Yuan Baoju

Emperor Wen of Western Wei ((西)魏文帝) (507–551), personal name Yuan Baoju (元寶炬), was an emperor of Western Wei—a branch successor state to Northern Wei. In 534, Yuan Baoju, then the Prince of Nanyang, followed his cousin Emperor Xiaowu in fleeing from the capital Luoyang to Chang'an, after a fallout between Emperor Xiaowu and the paramount general Gao Huan. However, Emperor Xiaowu's relationship to the general that he then depended on, Yuwen Tai, soon deteriorated as well, and around the new year 535, Yuwen Tai poisoned Emperor Xiaowu to death, making Yuan Baoju emperor (as Emperor Wen). As Gao Huan had, late in 534, made Yuan Shanjian the son of Emperor Wen's cousin Yuan Dan (元亶) the Prince of Qinghe emperor (as Emperor Xiaojing), thus establishing Eastern Wei, Emperor Wen was known as Western Wei's first emperor, formalizing the division. Emperor Wen's relationship with Yuwen appeared cordial, but he was unable to exercise much real power.

Yuan Baoju was born in 507, a member of the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei. His father Yuan Yu (元愉), the Prince of Jingzhao, was the son of Emperor Xiaowen and a younger brother of the reigning Emperor Xuanwu. His mother was recorded as Yuan Yu's concubine Lady Yang. (Some historical records indicate that Lady Li was initially surnamed Yang, and only became known as Lady Li after Yuan Yu, wanting her to be part of a prominent family, had the aristocratic family Li adopt her.) He had three other brothers, at least one of whom, Yuan Baoyue (元寶月), was older, and born of Lady Li.

Yuan Yu favored Lady Li but not his wife, Princess Yu, a sister to Emperor Xuanwu's wife Empress Yu. Consequently, Empress Yu once summoned Lady Li to the palace, beat her severely, and then forced her to become a Buddhist nun. Only after the intercession of Empress Yu's father Yu Jing (于勁) was Lady Li returned to Yuan Yu. Meanwhile, in 508, Yuan Yu himself was punished by Emperor Xuanwu for corruption. He was caned 50 times and demoted to the governorship of Ji Province (冀州, modern central Hebei). In anger, he rebelled at the capital of Ji Province, Xindu (信都, in modern Hengshui, Hebei), alleging falsely that Emperor Xuanwu's uncle Gao Zhao had murdered the emperor and declaring himself emperor. Yuan Yu's rebellion was soon defeated by the general Li Ping (李平), and during his being delivered to the capital Luoyang, Gao had him killed. At that time, Lady Li was pregnant, and she was permitted to give birth and then was executed. Emperor Xuanwu did not execute any of Yuan Yu's sons, but had them, including Yuan Baoju, put under arrest at Zongzheng Temple (宗正寺). Assuming that Lady Li and Lady Yang were in fact the same person, this also meant that Yuan Baoju grew up without either parent. He and his brothers remained at Zongzheng Temple and were released only after Emperor Xuanwu's death in 515. During the reign of Emperor Xuanwu's son Emperor Xiaoming, Emperor Xiaoming's mother Empress Dowager Hu posthumously recreated Yuan Yu the Prince of Lintao, and Yuan Baoju and his brothers then observed a mourning period for their parents. Yuan Baoyue inherited the title, but Yuan Baoju did not possess any titles at the moment, although he was made a general. Despite Empress Dowager Hu's rehabilitation of Yuan Yu, however, Yuan Baoju was not impressed at her toleration of corruption, particularly by her lovers, and he secretly plotted with Emperor Xiaoming to have her lovers killed. When this plot was discovered, he was stripped of the office he held. In 525, he married his wife Lady Yifu, the daughter of a moderately prominent aristocratic family. (In his youth, Yuan Baoju was described by the Book of Wei as frivolous, alcoholic, and sexually immoral, but this description is highly suspect in that the Book of Wei was written by Wei Shou, an official of Eastern Wei, the rival of Western Wei, for which Yuan Baoju would eventually become emperor.) In 528, Emperor Xiaoming created him the Marquess of Shao County, and in 530, Emperor Xiaozhuang created him the Prince of Nanyang.

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