A Study On The Clan Politics Of The Xuanwu And Xiaoming Dynasties Of The Northern Wei Dynasty

During the reign of Xuanwu and Xiaoming in Northern Wei Dynasty,the main struggle within the clan group was the power struggle between close clans and distant clans in the royal family.In the early years of Emperor Xuanwu,because Emperor Xiaowen implemented Confucian patriarchal system which featured distinguishing distant and close relatives,and many disadvantages exist in the six auxiliary system,Emperor Xuanwu,a distant king,was faced with a joint power situation in the beginning of the reign.This seriously threatened the imperial power of Emperor Xuanwu.Emperor Xuanwu abolished the six auxiliary system and the policy of valuing close kings proposed by his father Emperor Xiaowen and governed dynasty by himself.At the beginning of Emperor Xuanwu's ruling,Emperor Xuanwu did not immediately dispose of kings.Instead,he appointed them as other positions to let them participate in political decision-making.As his throne stabilized,Emperor Xuanwu immediately disposed of the kings.Due to the strong strength of the clan group and the need for the support of the kings,Emperor Xuanwu did not oppress the kings for all,but adopted different disposal methods according to their threat to the imperial power.His three authoritative uncles at the beginning of Emperor Xuanwu's reign were deposed,and the remaining kings were given different treatments according to their identity and talents.In general,after a series of political initiatives by Emperor Xuanwu and the successive deaths of Emperor Xiaowen's brothers,the patriarchal powers were weakened.In contrast to the weakening of close ancestral powers,the distant clan members were able to stand in the Northern Wei Dynasty by the opportunity of Emperor Xuanwu to dispose of close clans,and to compete with them.As distant relatives in the royal family participated in political affairs,they became a powerful force in the late Northern Wei Dynasty.In the early ruling of Emperor Xiaoming,influenced by the patriarchal policy of the ruler,the contradiction and the political struggle between the distant and close clans further was intensified.Therefore,the power of the Northern Wei patriarchal group was weakened as a whole.In the late ruling of Emperor Xiaoming,although close kings were fully involved in politics,they was not valued by Empress Hu.Within the close clan,those who served in the dynasty lost their responsibility to maintain the ruling of the dynasty.The kings guarding the Dynasty on the frontier were continuously defeated in the war,and even rebelled.The distant member in the clan led by Yuan Tianmu,together with Er Zhurong,launched Heyin Rebellion by leading soldiers into Luoyang.With the political struggle in the clan groups,the strength of the clan became weak and divided.The Northern Wei Dynasty also lost the support of the clan and went to division.