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. Since Erzhu's rival, general
Gao Huan, enthroned another royal offspring, the country was soon split in two rival polities, Eastern and Western Wei, both of which did not hold long on the political map of the
Southern and Northern Dynasties.
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