A brief introduction to Emperor Xiaowen of Wei, Tuoba Hong: Determined to reform and enhance national power, he moved south to the Central Plains to completely Chineseize it. Release time: 2015-11-2622: 37 Views: Loading Emperor Xiaowen of Wei Wei, namely Tuoba Hong , also known as Yuan Hong, the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Reigned from 471 to 499 AD. She was only five years old when she came to the throne, and the Empress Dowager Feng was in charge of the country. Taihe came into power in the 14th year of his reign. When Empress Dowager Feng came to the court, she reformed the official administration and implemented the three-chief system and the land equalization system. After taking office, further reforms were carried out. In 17 years, the capital was moved from Pingcheng to Luoyang. Change Xianbei surnames to Han surnames, change Xianbei customs, uniforms, and language, and reward intermarriage between Xianbei and Han people. It also assessed the status of the noble families and strengthened the joint rule of the Xianbei nobles and the Han people. And with reference to the laws and regulations of the Southern Dynasties, official court rituals were formulated. The conservative Xianbei nobles, headed by Prince Xun, tried to resist and were severely punished. His reforms played a positive role in the integration of people of all ethnic groups and the process of feudalization of all ethnic groups
Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong of the Northern Wei Dynasty was a successful reformer. The reforms he implemented were to transform a nation from slavery to slavery. The old society was brought into the new society of the feudal system; and one nation was completely integrated into another nation. He was the one who implemented the Sinicization policy most thoroughly among the ethnic minorities, so the Xianbei ethnic group to which he belonged became the first ethnic minority to be integrated by the Han at that time
Tuo Bahong's father Tuo Bahong was determined to reform and strengthen the country. Tuobahong was tired of being emperor, so he abdicated the throne to Tuobahong in 471 AD, and then he spent all day talking about scriptures and Taoism, cultivating his moral character. He wanted to escape from the world and escape into Buddhism, but he still remembered the things in the world. Otherwise, how could he hypocritically abdicate and practice Buddhism, but still always pay attention to national affairs, and he would not have been poisoned by Queen Mother Feng for killing Queen Mother Feng's lover. This emperor who wanted to be transcendent finally fell into the world of mortals and never returned.
Tuobahong was young when he came to the throne. He was assisted by ministers in everything, and his father Tuobahong often intervened in military and state affairs. Later, Empress Dowager Feng poisoned Tuobahong to death, and she used her identity as the Empress Dowager to listen to the government.
Empress Dowager Feng played a large role in Tuobahong's acceptance of Han culture. Empress Dowager Feng attached great importance to the training of Tuoba Hong, and specially arranged for him to have Han teachers to teach Confucian classics. Empress Dowager Feng was also very strict with Tuoba Hong. She deliberately cultivated his independent character when he was young. During the cold winter, she once made him wear single clothes, locked him in an empty room, and deprived him of food for three days in a row. Tuoba Hong often contradicted Empress Dowager Feng at first, but later gradually obeyed her. Especially after knowing that his father was poisoned by Empress Dowager Feng, Tuoba Hong became more aware of Empress Dowager Feng's character, so he became more filial to Empress Dowager Feng, regardless of big or small matters. To report to her. Seeing that Tuoba Hong was so filial, Empress Dowager Feng focused on guiding him in handling national affairs
The first policy Empress Dowager Feng assisted Tuoba Hong in formulating was the salary system. The Northern Wei Dynasty was transformed from a tribal alliance, with some remnants of primitive tribes. Therefore, there was no salary for civil and military officials. The source of livelihood for civil and military officials initially came from war. Whenever they conquered a place, they spent a lot of money. But after unifying the Central Plains, wars became increasingly rare, and they could no longer rely on wars to obtain property. However, they did not receive salaries, so they had to live by corruption and exploiting the people. The spread of this phenomenon gradually brought crisis to the rule of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty also discovered this problem, but they were never able to properly solve it, which gradually aroused people's resistance. In 484 AD, Tuoba Hong officially ordered the implementation of the salary system, which stipulated that anyone who embezzled more than one piece of silk would be sentenced to death, and anyone who violated the law would be executed. Since its implementation, more than 40 people have been executed for corruption. Tuobahong's uncle Li Hong, who was the governor of Qin and Yizhou at the time, committed corruption and accepted bribes and should be executed. However, because he was both a prominent official and a noble relative, local officials did not dare to offend him. Tuoba Hong interrogated him personally and then sentenced him to death. For a time, the administration of officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty appeared to be relatively clear.
After rectifying the administration of officials and resolving the contradiction between the ruling class and the people, Tuoba Hong announced the implementation of the land equalization system throughout the country to resolve the problems that had arisen since the end of the Western Jin Dynasty. , due to years of chaos in the north, powerful landlords took the opportunity to annex land, seriously affecting the government's financial revenue.
It is stipulated that all men and women over the age of 15 can obtain land granted by the government, that is, shoutian. Men can each get 40 acres, and women can get 20 acres. When they grow old or die, the land will be returned to the state. Each man can also be assigned a mulberry field or hemp field, which can be passed down from generation to generation without having to hand it back, and slaves can also get the land to cultivate. The implementation of the land equalization system solved the problem of farmers having no land to farm but powerful landlords occupying large amounts of land. This resulted in an increasing number of state-controlled farmland and farmers’ household registrations, increasing government fiscal revenue. The land equalization system was also used by later feudal rulers and became an important system of feudal agriculture
Moving south to the Central Plains and thoroughly sinicizing Tuoba Hong was the most thorough among the rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty who implemented the sinicization policy. He carried out sinicization reforms , also proceed step by step from the outside to the inside. First, he carried out reforms in the education system. Promoting rituals and music, correcting customs, and offering sacrifices to the Chinese saints Yao, Shun, Duke Zhou, etc., Confucius was also honored and Confucian was honored, and Confucius was posthumously named the father of the world's saints and nuns. A statue of Confucius was hung in Zhongshu Province. Then the study of Chinese calligraphy was changed to Guozixue, and the education system of the Northern Wei Dynasty was established completely in accordance with the Han education system. In 490 AD, Empress Dowager Feng died of illness. Tuoba Hong believed that this was a great opportunity for Sinicization, so he observed filial piety and mourned in full accordance with Confucian etiquette. The Xianbei nobles advised him to hold funerals according to Xianbei rules, but Tuoba Hong refused.
After Tuobahong completed the reform of the education system, he gradually touched the core interests of Xianbei conservative forces. In order to move the Xianbei people away from the northern Xinjiang where they had lived for generations, so that the Xianbei conservative forces would lose the basis of opposition, and in order to further consolidate the rule of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Central Plains, Tuoba Hong ordered the conquest of the Southern Qi Dynasty and took the opportunity to move the capital. As soon as this order was issued, ministers objected one after another. Tuoba Hong was furious and said angrily to the ministers: Sheji is my Sheji and I have nothing to do with you! Now I want to march south, do you want to stand in my way? Tuoba Cheng, the leader of the opposition, was not to be outdone and said: Your Majesty, although this country belongs to you, as ministers of the country, we cannot know it and remain silent! Tuoba Hong had no choice, so he stopped Tuoba Cheng after he retreated from the court and said to him: What we just talked about is not as simple as you and I imagined. The current capital city of Pingcheng is just a place for military affairs, not for civil administration. place. This time I was nominally attacking Southern Qi, but in fact I wanted to move the capital to the Central Plains. What do you think? After Tuoba Cheng heard this, he woke up from a dream and hurriedly knelt down to admit his mistake and expressed his support for moving the capital. Tuoba Hong asked again: Now we Xianbei people are stuck in the old ways and don’t want to change. What do you think I should do? Tuoba Cheng said: Only extraordinary people can do extraordinary things. Just make up your mind. What can they do? Tuoba Hong was very happy after hearing this, so he followed the plan.
In 493 AD, Tuoba Hong led an army of 300,000 people south to Luoyang and settled there. Then, Tuoba Hong ordered the construction of Luoyang and sent people back to Pingcheng to announce the relocation of the capital. In 494 AD, Tuoba Hong officially moved the capital to Luoyang
After moving the conservative forces away from the base area, Tuoba Hong further implemented reforms. In 494 AD, Tuoba Hong ordered a ban on wearing Hu clothing and all people wore Han clothes. In 495 AD, he also ordered a ban on speaking Xianbei and all people changed to speak Chinese. In 496 AD, Tuoba Hong finally brought Sinicization to the core issue. He ordered all Xianbei compound surnames to be changed to Han single surnames, and Tuoba surnames were changed to Yuan surnames, Baba surnames were changed to Changsun surnames, and Daxi surnames were changed to The Xi family and the Yilv family were changed to the Shusun family, the Wumu family was changed to the Mu family, and the Dugu family was changed to the Liu family. All 118 surnames of the Xianbei people were changed to Han surnames. At the same time, Tuoba Hong also ordered to change the place of origin of the Xianbei people. All Xianbei people who moved to Luoyang were Luoyang people, and they were not allowed to be transported to Saibei even if they died
Tuoba Hong set an example and had a very deep understanding of Han culture. Han has a high level of cultural literacy, is very accomplished in ancient poetry, and writes very good articles. Not only that, he also ordered the establishment of a special school for princes, allowing the children of princes and nobles to enter school and study Confucian classics. Because Tuoba Hong actively set up schools and collected books from all over the world for research and sorting, the culture of the north began to revive
Tuoba Hong also respected Buddhism. During his reign, Buddhism developed greatly, and the entire In the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were 6,478 monasteries and more than 77,200 monks and nuns. Tuoba Hong also ordered the construction of many grottoes, among which the Longmen Grottoes, which was built in 494, is the most famous one. In addition, Binyang Middle Cave is one of the grottoes built after Yuan Hong moved his capital to Luoyang.
On the left and right sides of the front wall of the cave, there were originally two large-scale relief paintings of emperors and empresses worshiping Buddha. They are rough, vigorous and grand. They are representative works of the Northern Wei Dynasty style. The calligraphy of the Northern Wei Dynasty also reached its peak under Tuoba Hong's attention and advocacy. The fonts were strong, powerful, powerful, and unique in style. The Wei stele font was gradually formed, which was deeply valued and loved by calligraphy enthusiasts
Tuoba Hong did not forget to unify the whole country while attaching great importance to the sinicization reform. He once left this poem during a southern expedition: The sun is shining all over the sky, but there is only one corner on the left of the river that does not shine
This directly illustrates his ambition to unify the world. Since taking office personally, Tuoba Hong has mobilized troops to conquer Southern Qi almost every year in order to realize his ambitions. In 497 AD, Tuoba Hong took advantage of the civil strife in the Southern Qi Dynasty and personally led an army of 200,000 soldiers to march southward, including Xinye, Nanyang, and Pengcheng. Xiao Luan was so frightened that he died of illness in 498 AD. Tuoba Hong could have taken the opportunity to attack the south, but civil strife broke out in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Tuoba Hong was anxious and ordered the withdrawal of troops on the grounds of not cutting off mourning
Tuoba Hong fell ill during the withdrawal, and then died He went on a personal expedition to protect his illness, led the Northern Expedition to Gaoche, and then pacified Gaoche. In 499 AD, Southern Qi sent troops to attack Wei in an attempt to regain the Yongzhou counties occupied by Northern Wei. Tuoba Hong once again went on a personal expedition and defeated the Qi army and fled
Although Tuoba Hong won a complete victory, But due to the long journey and fatigue, he fell ill again. Then he died of illness in Gutangyuan.