Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei ((北)魏太武帝, 408 – 11 March 452), personal name Tuoba Tao (拓跋燾), Xianbei name Büri (佛貍),佛貍 should actually be pronounced Büri, and meant "wolf" in the Xianbei language, 罗新：《北魏太武帝的鲜卑本名》，《民族研究》，2006年第4期。 was the third emperor of China's Northern Wei dynasty. He was generally regarded as a capable ruler, and during his reign, the Northern Wei roughly doubled in size and unified all of northern China, thus ending the Sixteen Kingdoms period and, together with the southern dynasty Liu Song, starting the Southern and Northern Dynasties period of Chinese history. He was a devout Taoist, under the influence of his prime minister Cui Hao, and in 444, at Cui Hao's suggestion and believing that Buddhists had supported the rebellion of Gai Wu (蓋吳), he ordered the abolition of Buddhism, at the penalty of death. This was the first of the Three Disasters of Wu for Chinese Buddhism. Late in his reign, his reign began to be cruel, and his people were also worn out by his incessant wars against the Liu Song dynasty. In 452, he was assassinated by his eunuch Zong Ai, who put his son Tuoba Yu on the throne but then assassinated Tuoba Yu as well. The other officials overthrew Zong and put Emperor Taiwu's grandson Tuoba Jun (son of Tuoba Huang the Crown Prince, who predeceased him).
Early life Tuoba Tao was born in 408, while his father Tuoba Si was still the Prince of Qi under his grandfather, Emperor Daowu, without having officially been made crown prince but was the heir presumptive, as the oldest and most favored son of Emperor Daowu. (Tuoba Tao's mother was later referred to in history as Consort Du (杜貴嬪), but was likely actually named Duguhun, as by the time that Wei Shu (the official history of Northern Wei) was written, the Duguhuns had their name changed to Du by Emperor Xiaowen.) He was Tuoba Si's oldest son. After Tuoba Si became emperor in 409 (as Emperor Mingyuan) following Emperor Daowu's assassination by his son Tuoba Shao (拓跋紹) the Prince of Qinghe, Tuoba Tao was assumed to be the eventual heir, but not given that title for a while. In Tuoba Tao's childhood, he was given the nickname Foli. Tuoba Tao appears to have been separated from his mother Consort Du from a young age for an unknown reason, and was raised by his wet nurse Lady Dou instead. When Tuoba Tao knew about the situation regarding his mother, he became very mournful, which earned him the praise of his father Emperor Mingyuan. Book of Wei volume 4. "帝生不逮密太后，及有所識，言則悲慟，哀感傍人，太宗聞而嘉歎。" In 420, Consort Du died. (The Book of Southern Qi, compiled by the later Liang dynasty, recorded that Consort Du was killed due to the Northern Wei custom of killing the mother of the crown prince. However, this appears unlikely, as Consort Du died two years before Tuoba Tao became crown prince, and the Book of Wei and Book of Song do not record her cause of death).
In 422, Emperor Mingyuan created Tuoba Tao the Prince of Taiping. Later that year, when he suffered a major illness, at Cui Hao's suggestion, he not only created Tuoba Tao crown prince, but further had Crown Prince Tao take the throne to serve as the secondary emperor. He commissioned his key advisors Baba Song (拔拔嵩), Cui, Daxi Jin, An Tong (安同), Qiumuling Guan (丘穆陵觀), and Qiudun Dui (丘敦堆) to serve as the Crown Prince's advisor. From this point on, most matters, particularly domestic matters, were ruled on by Crown Prince Tao, while Emperor Mingyuan himself only ruled on important matters. Later that year, when Emperor Mingyuan led a major attack on rival Liu Song, Tuoba Tao headed north to guard against a possible Rouran attack.
In 423, soon after capturing most of modern Henan from Liu Song, Emperor Mingyuan died. Tuoba Tao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Taiwu.
Early reign
Almost immediately after Emperor Taiwu took the throne, Rouran attacked after its Mouhanheshenggai Khan, Yujiulü Datan heard about Emperor Mingyuan's death. Emperor Taiwu engaged Rouran troops, and on the very first engagement became surrounded by Rouran troops, but he fought his way out of danger, and subsequently, he made nearly yearly attacks against Rouran, and each year, Rouran forces would elude him by retreating north, only to return south after he withdrew. Meanwhile, in 425, he reestablished peaceful relations with Liu Song. He also, in an action that later became a Northern Wei tradition, honored his wet nurse Lady Dou as "nurse empress dowager".
Also, soon after he took the throne, Emperor Taiwu became a devout Taoist. It was around this time that the Taoist Kou Qianzhi became famed, and Cui Hao became Kou's follower and often praised Kou before Emperor Taiwu. Emperor Taiwu was pleased by prophecies that Kou was making, which implied that he was divine in origin, and he officially endorsed Kou's proselytization of his state.
In 426, after receiving a memorial from the eunuch Chou Luoqi (仇洛齊), Emperor Taiwu carried out a reform of the household registration, as previously, Emperor Daowu had sought out unregistered households by shipping silk to them, and although these households responded to the call, they were not properly assigned to the registers of local tax-collecting officials. As a result, Northern Wei lacked a sufficient taxpaying population, leading to greater demand on those who did pay tax and provide labour. Emperor Taiwu properly assigned the unregistered households to local tax registers, solving the issue.
Also in 426, Emperor Taiwu began to look for a target to make a concentrated attack—asking his officials for their opinions on whom to attack between Xia and Rouran, and his officials were divided in their opinions, and some proposed yet another third target, Northern Yan, although after the death of the Xia emperor Helian Bobo later that year, he settled on making Xia his target. When Baba Song opposed this, Emperor Taiwu showed his fierce temper by having his guards pound Baba's head on the floor, but he also showed how quickly that temper went away by not demoting Baba. He then sent Daxi Jin to attack Puban (蒲阪, in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) and Pu Ji (普幾) to attack Shancheng (陝城, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), while himself making a fast, cavalry-based attack on the Xia's heavily fortified capital Tongwan (統萬, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi). Catching the Xia emperor Helian Chang by surprise, the Northern Wei troops intruded into Tongwan before withdrawing with much loot, while in the south, Helian Chang's generals Helian Yidou (赫連乙斗) and Helian Zhuxing (赫連助興) abandoned not only Puban, but also Chang'an, allowing Daxi to occupy the Guanzhong region. In spring 427, Helian Chang sent his brother Helian Ding south to try to recapture Chang'an, but Helian Ding's forces became stalemated with Daxi's. In response, Emperor Taiwu made another attack on Tongwan. Helian Chang initially took Helian Ding's suggestion to try to defend Tongwan until he could defeat Daxi, but misinformation that Helian Chang received then induced him to come out of Tongwan to engage Northern Wei forces. Emperor Taiwu defeated him in battle, causing him to be unable to return to Tongwan and forcing him to flee to Shanggui (上邽, in modern Tianshui, Gansu), allowing Emperor Taiwu to capture Tongwan. In the start of what would be a string of marriages that could be characterized as either politically- or trophy-taking-related, he took three of Helian Bobo's daughters as his concubines. Upon hearing of Tongwan's fall, Helian Ding disengaged from Daxi and joined Helian Chang at Shanggui as well.
In 428, Daxi and Qiudun Dui, trying to capture Helian Chang, instead became trapped by Helian Chang in the city of Anding (安定, in modern Pingliang, Gansu). However, Daxi's subordinates Yuchi Juan (尉遲眷) and Anchi Jia (安遲頡) made a surprise attack and captured Helian Chang. Helian Ding took over as the emperor of Xia. Meanwhile, Emperor Taiwu treated Helian Chang as an honored guest, supplying Helian Chang with the same supplies that he himself used, and he married his sister Princess to Helian Chang and created him the Duke of Kuaiji; he also rewarded Yuchi and Anchi greatly and created them dukes. Subsequently, Daxi, humiliated that his subordinates captured Helian Chang and he himself appeared helpless, aggressively pursued Helian Ding, but instead was defeated and captured by Helian Ding. In fear, Qiudun and Tuoba Li (拓跋禮) the Prince of Gaoliang abandoned Chang'an as well and fled to Puban, allowing Xia to recapture Chang'an. In anger, although Qiudun had been a high-level official for him since the days that he was crown prince, he had Anchi execute Qiudun and take over his position. For the time being, Emperor Taiwu left Helian Ding alone, while preparing an assault on Rouran instead, since Rouran had been harassing the northern border region.
In light of the Xia campaign, the historian Sima Guang wrote this commentary about Emperor Taiwu, in his Zizhi Tongjian:
In 429, with only Cui Hao in support and most other officials opposing, Emperor Taiwu launched a major attack on Rouran. (The officials who opposed largely worried that Emperor Wen of Liu Song, who had for years wanted to regain the provinces south of the Yellow River that Emperor Mingyuan captured in 422 and 423, would attack.) Emperor Taiwu pointed out that even if Liu Song could attack, it became even more crucial to defeat Rouran first, lest that Rouran attacked at the same time that Liu Song did. He surprised Yujiulü Datan, whose people scattered, forcing him to flee. However, as he chased Yujiulü Datan, he himself became hesitant to advance further, and he withdrew. Only later did he hear that he was in fact very close to Yujiulü Datan's position and could have captured the Rouran khan had he chased further, and he regretted his withdrawal. On the way back, he also attacked Gaoche tribes, and along with the Rouran tribes that he captured, he resettled them south of the Gobi Desert and had them exercise agriculture. Due to this, livestock and leather became so abundant that they could be bought cheaply by Northern Wei's populace. He greatly rewarded Cui, and from this point Cui's advice became what he accepted at all times.