Emperor Xiaowen was born in an era of social turmoil and a period of national integration. He has been exposed to Han culture since he was a child and envied Han culture. He is smart, studies hard, studies ancient poetry very well, and writes good articles. It is said that he could write poems and compositions while riding a horse, and he could not change a word after writing. According to historical records, he wrote hundreds of articles in his life. He also often sang and composed poems with ministers, and modified poems for others. Once, when he saw more than a dozen trees by the roadside, he became inspired by poetry and immediately wrote a poem. Then, he asked his younger brother Tuoba Xie, King of Pengcheng, to write a poem while walking towards him a dozen steps away. Tuoba Xie really wrote a poem, and he was very happy. Not only did he love Han literature, he also often asked Xianbei nobles to read and write, and educated them to learn Han culture. After moving to Luoyang, he once said to the Xianbei nobles: "The purpose of moving the capital to Luoyang is to change customs and increase knowledge. If you live in Pingcheng all the time, you will not learn anything. Our descendants can only stand facing the wall, what? I don’t understand.” He also told Lu Rui: “In the past, we always said that Xianbei people were rude, so why should they learn? It seems that this sentence is wrong. Now many Xianbei people can read and write. Are they saints? The key is to learn or not to learn."
Because Emperor Xiaowen dared to admit his backwardness, he became arrogant and actively studied the advanced culture of the Han people, built schools, and collected books, which made the long-declined northern literature appear again. The atmosphere of revival.
In terms of art, sculpture and calligraphy also developed greatly during the Northern Wei Dynasty.
During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, he vigorously promoted Buddhism. Buddhism promoted the idea of ??karma, which could paralyze the people's fighting spirit and help consolidate feudal rule, so it was valued by Emperor Xiaowen. During his reign, there were more than 100 monasteries and more than 2,000 monks and nuns in Luoyang. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were 6,478 monasteries and 77,258 monks and nuns. With the introduction and development of Buddhism, many grottoes were built in my country, the most famous of which are the Dunhuang, Yungang and Longmen grottoes, which are the treasure house of ancient Chinese art. The construction of the Longmen Grottoes began in the 18th year of Taihe (494), the 18th year of Emperor Xiaowen of the Wei Dynasty. After that, it went through the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang and other dynasties. It has been built continuously for more than 400 years. The art of Longmen Grottoes reflects the high intelligence and wisdom of the working people in ancient my country. Calligraphy is an art unique to our people and has been valued since the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Xiaowen attached great importance to reading, writing, carving stones and erecting monuments. The calligraphy of the Northern Wei Dynasty was strong, powerful, and unique in style, and later generations called it the "Wei stele" style. The development of these arts is related to the promotion of Emperor Xiaowen of Wei Dynasty.
Like many emperors, Emperor Xiaowen also tried his best to appear to care about the suffering of the people. He often went to the people to conduct investigations and interviews, often greeted the elderly and gave them clothes, so as to gain the support of the people.
He is concerned about agricultural production and often knows about the growth of crops. At that time, when the emperor came out, he would be surrounded by people, and there would be heavy traffic. When the road was narrow, the crops would be trampled. So he ordered that if his motorcade trampled farmers' crops, they would be compensated with grains and dendrobium per acre. Of course, Emperor Xiaowen never really cared for the people, but used it to win people's hearts, ease class conflicts, and consolidate his rule. But this is better than a domineering emperor who bullies the people at will. He also cared about the soldiers and personally visited sick soldiers. When there was heavy rain during the march, he would take off the rain cover he used to protect himself from the rain and get in the rain with the soldiers to boost their morale. In life, Emperor Xiaowen also had strict requirements on himself. He often wore coarse clothes and rode horses without saddles. Once, when he visited Hualin Garden, someone suggested that he restore Jingyang Mountain. He said that Emperor Wei Ming failed because of his extravagance in the past. I will always remember this lesson. He said this to his relatives, hoping that they would pay attention to three things: first, do not bully others and be arrogant and unreasonable; second, do not be extravagant and corrupt and ignore political affairs; third, do not drink too much and make friends randomly. Of course, these advices had no effect, but they showed that for the purpose of consolidating his power, he still paid attention to restraining the powerful and caring about the suffering of the people.
Since Emperor Xiaowen took office in the fifteenth year of Taihe (491), he was very happy with his achievements and always wanted to defeat the Southern Dynasties and unify the world. During a southern expedition, he once wrote this poem: "The sun is shining all over the sky, but the corner of the left side of the Yangtze River is not shining." This means that the vast area of ????China has come under my jurisdiction, and only the area south of the Yangtze River has not yet come under my rule. He wants to be the emperor of all China.
In order to achieve this political goal, he fought almost every year and mobilized troops, but with little effect. In April of the 23rd year of Taihe (499), he fell ill and died during a southern expedition. He was only thirty-three years old when he died.
Yungang Grottoes