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Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝文帝) (October 13, 467 – April 26, 499), personal name né Tuoba Hong (拓拔宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), or Toba Hung II, was an emperor of the Northern Wei from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499. Emperor Xiaowen implemented a drastic policy of sinicization, intending to centralize the government and make the multi-ethnic state more easy to govern. These policies included changing artistic styles to reflect Chinese preferences and forcing the population to speak the language and to wear Chinese clothes. He compelled his own Xianbei people and others to adopt Chinese surnames, and changed his own family surname from Tuoba to Yuan. He also encouraged intermarriage between Xianbei and Han. In 494, Emperor Xiaowen moved the Northern Wei capital from Pingcheng (平城, in modern Datong, Shanxi) to Luoyang, a city long acknowledged as a major center in Chinese history. The shift in the capital was mirrored by a shift in tactics from active defense to passive defense against the Rouran. While the capital was moved to Luoyang, the military elite remained centered at the old capital, widening the differences between the administration and the military. The population at the old capital remained fiercely conservative, while the population at Luoyang were much more eager to adopt Xiaowen's policies of sinicization. His reforms were met with resistance by the Xianbei elite. In 496, two plots by Xianbei nobles, one centered on his crown prince Yuan Xun, and one centered on his distant uncle Yuan Yi (元頤). By 497, Xiaowen had destroyed the conspiracies and forced Yuan Xun to commit suicide. Unfortunately for Emperor Xiaowen, his sinicization policies had their downsides—namely, he adopted the Jin Dynasty social stratification methods, leading to incompetent nobles being put into positions of power while capable men of low birth not being able to advance in his government. Further, his wholesale adoption of Han culture and fine arts caused the nobles to be corrupt in order to afford the lifestyles of the Han elite, leading to further erosion to effective rule. By the time of his grandson Emperor Xiaoming, Northern Wei was in substantial upheaval due to agrarian revolts, and by 534 had been divided into two halves, each of which would soon be taken over by warlords. One of Xiaowen's enduring legacies was the establishment of the equal-field system in China, a system of government-allotted land that would last until the An Shi Rebellion in the mid Tang Dynasty (618–907). == Early life and regency of Emperor Xianwen == Tuoba Hong was born in 467, when his father Emperor Xianwen was himself young—at the age of 13, and not yet ruling by himself, but instead was emperor under the regency of Emperor Xianwen's stepmother Empress Dowager Feng. Tuoba Hong was Emperor Xianwen's oldest son. His mother Consort Li was the daughter of Li Hui, a mid-level official at the time, who was a brother of Emperor Xianwen's mother. Empress Dowager Feng, following Tuoba Hong's birth, ended her regency and returned power to Emperor Xianwen, while spending her time raising Tuoba Hong. In 469, at age two, Tuoba Hong was created crown prince. That same year, his mother Consort Li died—and while traditional histories did not describe how she died, it appeared likely that she was forced to commit suicide according to the Northern Wei tradition of forcing crown princes' mothers to commit suicide, for it was written that the entire palace mourned her bitterly. In 471, Emperor Xianwen, who favored Taoist and Buddhist philosophies, tired of the throne, and considered passing the throne to his uncle Tuoba Zitui (拓拔子推) the Prince of Jingzhao. After opposition by virtually all high level officials, however, Emperor Xianwen was still resolved to pass the throne to someone else, but decided to instead yield the throne to Crown Prince Hong. He subsequently did so, and Crown Prince Hong took the throne as Emperor Xiaowen, while Emperor Xianwen took the title of ''Taishang Huang'' (retired emperor), although, due to Emperor Xiaowen's young age, Emperor Xianwen continued to be in actual control of important matters. When needed on the frontlines against Rouran, he conducted military campaigns himself, while leaving important officials in charge of the capital Pingcheng (平城, in modern Datong, Shanxi) with Emperor Xiaowen. In 476, Empress Dowager Feng, resentful that Emperor Xianwen had put her lover Li Yi (李奕) to death in 470, had him assassinated. (Most historians, including Sima Guang, believed that she poisoned him, but another version indicated that Empress Dowager Feng readied assassins who, when Emperor Xianwen came to her palace to greet her, seized and smothered him.) She assumed regency over Emperor Xiaowen and assumed the title of Grand Empress Dowager. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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