Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.1, 2015

 

The Death of Yuan Yuan and the Political Situation during the Late Northern Wei: Based on Indications from Yuan Yuan’s Newly Excavated Tomb Inscription     

(Abstract)

 

Xu Chong

 

Yuan Yuan’s new excavated tomb inscription has provided some pieces of historical information that cannot be found in the History of the Northern Dynasties: Biographies of the Five Princes during Emperor Taiwu’s Reign. When the Rebellion of the Six Frontier Towns broke out, Prince Guangyang, Yuan Yuan, who had been ordered to undertake a military expedition to the north, tried to realize his personal political ambitions through his close relation with the forces in the Northern Frontier Towns. Despite his death at the hands of Ge Rong, the Northern Wei court considered him to have surrendered to the rebel army, so his family was severely punished. It was at this time that his epitaph was composed. After the Heyin Incident, however, Yuan Yuan’s family returned to the political arena with the support of the new power-holder, and he was rehabilitated. The different political context of Yuan Yuan’s epitaph as compared to the Biographies of the Five Princes during Emperor Taiwu’s Reign accounts for the difference between the two texts.