Emperor Xuan of Western Liang ((西)梁宣帝; 519 – March or April 562), personal name Xiao Cha (蕭詧), courtesy name Lisun (理孫), was the founding emperor of the Western Liang dynasty of China. He took the throne of the Liang dynasty with support from the Western Wei dynasty after Western Wei forces had defeated and killed his uncle Emperor Yuan in January 555. However, scholars consider his regime, known as the Western Liang or Later Liang in historiography, to be separate from the Liang dynasty proper.
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Early life
Xiao Cha was born in 519, as the third son of Xiao Tong, then the crown prince to Liang Dynasty's founder Emperor Wu. His mother was Xiao Tong's concubine Consort Gong. He was considered studious, concentrating particularly on Buddhist sutras, and as Emperor Wu was a devout Buddhist, he was happy that his grandson studied sutras in this manner. When Emperor Wu created Xiao Tong's sons dukes sometime between 520 and 527, Xiao Cha was created the Duke of Qujiang (曲江县公) in 525.
In May 531, Xiao Tong died, but instead of creating Xiao Tong's oldest son Xiao Huan (蕭歡) the Duke of Huarong crown prince to succeed him (as was expected under Confucian principles of succession), Emperor Wu created Xiao Tong's younger brother Xiao Gang crown prince instead. However, he felt that he did not treat Xiao Tong's sons fairly, and therefore he created them princes—in Xiao Cha's case, the Prince of Yueyang—and gave them honors only slightly subordinate to their uncles. Because the capital commandery of Eastern Yang Province (東揚州, modern central and eastern Zhejiang), Kuaiji Commandery (the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay), was the richest commandery of the entire empire, he rotated them as the governor of Eastern Yang Province, and Xiao Cha was thus rotated there on 12 August 538. However, despite these special treatments, Xiao Cha was still angry that he and his brothers were passed over by Emperor Wu. He saw that Emperor Wu, late in his long reign (since 502), was ruling over an imperial regime that was becoming inefficient and beset by factionalism between Emperor Wu's sons. Therefore, when he was made the governor of Yong Province (雍州, modern northwestern Hubei) on 14 November 546, he thought that this would be a good chance for him to establish a power base of his own, and therefore he cultivated the loyalty of the people to him by governing carefully.
Struggles against Xiao Yi (Emperor Yuan)
In 548, the general Hou Jing rebelled and attacked the capital Jiankang, capturing it in 549 and taking Emperor Wu and Crown Prince Gang hostage. (Emperor Wu died later that year and was succeeded by Crown Prince Gang (as Emperor Jianwen), albeit under Hou's control.) Meanwhile, also in 548, Emperor Wu had made Xiao Cha's older brother Xiao Yu (蕭譽) the Prince of Hedong the governor of Xiang Province (湘州, modern central Hunan), rotating the previous governor of Xiang Province, Zhang Zuan (張纘) to Yong Province. Zhang was a close friend of Emperor Wu's powerful son Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong, who was then the governor of the key Jing Province (荊州, modern western and central Hubei), and he did not take Xiao Yu seriously, making Xiao Yu felt disrespected. Xiao Yu therefore detained Zhang and did not permit him to leave. Further, when Xiao Yi called for the provincial governors in his command region (which, inter alia, included both Xiang and Yong Provinces) to send troops to help lift the siege on Jiankang, Xiao Yu refused, and while Xiao Cha sent a detachment, he refused to command the detachment personally. When Zhang fled from Xiao Yu's custody late in 548, then, he went to Xiao Yi, and, bearing grudges against Xiao Yu, falsely accused Xiao Yu, Xiao Cha, and their cousin Xiao Cao (蕭慥) the Prince of Guiyang and governor of Xin Province (信州, modern eastern Chongqing) of conspiring against Xiao Yi. Xiao Yi therefore killed Xiao Cao and prepared an army to attack Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu was initially able to repel Xiao Yi's attack and cause Xiao Yi's heir apparent Xiao Fangdeng (蕭方等) to die in battle in summer 549, but by fall 549, he had been defeated by Xiao Yi's general Bao Quan (鮑泉), who put Xiao Yu's headquarters at Changsha (長沙, in modern Changsha, Hunan) under siege. Xiao Yu requested aid from Xiao Cha, and Xiao Cha commanded an army to attack Xiao Yi's headquarters at Jiangling. He put Jiangling under siege, but his attack was affected by heavy rains and repelled by Xiao Yi's general Wang Sengbian, and when his own general Du Ze (杜崱) surrendered to Xiao Yi, and Du Ze's brother Du An (杜岸) further launched a surprise attack on Xiao Cha's headquarters at Xiangyang (襄陽, in modern Xiangfan, Hubei), Xiao Cha was forced to withdraw back to Xiangyang. Unable to help his brother and fearing that he would become Xiao Yi's next target—indeed, Xiao Yi then sent the general Liu Zhongli (柳仲禮) to attack Xiao Cha—Xiao Cha submitted to Western Wei, offering to become a vassal, and sought aid, sending his wife Princess Wang and his heir apparent Xiao Liao (蕭嶚) to Western Wei as hostages. Yuwen Tai, the paramount general of Western Wei, accepted Xiao Cha's submission and sent the general Yang Zhong (楊忠) to aid Xiao Cha, and Yang defeated and captured Liu in spring 550. Yang subsequently entered into a treaty with Xiao Yi, putting Xiao Cha under Western Wei's protection. Xiao Yi sacked Changsha and executed Xiao Yu in 550.
Reign
Western Wei created Xiao Cha Emperor of (Western) Liang, and he declared himself as such in spring 555 (as Emperor Xuan). Western Wei forces transferred Jiangling and the surrounding area to Emperor Xuan, but required him to transfer control of the Xiangyang region in exchange, and further left a military garrison at Jiangling, both to protect Emperor Xuan and to make sure that he would not rebel. Further, Western Wei troops pillaged Jiangling and took most of the inhabitants and the Liang imperial treasures back to Chang'an. While Western Wei troops under Yu were still at Jiangling, Emperor Xuan's subordinate Yin Deyi (尹德毅) suggested that he make a surprise attack on Yu and slaughter the Western Wei troops, then reassert Liang's independence. Emperor Xuan declined, reasoning that Western Wei had protected him greatly and that to turn against Western Wei would be unjust. He later regretted the decision, but the decision was probably a correct one as the other Liang generals showed no inclination of recognizing him as emperor. (As whether Emperor Xuan was a "legitimate" emperor of Liang was thereafter historically debated, his state is usually referred to by historians as either Western Liang or Later Liang.)
Emperor Xuan posthumously honored his father Xiao Tong and Xiao Tong's wife Crown Princess Cai as emperor and empress, and honored his mother Consort Gong as empress dowager. He created his wife Princess Wang empress, and as his heir apparent Xiao Liao had died by this point, he created Xiao Liao's younger brother Xiao Kui as crown prince. He entrusted much of the governmental matters to Cai Dabao and Wang Cao (王操), both of whom served him faithfully. He appeared to have full expectation that he would be able to put additional Liang provinces under his control, but immediately, the Liang generals, including Wang Sengbian and Wang Lin, refused to recognize him. Wang Lin, who controlled modern Hunan and later parts of modern Hubei, indeed, sent his general Hou Ping (侯平) to attack Emperor Xuan, and while the attack was unsuccessful, Emperor Xuan was unable to expand his holdings.
Later in 555, Wang Sengbian declared Emperor Yuan's cousin Xiao Yuanming emperor. In fall 555, after Wang Sengbian was killed by his lieutenant Chen Baxian, Chen deposed Xiao Yuanming and declared Emperor Yuan's son Xiao Fangzhi emperor (as Emperor Jing). After Chen had Emperor Jing yield the throne to him in 558, establishing Chen Dynasty as its Emperor Wu, Wang Lin declared Emperor Yuan's grandson Xiao Zhuang emperor, thus maintaining a competing claim for the Liang throne.
Era name
Dading (大定 dà dìng) 555-562
Family
Consorts and issue
Empress Jing, of the Wang clan (靜皇后王氏, d. 563)
Xiao Liao, Crown Prince Xiaohui (孝惠太子 蕭嶚, d. 550), first son
Consort Dowager Xiao, of the Cao clan (孝皇太妃曹氏, d. 562)
Xiao Kui, Emperor Ming (明帝蕭巋, 542 – 585), second son
Unknown
Xiao Yan, Prince of Anping (安平王蕭巖, d. 588), third son
Xiao Ji, Prince Xiao of Dongping (东平孝王蕭岌, d. 566), fourth son
Xiao Cen, Prince of Wu Commandery (吴郡王蕭岑), fifth son
Princess Xuancheng (宣成公主), first daughter
married Cai Yanshou (蔡延寿), second son of Cai Dabao (蔡大宝)