Liang Wudi 梁武帝 Xiao Yan 蕭衍

Emperor Wu 梁武帝 (r. 502-549), personal name Xiao Yan 蕭衍 (464-549), courtesy name Shuda 叔達, was the founder of the Liang dynasty 梁 (502-557), the third of the Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420-589).

He hailed from the commandery of Nan-Lanling 南蘭陵 (close to present-day Changzhou 常州, Jiangsu) from an eminent family and thus enjoyed an excellent education. In 498, he was appointed regional inspector (cishi 刺史) of the province of Yongzhou 雍州.

Emperor Xiao Baojuan 蕭寶卷 (r. 498-500) of the Southern Qi dynasty 南齊 (479-502) was haunted by the fear of a family putsch and ruthlessly killed all family members. In such a dangerous situation, Princes and high ministers secretly plotted for a chance to get rid of the emperor. In 500, when Xiao Baojuan had Xiao Yan's older brother Xiao Yi 蕭懿 (d. 500) killed, Yan rose his weapons in Xiangyang 襄陽, and proclaimed the Prince of Nankang 南康, Xiao Baorong 蕭寶融 (Emperor He 齊和帝, r. 501-502), the emperor's younger brother, sovereign. Emperor He appointed Xiao Yan Commander-in-chief of the Conquest Armies (dudu zhengtao zhu jun shi 都督征討諸軍事). Soon after, the capital Jiankang 建康 (Nanjing 南京, Jiangsu) was stormed and Xiao Baojuan killed. Xiao Yan was made Secretariat Supervisor (zhongshu jian 中書監), General-in-chief (da sima 大司馬), Overseer of the Imperial Secretaries (lu shangshu shi 錄尚書事), General-in-Chief of Cavalry (piaoji da jiangjun 驃騎大將軍), and regional inspector of Yangzhou 揚州 and invested as Duke of the Commandery of Anjun 建安郡公. These functions made him the regent of the Southern Qi empire. To safeguard Emperor He's position, and thus his own, Xiao Yan had killed all sons of Emperor Ming 齊明帝 (r. 494-498). In 502, he was promoted to King of Liang 梁 and was endowed with the nine privileges (jiuxi 九錫). Not for long, he forced Emperor He to cede the throne, and shortly later had him killed. Xiao Yan founded his own dynasty, the Liang.

He chose the reign motto Tianjian 天監 and nominated his oldest son Xiao Tong 蕭統 (501-531) heir apparent.

During his reign, he revised the Five Rites (wuli 五禮), amended and finalized the laws and decrees, and governed the people with strict discipline. He also revised the Register of the Hundred Families (baijiapu 百家譜), promoted the influential gentry clans, and issued an edict that in every commandery, if any of the prominent old aristocratic families did not already have a member serving in government, officials were to be selected and recommended so that each region would have at least one such person.

He increased the powers of the imperial princes, established schools, and appointed one erudite (boshi 博士) for each of the Five Classics. He expanded student recruitment and required that the crown prince, as well as the sons of princes and marquises, attend school to study. He also sent out erudites and chief instructors to travel through the provinces and commanderies to establish schools. He himself often visited the National Academy (guozixue 國子學) to give lectures. In 508, an edict was issued ordering each province, commandery, and township to appoint dedicated officials to search for and recommend talented individuals.

At that time, the Northern Wei dynasty 北魏 (386-534) was powerful and frequently engaged in battles with the Liang. In 514, Xiao Yan mobilized 200,000 people from the provinces Xuzhou 徐州 and Yangzhou 揚州 to build the Fushan Dam 浮山堰 (located near today's Fengyang 鳳陽, Anhui), intending to block the Huai River 淮河 and flood the city of Shouyang 壽陽 on Northern Wei territory. Despite many officials advising against it, he did not heed their counsel. That summer, a plague broke out, and countless laborers died. In 516, the dam was completed and was used to flood Shouyang. The floodwaters spread over several hundred li. That autumn, the Huai River suddenly surged, causing the dam to burst. More than 100,000 residents along the Huai River were swept away into the sea.

Xiao Yan was a devout Buddhist. At the beginning of his reign, he led 20,000 monks to the Chongyun Hall 重雲殿, where he personally composed a vow and renounced Daoism in favor of Buddhism. In his later years, he lived with great austerity, eating only one meal a day, wearing coarse cloth garments, and using the same cap for three years. He visited temples every morning and evening to worship and lecture on Buddhist scriptures. He even offered himself three times as a living sacrifice to Tongtai Monastery 同泰寺, and each time, the court officials pooled funds totaling 4 billion cash coins to ransom him back. Following the teachings of Buddhist scriptures, Xiao Yan established the Jetavana Garden of Solitude (Gudu Yuan 孤獨園) in Jiankang to care for the poor and destitute. He ordered the official weavers that brocade patterns must not feature images of immortals, birds, or beasts, to avoid the risk of showing disrespect or cruelty during the cutting of fabric. He also prohibited the use of livestock in ancestral temple sacrifices to prevent the taking of life. As a result, Buddhism flourished in the South. In Jiankang alone, there were over 500 temples and more than 100,000 monks and nuns.

However, Xiao Yan was lenient with the royal clan. He allowed officials to cruelly exploit their subjects, and the sons of princes and nobles were often pardoned even when they broke the law. His brother, Xiao Hong 蕭宏 (473-526), the Prince of Linchuan 臨川, severely plundered his dominion; his treasury stored over 300 million cash coins and vast quantities of cloth and silk. Yet Xiao Yan turned a blind eye. Consequently, the whole system fell into decay, the common people suffered immensely, and there were multiple uprisings.

In 531, Crown Prince Xiao Tong died unexpectedly. The position of heir apparent fell on Emperor Wu's third son, Xiao Gang 蕭綱 (the eventual Emperor Jianwen 梁簡文帝, r. 549-551). Xiao Tong's sons thereupon turned against the sovereign.

In 547, a general of the Eastern Wei empire 東魏 (534-550), Hou Jing 侯景 (503-552), surrendered with his territory and army to the Liang, and was invested as King of Henan 河南. But a year later, Hou Jing revolted and turned against Emperor Wu. The rebel's armies encircled Jiankang and devastated the countryside of the whole Jiangnan region. In 549, the outer city fell into the hands of the rebels, while the imperial city Taicheng 臺城 was stubbornly defended. But Emperor Wu died from hunger. He was later buried in the tomb hill Xiuling 脩陵 (near Danyang 丹陽, Jiangsu). His temple name was Gaozu 梁高祖.

Xiao Yan had been a talented man who was not only interested in good governance, but also in the arts and literature. He wrote a vast commentary on the Classics, Qunjing jiangshu 群經講疏. His history project Tongshi 通史, compiled by Wu Jun 吳均 (469-520), was not finished, however. The original of his collected works is lost, but Zhang Pu 張溥 (1602-1641) reconstructed it on the base of fragments to the Liang Wudi yuzhi ji 梁武帝御制集.