元嘉 Yuánjiā

Prince of Han

Yuanjia, Prince of Han, was styled Yuanjia. He was first made Prince of Song and later Prince of Xu instead, and served as Prefect of Luzhou. His mother, the Lady of Bright Deportment, was a daughter of Yuwen Shu and a favourite of Gaozu; after he took the throne Gaozu wished to make her Empress, but she firmly declined. Because of his mother's favour Yuanjia was especially loved by the emperor, more than any of the sons born later. While at Lu Prefecture, at fifteen, he heard that the Consort Dowager was ill and wept and would not eat. In mourning he wasted himself with grief, and Taizong several times comforted and encouraged him. From his youth he loved learning and collected as many as ten thousand scrolls of books, all of which he collated against the ancient scripts to settle their variant readings. He was affectionate with his younger brother Lingkui, and when they met at leisure they spent the whole day observing the courtesies of ordinary men; his household was well ordered, and the men of his time praised him for it. Edit

In the ninth year of Zhenguan he was enfeoffed as Prince of Han instead and promoted to Area Commander-in-chief of Huazhou. At the end of Gaozong's reign he was Prefect of Zezhou. When Empress Wu took power she raised him to Grand Commandant and moved him to be Prefect of Dingzhou; she made Yuangui, Prince of Huo, Grand Minister of Education; Yuanming, Prince of Shu, Grand Minister of Works; Yuanying, Prince of Teng, Commander Unequalled in Honour; Lingkui, Prince of Lu, Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent; Zhen, Prince of Yue, Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent; and Shen, Prince of Ji, Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Outwardly she showed them honour and favour, but inwardly she meant to destroy them. Edit

In the Chuigong era Yuanjia was moved to be Prefect of Jiangzhou. With his son Zhuan and Chong, son of the Prince of Yue, he gathered the imperial kinsmen to raise troops together, but they had not yet moved when Empress Wu summoned the imperial kinsmen to court at the Hall of Light. Yuanjia sent messengers to tell the princes: "After the great sacrifice the Empress Dowager will surely put all the princes to death. Better to act first. Otherwise the Li clan will have no seed left." He then forged an edict of Zhongzong urging the princes to raise troops. Chong at once attacked Ji Prefecture with five thousand men, but in the haste the other princes' troops did not come, and so they were defeated. Yuanjia came to the capital; the plot had leaked, and the Empress forced him to kill himself, at the age of seventy. An edict changed the surname of Yuanjia, the Prince of Lu and the Prince of Yue to Hui [viper]. Edit

Yuanjia had six sons. Xun, Prince of Yingchuan, died young. Yi was Prince of Wuling. Chen was Duke of Shangdang. Zhuan, Duke of Huang, was skilled at writing; Meng Lizhen once praised his writing, saying: "Liu Linzhi and Zhou Simao do not surpass him." He was sent out as Prefect of Tongzhou, then pleaded illness and went home, in fact to plan with the Prince of Yue. Chen was versed in music; he served as Aide of Hangzhou and died together with Zhuan. At that time many families had their property confiscated, but the households of Chong and Zhuan had the most books, all with full and correct texts, better than those of the palace library. At the beginning of Shenlong, Yuanjia's rank and fief were posthumously restored, and his fifth son, Ne, succeeded him. When Ne died his son Shuqu succeeded him, and served as Director of Studies of the Directorate of Education. When he died his son Wei succeeded him. In the Jianzhong era the title was changed to Prince of Yun. Later, because Yizong came to the throne from being Prince of Yun, it was changed back, and Yun became Prince of Han by Succession. Edit