元朗

生平

永安二年（529年），元朗任肆州鲁郡王后军府录事参军、仪同开府司马。建明二年（531年），任冀州勃海太守。十月六日（531年10月30日）被高欢立为皇帝，即帝位于信都城（今河北省冀州市）西郊，建元中兴，与尔朱世隆所立元恭两帝并存。以高欢为大丞相、柱国大将军、太师，高欢独揽朝政。次年，高欢击败尔朱氏后，四月（532年6月），高欢因元朗世系疏远，迫使他让位于孝武帝元修，改封安定王，食邑万户。太昌元年十一月甲辰（532年12月26日），元朗和元晔都在门下外省被杀死，虚岁二十。永熙二年（533年）葬于邺西南野马冈。

家庭

父母

• 元融，北魏散骑常侍、车骑将军、左光禄大夫、左军都督、章武庄武王
• 程氏

兄弟姐妹

• 元景哲，东魏散骑常侍、开府仪同三司、护军将军、侍中、章武王
• 元叔哲，东魏员外散骑侍郎、征虏将军、中散大夫
• 元季哲，东魏秘书郎中、征虏将军、中散大夫

儿子

元黄头，东魏安平王

Yuan Lang (Chinese: 元朗) (c. 513 – 26 December 532), courtesy name Zhongzhe (仲哲), frequently known by his post-deposition title Prince of Anding (安定王), at times known in historiography as Emperor Houfei (後廢帝, "later deposed emperor"), was briefly an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. He was proclaimed emperor by the general Gao Huan, who rebelled against the clan of the paramount general Erzhu Rong in 531, as a competing candidate for the imperial throne against Emperor Jiemin, who had been made emperor by Erzhu Rong's cousin Erzhu Shilong. In 532, after Gao's victory over the Erzhus, he believed Yuan Lang, whose lineage was distant from the recent emperors, to be unsuitable to be emperor, and instead made Yuan Xiu (Emperor Xiaowu) emperor. Emperor Xiaowu created Yuan Lang the Prince of Anding, but later that year put him to death.

Background

Yuan Lang was born in 513, as the third son of Yuan Rong (元融) the Prince of Zhangwu, a key official in the Northern Wei imperial government who was a distant relative of the then-reigning Emperor Xuanwu. His mother was Lady Cheng. (It is unclear whether she was Yuan Rong's wife or concubine.) In 526, while fighting the agrarian rebel leader Ge Rong, Yuan Rong was killed in battle, and Yuan Lang's older brother Yuan Jingzhe (元景哲) inherited the title of Prince of Zhangwu. Yuan Lang was said to be intelligent in his youth.

In 529, at age 16, Yuan Lang became an army officer, serving on the staff of Yuan Su (元肅) the Prince of Lu Commandery, who was the governor of Si Province (肆州, roughly modern Xinzhou, Shanxi). In spring 531, he became the governor of Bohai Commandery (勃海, in modern Cangzhou, Hebei).

At the time that Yuan Lang became the governor of Bohai Commandery, the imperial government was dominated by members of the paramount general Erzhu Rong, who, after Emperor Xiaozhuang had killed Erzhu Rong in 530, overthrew and killed Emperor Xiaozhuang, installing Yuan Ye and Emperor Jiemin successively.……

Reign

There is little evidence that the 18-year-old Yuan Lang exerted any real influence on Gao Huan's policy decisions as he battled the Erzhus. He initially remained at Xindu, but after Gao captured the important city Yecheng (鄴城, in modern Handan, Hebei) in spring 532, Yuan Lang was placed in Yecheng.

Gao soon prevailed in a major battle against the joined forces of Erzhu Zhao, Erzhu Tianguang, Erzhu Dulü, and Erzhu Zhongyuan, and in light of Gao's victory, the general Husi Chun rebelled at the capital Luoyang and executed the prime minister Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Shilong's brother Erzhu Yanbo (爾朱彥伯), delivering their heads, as well as Erzhu Tiangguang and Erzhu Dulü, whom Husi captured, to Gao. Erzhu Zhao fled back to his domain, while Erzhu Zhongyuan fled to rival Liang Dynasty.

The victorious Gao, along with Yuan Lang, approached Luoyang.……

Death

Emperor Xiaowu created Yuan Lang the Prince of Anding in c.June 532. However, in winter 532, about six and a half months after taking the throne, Emperor Xiaowu ordered Yuan Lang to commit suicide. Yuan Lang was buried without imperial honor, but it is not clear whether he was buried with any honor or not. Eventually, Yuan Lang's son Yuan Huangtou was permitted to inherit the title of Prince of Anding. After Northern Wei's branch successor state Eastern Wei ended and was replaced by Northern Qi, its first emperor Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi carried out a major slaughter of Northern Wei's imperial Yuan clan in 559. One of the victims was mentioned as one of his close associates Yuan Huangtou, who was starved to death, but it is not known for sure whether that Yuan Huangtou was Yuan Lang's son.

Family

Sons

Yuan Huangtou, Prince Anping (安平王 元黃頭; d. 559)