There are many emperors in Chinese history, but there are not many talented emperors, and the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty wrote tens of thousands of poems in his lifetime, but he cannot talk about how much talent. Truly talented emperors were often a tragedy, such as Chen Hou lord, Sui Emperor, Li Hou lord, Song Huizong and so on. There is an emperor who is more knowledgeable and talented than the above-mentioned figures, but he is also a sinner for eternity.
This person was Xiao Xuan, the Liang Yuan Emperor of the Liang Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties! Speaking of Xiao Yi, he was not only born into the royal family, but also came from a family full of literary and artistic atmosphere. Xiao Xuan, together with his father Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu, the eldest brother Xiao Tong, and the third brother Xiao Gang, was called "Four Xiao", and together with the "Three Caos" of the Three Kingdoms period, it occupied a very important position in the history of Chinese literature.
The history books record that Xiao Xuan was "intelligent and handsome, and the genius was heroic", and at the age of five, he could recite the Qu Li. After growing up, Xiao Xuan "wrote a book in a comprehensive group, wrote a chapter, made a statement, and only then did he argue sensitively and quickly, and won the best time." At that time, people said that Xiao Xuan had "three absolutes", that is, "good five words and poems, good works, and good paintings". Xiao Xuan's "beauty of poetry and pen, rare and matched", promoted the formation and development of tang dynasty near-body poetry.
Xiao Xuan's calligraphy level is very high, and the level of painting is unparalleled among the emperors of the previous dynasties, and his "Gong Tu" records the image of the emissaries who came to the Liang Dynasty to pay tribute. In addition, Xiao Yi was also a scholar and author of the book "Golden Louzi". Judging from Xiao Xuan's works, he also has high achievements in music, medicine, Go, surname science, metaphysics, Zhou Yi, Soma, astronomical almanac and many other fields!
So how did Xiao Xuan go from being a talented man to a sinner? This matter also has to start from his being the emperor, Xiao Xuan was originally the seventh son of Emperor Wu of Liang, and according to common sense, the imperial throne could not be taken by him at all. However, in 548, Hou Jing rebelled and surrounded Jiankang City. Xiao Xuan, who had a heavy army, did not actively rescue him, but first eliminated the dissidents who were vying for the throne with him, and then attacked Hou Jing.
After Hou Jing's rebellion was quelled, Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu and Emperor Xiao Gang of Jianwen were both dead, and Xiao Xuan took the opportunity to inherit the throne, and later became known as Emperor Yuan of Liang. After Emperor Yuan of Liang ascended the throne, he did not return the capital to Jiankang, but made Jiangling the capital. In the process of competing for the throne, Xiao Xuan raised an army to kill his nephew Xiao Yu (Xiao Tong's son), causing dissatisfaction among another nephew, Xiao Qi.
Xiao Qi was alone and knew that he could not defeat Xiao Xuan, so he asked Western Wei for help. Western Wei chancellor Yuwen Tai sent the generals Jin and Yang Zhong (father of Emperor Yang Jian of Sui) to lead an army of 50,000 to the south. Under Xiao Chen's guidance, the Western Wei army surrounded Jiangling. Emperor Yuan of Liang hurriedly summoned the four armies to come to the rescue, but none of them came, and Xiao Xuan knew that he would not be able to escape death, and he made a wrong decision!
Xiao Xuan was a talented man who loved books, so he always had the habit of collecting books, especially after he became emperor, he was even more searching for ancient books and rare books from various eras, at this time he already had a collection of 140,000 books. Perhaps out of desperation, Emperor Yuan of Liang ordered that 140,000 volumes of books be burned and all burned, known in history as the "Burning of Books in Jiangling". Looking at the raging flames, Emperor Liang Yuandi sighed, "The way of culture and martial arts, tonight is over!" ”
After the city was destroyed, the Western Wei general asked Emperor Liang Yuan why he burned the book, and Xiao Xuan replied: "Reading ten thousand volumes, it is like today, so it is burned!" In the end, Xiao Yi was humiliated and eventually suffocated alive with an earthen bag. The "book burning in Gangneung" is a huge disaster for Chinese culture, and Xiao Xuan has become a sinner of Chinese culture for eternity!
References: 1. Book of Liang; 2. Zizhi Tongjian
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