Emperor Mingyuan of Northern Wei

Early life

Tuoba Si was born in 392 after his father Tuoba Gui had founded Northern Wei in 386 but before he had conquered most of rival Later Yan's territory and claimed imperial title in 399. His mother was Tuoba Gui's favorite consort, Consort Liu, the daughter of the Tiefu chief Liu Toujuan (劉頭眷). He was born at the capital Yunzhong (雲中, in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.) He was Tuoba Gui's oldest son, and his father was said to be so pleased by this late arrival of a son that he declared a general pardon. (Based on Northern Wei's official history, Tuoba Gui would only be 21 at this point; this might be further evidence corroborating the alternative version of his life history.) (The Book of Song, compiled by the rival Southern Qi dynasty, would state that Tuoba Si was Tuoba Gui's second son. However, since there are no clear inconsistencies with Tuoba Si being Tuoba Gui's eldest son as presented in the Book of Wei, the Book of Wei's account is generally considered to be the correct one.)

As Tuoba Si grew, he was said to be a wise and kind young man, whose actions were all in accordance with proper protocol. In contrast, his oldest younger brother Tuoba Shao (拓跋紹) was described as being a violent young man, and he would often go out on the streets to rob people and violently attack animals. Tuoba Si tried to correct his brother's behaviour with rebukes, but Tuoba Shao did not change, so Tuoba Si lived in fear of his brother. In 403, Tuoba Gui, by this point emperor (as Emperor Daowu), created him the Prince of Qi. In 409, Emperor Daowu was intent on creating Tuoba Si crown prince, but based on the Tuoba tradition that when an heir is decided upon, his mother must be put to death, Emperor Daowu forced Consort Liu to commit suicide. Either before or after he did so, he summoned Tuoba Si to explain to him that this tradition was also in accordance with Emperor Wu of Han's rationale to put his favorite concubine, Consort Zhao (Emperor Zhao of Han's mother) to death, to avoid overly great maternal influence on a young emperor. After Tuoba Si left his father's presence, because of the affection that he had for his mother, he mourned greatly. Hearing this, Emperor Daowu summoned him back to the palace—and, because Emperor Daowu, in his late reign, often displayed great paranoid and violent tendencies, the new crown prince's attendants suggested that he not go to the palace but hide in the country. Tuoba Si agreed and did so, fleeing the capital Pingcheng, where Emperor Daowu had moved the capital in 398.

Meanwhile, Emperor Daowu had, because of Tuoba Shao's crimes, imprisoned Tuoba Shao's mother Consort Helan and planned to execute her. Consort Helan sent her son a message, asking him to save her. In response, Tuoba Shao assassinated Emperor Daowu and then tried to take over as emperor, and he tried to seize the troops. Tuoba Si, upon hearing this news, returned to Pingcheng but hid himself, while trying to gather supporters gradually. Tuoba Shao tried to seek him out to kill him, but the imperial guards gradually shifted to Tuoba Si's side, and the imperial guards arrested Tuoba Shao and presented him to Tuoba Si. Tuoba Si executed Tuoba Shao, Consort Helan, and Tuoba Shao's associates. He then took the throne as Emperor Mingyuan.

Early reign

Emperor Mingyuan, contrary to his father's dictatorial style, instituted a council of eight officials to advise him on all important decisions, with the intent to hear different opinions and then take informed actions. The council mostly constituted of ethnic Xianbei from his tribe, but also included Han and other ethnicities. This became a tradition that was followed by his descendants as well.

At the time of Emperor Mingyuan's ascension to power, the paranoia and violence of Tuoba Gui's late reign had caused many problems within Northern Wei, with the officials described as idle and arrogant, the law as not properly enforced, crime so common that criminals would act in public without fear of repercussions, and many people too afraid to go outside in alleyways. Emperor Mingyuan established officials to hear the people's lawsuits and ensure that legal cases were judged fairly, restored officials who had earlier been removed from office, and issued government relief for the people's hardships. Due to this, many of the problems of Tuoba Gui's later years were eliminated.

Emperor Mingyuan himself was known for his competence in handling state affairs, and his reputation for this was such that the officials in charge of enforcing justice would be stern in their enforcement of the law in order to avoid making mistakes. However, Emperor Mingyuan did have the capacity for forgiveness and leniency in his decisions. As an example, when the minister An Tong (安同) conscripted people for labour without permission, the other ministers suggested that he be punished harshly, yet Emperor Mingyuan believed that An Tong's motives were in the interests of the common people, so he pardoned An Tong. Despite this, Emperor Mingyuan was also known for being perceptive in his investigations, and his standards were so exacting that his officials would often receive punishment. For example, in 413, one of his key advisors, Tuoba Qu (拓跋屈) the Marquess of Yuancheng, suffered a major defeat at the hands of rebel forces backed by Xia, and then, once demoted to governorship of Bing Province (并州, modern central and southern Shanxi), indulged in alcohol while neglecting affairs of state, and Emperor Mingyuan executed him (Because Tuoba Qu's son Tuoba Mohun (拓跋磨渾) had major contributions in helping Emperor Mingyuan defeat Tuoba Shao, the later historian Hu Sanxing, in his annotations to the Zizhi Tongjian, criticised Emperor Mingyuan's execution of Tuoba Qu as ungrateful for Tuoba Mohun's contributions).

In 410, Emperor Mingyuan sent one of his advisors, Baba Song (拔拔嵩) the Duke of Nanping to attack the Rouran, and when Baba was surrounded by Rouran troops, Emperor Mingyuan personally led an army to relieve Baba. For the next years, he often left the capital Pingcheng to examine the defenses on the northern and eastern fronts (with Rouran and Northern Yan), to make sure that his state would be properly defended against enemies. Another feature of his early reign was that he would frequently have to raise armies to put down rebellions.

Middle reign

In 414, Emperor Mingyuan sent ambassadors to Later Qin, Northern Yan, Jin, and Rouran, to try to establish peaceful relationships. The Later Qin and Jin missions were apparently largely successful, but his ambassador Huniuyu Shimen (忽忸于什門) had a conflict with the Northern Yan emperor Feng Ba over Feng Ba's insistence that Huniuyu kneel to him, and Feng Ba detained Huniuyu and refused to establish relations with Northern Wei. How successful the Rouran mission was is harder to gauge, for although initially it appeared to be successful, by new year 415 the Rouran Khan Yujiulü Datan (郁久閭大檀) invaded, and Emperor Mingyuan was forced to respond, chasing Yujiulü Datan back to his territory, but when Emperor Mingyuan sent his advisor Daxi Jin to pursue Yujiulü Datan, the Northern Wei forces ran into severe weather and suffered many casualties based on frostbite. This would start a theme that would last for centuries—often, Rouran would attack, and Northern Wei would counter-attack successfully, but then become unable to have decisive victories over Rouran.

Late in 414, Emperor Mingyuan began to have his official Cui Hao (the son of his key advisor Cui Hong) teach him the ancient texts of I Ching and Hong Fan (洪範) – both mystical texts. Emperor Mingyuan had always been fond of mysticism and divination, and also often asked Cui Hao to make predictions based on those texts, which often came true. Cui Hao therefore became increasingly trusted and consulted by Emperor Mingyuan for important decisions.

In 414-5, Emperor Mingyuan became frustrated with the rampant corruption that officials were engaging in - a problem common in Northern Wei, because officials had no proper salary. In 414, he ordered that people be allowed to go to the palace to make direct reports to him on the illegal actions of officials, and when sending officials to check the wealth of the officials, he ordered that everything that was not used to sustain their family be confiscated as illegally obtained goods. In 415, believing the local officials to be idle in their jobs, he issued a fine on those who did not properly raise tax from those under them. Whether these policies had any effect on official corruption is unknown, but official corruption was still a major problem in the reign of his successor Emperor Taiwu.

In 415, the northern regions of Northern Wei suffered a major famine, causing Emperor Mingyuan to consider moving the capital southward to Yecheng (鄴城, in modern Handan, Hebei), but at the advice of Cui Hao and the official Zhou Dan (周澹), who believed that such a move would quickly expose the actual numerical inferiority of the Xianbei to the Han, he kept the capital at Pingcheng, but also pursuant to Cui and Zhou's suggestion, moved a number of impoverished Xianbei to the modern Hebei region. After the famine, Emperor Mingyuan issued an edict to encourage land cultivation. From then, the agricultural situation greatly improved, leading to a thriving livestock economy.

Late reign

In 418, Emperor Mingyuan launched a major attack on Northern Yan and put the Northern Yan capital Helong (和龍, in modern Jinzhou, Liaoning) under siege, but was unable to capture Helong and forced to retreat.

During Emperor Mingyuan's late reign, he requisitioned additional resources from the people in addition to regular taxes several times, however, Emperor Mingyuan also gave out several tax exemptions to reduce the burden on populations affected by flooding, and he would reduce or exempt the taxes of people who lived near places where he had been on tour. The state saw plentiful harvests during this period, and experienced relative stability, and after 417 there were no popular uprisings for the rest of his reign.

Throughout Emperor Mingyuan's reign, due to the relative stability of Northern Wei compared to other states that were experiencing turmoil, many people submitted or migrated to Northern Wei, which received an influx of these migrants. As an example of this, a group of families had declared allegiance to Northern Wei upon Later Qin's destruction, and Emperor Mingyuan established the official Kou Zan (寇讚) in position to manage these people. They eventually grew to number tens of thousands of households, and so Emperor Mingyuan created a new province of Southern Yong to govern them, and it is described that the number of refugees entering the southern border of Northern Wei tripled after this.

In 420, Emperor Mingyuan's wife Consort Yao died, and regretting that he could never give her the title in life, he posthumously honored her as an empress.

In 422, Emperor Mingyuan suffered a major illness, which is attributed to his taking of the popular alchemical drug Cold Food Powder for many years. He consulted Cui Hao on what he should do to prepare for events after his death. Cui Hao predicted that he would recover, but advised him to create his oldest son, 14-year-old Tuoba Tao the Prince of Taiping, crown prince, and then transfer some of the authorities to the crown prince so that his own burdens could be lessened. Baba Song also agreed, and Emperor Mingyuan created Tuoba Tao crown prince, and further had Crown Prince Tao take the throne to serve as the secondary emperor. He commissioned his key advisors Baba, Cui, Daxi Jin, An Tong (安同), Qiumuling Guan (丘穆陵觀), and Qiudun Dui (丘敦堆) to serve as the Crown Prince's advisor. From this point on, most matters, particularly domestic matters, were ruled on by Crown Prince Tao, while Emperor Mingyuan himself only ruled on important matters.

Family

Consorts and issue

Empress Zhao'ai, of the Yao clan (昭哀皇后 姚氏; d. 420)

Empress Mi, of the Du clan (密皇后 杜氏; d. 420)

Tuoba Dao, Emperor Taiwu (太武皇帝 拓跋燾; 408–452), 1st son

Furen, of the Murong clan (夫人 慕容氏)

Tuoba Pi, Prince Li of Leping (樂平戾王 拓跋丕; d. 444), 2nd son

Furen, of the Murong clan (夫人 慕容氏)

Tuoba Fan, Prince Xuan of Le'an (樂安宣王 拓跋範; d. 444), 4th son

Furen, of the Yin clan (夫人 尹氏)

Tuoba Jian, Prince Zhuang of Yongchang (永昌莊王 拓跋健; d. 441), 5th son

Unknown

Tuoba Mi, Prince Shang of Anding (安定殤王 拓跋彌; d. 424), 3rd son

Tuoba Chong, Prince Jing of Jianning (建寧景王 拓跋崇; d. 453), 6th son

Tuoba Jun, Duke Xinxing (新興公 拓跋俊; d. 441), 7th son

Princess Yangdi (阳翟公主)

Married Yao Huangmei, Duke of Longxi Commandery (陇西郡公姚黄眉)

Princess Wuwei (武威公主)

Married Juqu Mujian, Prince Hexi (d. 447) in 437, and had issue (two daughters)

Married Li Gai, Duke Nan (李蓋) in 447

Princess Shiping (始平公主)