Gong was killed.
Related topics: Western Wei Gong Emperor Yuan Kuo and Western Wei Wen Emperor Yuan Baoju, both of whom are "puppet emperors", why are the endings very different?
It is well known that Emperor Gong of Western Wei, like his father (Emperor Yuanbaoju of Western Wei), was a "puppet" emperor in the history of the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Although it is said that Emperor Gong of Western Wei and Emperor Yuan Baoju of Western Wei are both puppet emperors, the endings of their father and son are completely different, so what is the reason for this?
In fact, it is very simple, because the Western Wei Wen Emperor Yuan Baoju was very aware of the trend of the Yuwen family to replace the Wei family, and during his reign, the power of the imperial court further fell into the hands of the Yuwen family. Yuanbaoju adopted an attitude of unconditional cooperation in order to seek self-preservation.
There are many political puppets in history. The puppet's countermeasures are nothing more than three: fierce resistance, such as Cao Xi's; passive strikes, ignoring the manipulators, not cooperating, and also resistance. These two attitudes often lead to conflicts between the front and backstage, often resulting in a lose-lose situation. Of course, the more injured is the puppet side.
Yuan Baoju takes the third path, actively and comprehensively cooperates with the political operation of the manipulator, and faithfully acts as a good puppet. The purpose of this is actually very realistic: to save lives. Real power manipulators also prefer such puppets, often not threatening their lives. Such an outcome is in some ways a win-win.
Yuanbao Torch Climbed Toyomi palace looked at Saga Mountain from afar, and said to the left and right with emotion: "Looking at this mountain, people can't help but have the meaning of escaping and retreating." If I turned 50, I would hand over power to the crown prince and pick bait and medicine in the mountains myself, no longer as i do now. It was precisely because of Yuan Baoju's clever approach that he lived to the age of fifty and finally died of illness.
In fact, compared to the clever approach of Emperor YuanBaoju of Western Wei, Emperor Gong of Western Wei's approach was much more stupid. Although Yuan Kuo did not resist as fiercely as Cao Xian, he ignored Yuwen Hu, the northern Zhou power minister, and sometimes went on strike passively, and also gave orders to Yuwen Hu. Originally, Yuwen Hu's desire for power was extremely strong, and this silent resistance of Yuan Kuo intensified the contradiction between Yu Wen Hu and Yu Wen Hu, and finally Yu Wen Hu could not bear it and killed the young Yuan Kuo.
Who was Emperor Yuankuo of Western Wei?
Yuan Baoju (元宝 torch) (507 – March 28, 551), of the Xianbei clan, grandson of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, son of YuanYu the Prince of Jingzhao, was the founding emperor of Western Wei during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Yuan Baoju was born in the fourth year of the first year of zheng (507), his father Yuan Yu committed suicide after the defeat of the rebel army, and several of Yuan Baoju's brothers were also imprisoned in Zongzheng Temple until the death of Emperor Xuanwu Yuan Ke before regaining his freedom and re-incorporating into the clan family, initially serving as a general of Zhige, successively being named marquis of ShaoXian and the king of Nanyang, and soon promoted to the position of taiwei and jiashizhong. In the second year of Yongxi (533), he ascended the throne of Taibao, Kaifu, and Shangshuling.
The following year, Emperor Xiaowu Yuanxiu broke with Quan Xianggao huan, and Yuan Baoju, after being appointed as the governor of the four sides of the Chinese army, defected to Yuwen Tai with Emperor Xiaowu, and in the same year entered the worship of Dazai, and in December of that year, Emperor Xiaowu Yuanxiu was killed. Qunchen originally planned to establish Emperor Xiaowu's brother Yuanzan the Prince of Guangping, but Yuanshun suggested to Yuwen Tai that Yuan Baoju be made emperor, and Yuwen Tai went to the table to persuade him to advance, and Yuan Baoju took the throne on the first day of the first month of the first year of the reign of Emperor Yuanbao (535), changing the capital of Chang'an to Chang'an, and Yuan Baoju reigned for seventeen years, died at the age of forty-five, and was buried in Yongling, with the title of Emperor Wen.
Who was Emperor Gong of Western Wei's concubine?
Empress Yifu, born in 510 AD, a native of Luoyang, Henan, her ancestor was the chief of Tuguhun, who lived in Qinghai, known as the King of Qinghai, after the surrender of Liangzhou, her great-grandfather led the tribe to submit to the imperial court, was appointed as the Assassin of Dingzhou, and was knighted as the Duke of Xiping. That is to say, from this generation onwards, three consecutive generations of his family's descendants have married princesses of the State of Wei, and naturally most of the women of the Wei family have become princesses, so the power of the Wei family is still possible in the middle of the dynasty.
Yi Fu's father was named Yi, Guan Yi Tong Sansi, Yanzhou Assassin History, and his mother was Princess Huaiyang Chang, the fourth daughter of Emperor Xiaowen, so Yi Fu clan had a good origin, she herself was also very beautiful, but rarely spoke and laughed. Her parents thought that the daughter was peculiar, and thought that such a daughter was no less than a man.
Sure enough, the fifteen-year-old YiFushi was chosen by Emperor Wen of Wei as a concubine, at this time Yuan Baoju had not yet been proclaimed emperor, the two were a loving couple, in 535 AD, the first year of the unification, Yuan Baoju took the throne, made Yuan Baoju empress, and made their son Yuan Qin the crown prince. In this way, it seems that Yuan Baoju still likes this empress quite much, has the friendship of green plum bamboo horses, and has the experience of sharing happiness and hardship.
Yi Fushi is low-key and humble, dignified and generous, simple and frugal, from the past as a princess, and later became an empress, but she eats and wears extremely simple, does not like extravagance and waste, eats general vegetables and grains, wears ordinary old clothes, she does not like to wear gold and silver, nor does she like Ayara silk, as an empress, she is kind and magnanimous.
She was not jealous of Emperor Xinna's concubines and got along with them in harmony, so the harem did not make a miasma, but was governed by her in an orderly manner, such an empress was competent, virtuous and dignified, so that the emperor no longer needed to worry about the harem, the two had a deep affection, and Yuan Baoju respected her very much. The two were married for fifteen years, and a total of twelve women were born, most of whom died prematurely, and only survived two sons, the prince and the king of Wudu.
At that time, the northern nomadic Leader OfeHan repeatedly invaded the northern border of Western Wei, and Considering that Western Wei had just established a new capital in the Zhongguan region and had friction with Eastern Wei, and now it was not suitable to fight with Rouran, he thought of using marriage to appease the First Soldier Khan, first asking Yuan Baoju to make the daughter of Yuan Yi of the Shuren Yuanyi a princess of Huazheng, and let her marry Tahan, the younger brother of the First Soldier Khan, and then asked the emperor to depose Empress Yifu and marry Princess Ruoran Yujiulu as empress.
In order to save Yi Fushi from persecution, Yuan Baoju asked her to leave the palace and become a nun, but Yu Jiulu was extremely jealous and arrogant, and was very dissatisfied when he knew that Yi Fushi was still living in the capital. Yuan Baoju then appointed Yi Fushi's son Wudu Wang Yuanwu as the Assassin of Taizhou, and asked her to follow her son to the place where she was appointed, still as a nun, but she could bring her hair to practice, which meant that Yuan Baoju was still reading Yi Fushi, which was a short-lived plan for the country's grand plan, and he would bring Yi Fushi back in the future.
Even so, Rouran still wanted to send troops to invade Wei Territory, and the vanguard troops had already passed through Xia prefecture, when there were rumors that the Khan had raised the army for his daughter, and in order to block the mouths of the Yoyo crowd, Yuan Baoju could only send the Zhongchang attendant Cao Pet to send his handwritten edict to Yi Fushi and let her commit suicide.
When Yi Fushi learned the news that she was going to be given death, she did not panic, but calmly treated it, and said a word before dying: If I die, I can exchange my life for the emperor to live for ten million years, and the world can be safe, it is worth it, I will not have any resentment. Before she died, she left a message for her two sons, and the listeners were so sad that they did not dare to look at her and wept bitterly. When everything was taken care of, she went inside and pressed herself to death with a quilt, only thirty-one years old at the time of her death.
Yuan Baoju was grateful for everything the empress had given, and after he built the mausoleum, he personally wrote that after ten thousand years, the Yifu clan would be sacrificed, and the ministers also commemorated the empress, proposing to posthumously honor the Yifu clan as "Empress Wen", attached to the Taimiao Temple, and finally after their sons succeeded to the throne, they buried the Yifu clan and the Yuanbao torch together in Yongling West.
Who were the brothers and sisters of Emperor Gong of Western Wei?
1. Emperor Yuanqin of Wei, the eldest son of Emperor Wen of Western Wei, was the second emperor of Western Wei during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, reigning from 551 to 554.
Biography: Yuan Qin was the second emperor of Western Wei, and after Yuan Baoju's death, Yuan Qin, as the eldest son, ascended the throne as the new emperor. Yuan Qin's mother was Yuan Baoju's favored empress Yifu, and it seemed logical that the eldest son of Yuan Qin succeeded to the throne, but in the turbulent Western Wei at that time, Yuan Qin's end was not good, not only became the deposed emperor, but also lost his own life.
Yuan Baoju's ascension to the throne was based on the great general Yuwen Tai, and Yuwen Tai, as the main supporter of the imperial throne, after the establishment of Western Wei, was naturally in power, and in addition to holding the main power of the country, he also monopolized the government of the dynasty, making the throne almost a fictitious. Under such circumstances, Yuan Qin's succession to the throne was very unfavorable.
Although the Western Wei deposed emperor Yuan Qin ascended the throne as emperor, but in the face of Yuwen Tai, the emptiness of imperial power became a thorn in the heart of the Western Wei deposed emperor Yuan Qin, in order to regain the actual power, with the help of the Yuan clan, Yuan Qin made a careful plan, but the matter was revealed, the suspected mastermind of seizing power yuan lie was killed, Yuwen Tai's strong posture made Yuan Qin more dissatisfied, so he took the action of seizing power again, and thus completely angered Yu Wentai, Yuwen Tai decisively deposed Yuan Qin, and established one of Yuan Qin's brothers as the new emperor.
After Yuan Qin was deposed, he was first imprisoned by Yuwen Tai in Youzhou, and then, in order to prevent the resurgence of Yuan Qin's forces, Yu Wentai carried out a major cleanup of the imperial court, and many ministers close to Yuan Qin suffered a catastrophe, which was not enough, Yuwen Tai sent people to add poison to Yuan Qin's diet, and the young emperor was eventually poisoned in his own forbidden place.
2. Yuan Jian ,元俭), son of Emperor Wen of Western Wei,born unknown, was created The Prince of Liang in the eleventh year of the reign (545), and later served as a great general, a great general under the great general of the Pillar State.
3. Yuan Jin (?) ~547), son of Emperor Wen of Western Wei, a native of Luoyang County, Henan (present-day Luoyang, Henan), whose birth mother is unknown, was the King of Jin, and died in the thirteenth year of the reign of Emperor Huan (547).
Biography: In the ninth year of the reign (543), Lu Shi was attached to Western Wei, and Emperor Wen of Western Wei issued an edict from Yuan Baoju: "Teachers who explain the scriptures are easy to seek, and teachers who are teachers are rare." The sons of Yuan have grown up and want you to be their teacher. Therefore, Emperor Wen of Western Wei personally visited the palace of Yuanjin the King of Jin, and ordered his sons younger than Yuanjin to worship Lu as a teacher in front of him. In May of the thirteenth year of the reign (547), King Yuanjin of Jin died.
4. Yuan Humo (?) ~616), princess of Jin'an, the fifth daughter of Emperor Wen of Western Wei, empress dowager Yuwen Jue of Northern Zhou.
Biography: Yuan Humo was first enfeoffed as Princess Jin'an, and later married Yuwen Jue, the son of Yuwen Tai, the Prince of Luoyang. In 557, Yuwen Jue declared himself emperor, established the Northern Zhou dynasty, and established Yuan Humo as empress. In August of the same year, Yuwen Jue was killed by Yuwen Jue, deposed yuan humo's successor, and became a nun. In the early years of Jiande, after emperor Yuwen Yong of the Northern Zhou Dynasty killed Yuwen Hu, he posthumously honored Yuwen Jue as Emperor Xiaomin and Yuan Humo as Empress Xiaomin, who lived in Chongyi Palace. In 581, Yang Jian replaced northern Zhou to establish the Sui Dynasty, and Yuan Humo was forced out of the palace to live in a private house, and died in 616 AD.
Who was the empress of Emperor Gong of Western Wei?
Several clans, whose father is Sikong Several Hui. When Yuan Kuo was still the King of Qi, she was made a concubine and was deeply loved by Yuan Kuo because of her beauty. Yuan Kuo was the fourth son of Emperor Wen of Western Wei, Yuan Baoju, and the younger brother of Emperor Yuanqin of Western Wei.
In the 20th year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei (甲戌, 554 CE), after the deposed emperor Yuan Qin of Western Wei was killed by Yuwen Tai, Yuan Kuo succeeded him as Emperor Gong of Western Wei, and several clans were made empresses. After Emperor Gong ascended the throne, Yuwen Tai remained as authoritarian as before, and proclaimed himself Taishi and Otsuka Zai. In order to increase his prestige, in the winter of the same year, Yuwen Tai sent a large army of 50,000 to attack Jiangling and capture Emperor Yuan of Liang.
In the third year of Emperor Gong of Western Wei (556 CE), Yuwen Tai wanted to replace the Yuan regime and establish himself as emperor, but heaven did not fulfill his wishes, and in August of the same year, the then fifty-two-year-old Yuwen Tai fell ill and died on a tour of the north, so Emperor Gong made his third son Yuwen Jue succeed him as Taishi. In December of the same year, Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu felt that the time had come to usurp Wei, so he threatened Emperor Gong to take yu Wenjue.
In January of the first year of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (Ding Ugly, 557 AD), Yuwen Jue officially assumed the title of Emperor of Wei, which was the name of Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou, the capital of Jiandu Trombone, the dingguo name 'Zhou', and the historical name northern Zhou. At this point, the Western Wei Dynasty, which had experienced the Three Emperors, perished. Several empresses became nuns. The demise of the Western Wei also represents the demise of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the 171st year of its founding.
Expanded Information: An Introduction to the Western Wei dynasty of the Southern and Northern Dynasties
Western Wei (535-556), a separatist regime split from Northern Wei during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of China. Yuwen Tai established Emperor Xiaowen of Wei's grandson Yuan Baoju as emperor, opposing Eastern Wei controlled by Gao Huan and establishing the capital Chang'an. By 557, it was replaced by the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and it experienced two generations and three emperors, which lasted for twenty-two years. It ruled over the western region north of present-day Xiangyang in Hubei and west of Luoyang in Henan, formerly ruled by Northern Wei.
In the third year of Northern Wei Yongxi (534), Emperor Xiaowu Yuanxiu broke away from Gao Huan and fled from Luoyang to Chang'an, where he defected to Yuwen Tai, a Northern Wei general and a humble Xiongnu. In the following year, Yuwen Tai killed Emperor Xiaowu and made Yuan Baoju emperor, known in history as Western Wei, and the power was actually controlled by Yuwen Tai. In 535, after Yuwen Tai poisoned Emperor Xiaowu of Wei, Yuan Xiu, he installed Emperor Xiaowen of Wei's grandson Yuan Baoju the Prince of Nanyang as emperor, that is, Emperor Wenzhao of Wei, and changed the yuan to the throne, and Western Wei began.
In 551, Yuan Baoju died, and his eldest son, Yuan Qin, took the throne. In 554, Yuan Qin was deposed by Yuwen Tai and was soon poisoned. Yuan Baoju's fourth son, Yuan Kuo, ascended the throne, called Yuan Nian, and was forced to change his surname to Tuoba in order to cater to Yuwen Tai's Huhua movement. In the third year of Emperor Gong of Wei (556), Yuwen Tai fell ill and died, and was succeeded by his nephew Yuwen Hu. In 557, Yuwen Hu gained the support of his generals, forcing Emperor Gong of Wei to give way to Yuwen Jue, and Western Wei perished.
Throughout the reign of Western Wei, the power was always controlled by the powerful minister Yuwen Tai, and with his efforts, he appointed Su Qi and others to reform, adopting and attacking the south with the north, so that Western Wei was further strengthened. It even invaded Chengdu in Southern Liang and seized the Territory of Jingyong in The Southern Dynasty. In the north, the economy gradually recovered, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and in three battles, they defeated the Eastern Wei army, laying the foundation for the northern Zhou Dynasty to unify northern China and the Sui Dynasty to unify China.
During the Western Wei Dynasty, the society was relatively stable, the national strength became stronger, effectively resisted many attacks of the Eastern Wei, and in the second year of the deposed emperor (553), he took the Shu land of southern Liang, and the following year he seized Jiangling. In early 557, Yuwen Jue deposed Emperor Gong of Wei and established himself as emperor, Emperor Xiaomin, and established Northern Zhou.