Emperor Qi Gaodi 齊高帝 Xiao Daocheng 蕭道成

Emperor Gao 齊高帝 (r. 479-482), personal name Xiao Daocheng 蕭道成, courtesy name Shaobo 紹伯, was the founder of the (Southern) Qi dynasty 南齊 (479-502), the second of the Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420-589).

His family hailed from Lanling 蘭陵 in the commandery of Donghai 東海 (today's Zaozhuang 棗莊, Shandong) and later moved to Nan-Lanling 南蘭陵 (close to Changzhou 常州, Jiangsu). His father Xiao Chengzhi 蕭承之 (384-447) was governor (taishou 太守) of the commandery of Hanzhong 漢中. The family was counted among the paupers (hanmen 寒門), but Daocheng had the chance to receive education by Lei Cizong 雷次宗 (386-448), with a focus on the ritual classic Liji 禮記 and the chronicle Zuoshi Chunqiu 左氏春秋. However, Xiao Daocheng later became a soldier, and rose in the ranks and was made magistrate (ling 令) of the capital Jiankang 建康 (Nanjing 南京, Jiangsu)

Emperor Ming 宋明帝 (r. 465-472) finally made him General of the Right Army (youjun jiangjun 右軍將軍), Bulwark-of-the-State General (fuguo jiangjun 輔國將軍. He led a campaign against the state of Qiuchi 仇池 and advanced so far as 80 li before Chang'an 長安 (Xi'an 西安, Shaanxi). He was invested him as District Marquis of Xiyang 西陽縣侯 and was Commander-in-chief of the garrisions Guiji 會稽 (Shaoxing 紹興, Zhejiang), and Huaiyin 淮陰 (Qingjiang 清江, Jiangsu). Later on, he was made regional inspector (cishi 刺史) of the province of Nan-Yanzhou 南兗州. When Liu Xiufan 劉休范, the Prince of Guiyang 桂陽, rebelled against the Later Deposed Emperor 宋後廢帝 (r. 472-477), Xiao Daocheng was given the high command over the central military units and suppressed the rebellion. For this merit, the Emperor appointed Xiao Capital Commandant (zhonglingjun 中領軍), and Cavalier Attendant-in-ordinary (sanji changshi 散騎常侍, which made him factual regent, together with Yuan Can 袁粲 (420-478), Chu Yuan 褚淵 (435-482) and Liu Bing 劉秉 (435-482).

His prestige and reputation aroused the suspicion of the Emperor, who intended to kill him. Xiao Daocheng secretly made contact with the sovereign's attendant Yang Yufu 楊玉夫 and had him assassinate the Emperor and then installed the eleven-year-old Liu Zhun 劉準 as emperor (Emperor Shun 宋順帝, r. 477-479). Liu Zhun appointed Xiao as Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat (lu shangshu shi 錄尚書事) and General of Cavalry (piaoji jiangjun 驃騎將軍), entrusting him with full authority over military and state affairs. He was invested as Duke of the Commandery of Jingling 竟陵郡公.

Shen Youzhi 沈攸之 (d. 478), regional inspector of Jingzhou 荊州, Yuan Can 袁粲, Minister of the Masses (sitzu 司徒), Liu Xia 劉遐, the governor (taishou 太守) of the commandery of Wujun 吳郡, and Huang Hui 黃回 (427-478) were dissatisfied and rose in rebellion. Xiao Daocheng ordered martial law both inside and outside the capital and personally led a large army to suppress the revolt. The rebels were defeated and killed.

In 478, Xiao was further promoted to Supreme Commander-in-chief of all military affairs both inside and outside the capital (dudu zhong-wai zhujun shi 都督中外諸軍事), Defender-in-Chief (taiwei 太尉), Grand Mentor (taifu 太傅), and regional governor (mu 牧) of Yangzhou 揚州. The following year, he was elevated to the position of Counsellor-in-chief (xiangguo 相國), granted the title King of Song 齊, and awarded the Nine Privileges (jiuxi 九錫). Shortly thereafter, he forced Emperor Shun to hand over throne of the Song dynasty (shanwei 禪位) and declared himself emperor, establishing the state of Qi. He appointed his son, Xiao Ze 蕭賾 (the eventual Emperor Wu), as Crown Prince and replaced the Yuanjia reign-motto 元嘉 of the Song with the new motto Jianyuan 建元. Shortly later, he had Liu Zhun killed.

Xiao Daocheng planned to avoid the mechanisms that had led to the bloody infight among the ruling house of the Song. He abolished the imperial workshops (yufu 御府) for the production of luxury goods for the court. He appointed document clerks (dianqian 典籤) which were to control all princes to identify attempts of rebellion at an early point of time. He also forbade the princes to illegally clear land in the hill regions or to dry swamps and interdicted the drafting of private troops (buqu 部曲) by commanders to relieve the people from the obligation of military service. Envoys were regularly dispatched to all provinces to survey the activities of local governors. Emperor Gao promoted frugality and thrift, reduced or waived the back taxes and debts owed by the common people, and relaxed the harshness of the penal system. In 480, a new census was carried out by Yu Wanzhi 虞玩之. However, the process of inspecting the registers was riddled with problems. Poor people were often falsely accused of fraudulent registration and were "removed from the register" (queji 卻籍, i.e., deleted from the official household records). This also harmed the interests of commoner landowners. As a result, not long after his death, a rebellion led by Tang Yuzhi 唐寓之 (d. 486) broke out in opposition to the register inspection policy.

In 482, Xiao Daocheng died. His oldest son mounted the throne as Emperor Wu 齊武帝 (r. 482-493). Emperor Gao was buried in the tomb hill Tai'an 泰安陵 (Danyang 丹陽, Jiangsu). His temple name is Taizu 齊太祖.