Gao Yang

The Cruel Emperor Gao Yang

Western History has no corner in the market for crazy leaders, as the example of Gao Yang (aka the Emperor Wenxuan) shows. Ruling for only nine years (r. 550-559 CE) in the tumultuous and short-spanned Northern Qi Dynasty, Gao Yang would have given Nero a run for his money. Known for his narcissistic, unpredidictable, and cruel behavior, he had multiple close advisors executed on pretentious excuses. He banned the religion of Daoism, executing monks who refused to convert to Buddhism. As one source records: “he became an alcoholic and excessively engaged in debauchery and cruelty . . . Sometimes he went about nude . . . Brandishing a sword and drawing a bow he would roam the markets and lanes . . . Of those whom he killed he would have them dismembered, or have them burned in a fire . . .” Ironically, Gao Yang was an ardent supporter of Buddhism, commissioning many temples and adorning them with sculptures such as the ones pictured here from the cave temples at Xiangtangshan. He was so attached to this religion that he eventually became a vegetarian because he thought eating meat violated the Buddhist principle of compassion. As his propensity for turning to execution as a matter of state policy grew, his Buddhist legislation also got increasingly extreme. He forbade fishing, and then falconry, and then the practice of sacrificing sheep. In his last years he even cared for insects and grass, only allowing farmland to be burned in the first month of each year. Sources record that he died from a noxious consumption of alcohol.

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