Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Xiao Daocheng
Liu Song general who put down the Prince of Guiyang, had the young emperor Liu Yu killed and in 479 founded the Southern Qi, ruling for four years
In a side chamber of a palace, a yellow ceremonial robe embroidered with a dragon hangs on a wooden stand, its hem worked with waves and rocks, before a carved folding screen, while a black lacquer chest sits on a low table by a lattice window and no person is in view.
Also known as Zishao Bo · Qigao Di
Xiao Daocheng, courtesy name Shaobo, belonged to a family registered at Lanling but long settled at Wujin, and his father Xiao Chengzhi was a Liu Song general. Rising through the army, he held Huaiyin under Emperor Ming of Song. In 474, when Liu Xiufan, Prince of Guiyang, attacked the capital, he held the fort at Xinting and crushed the revolt, which brought him into the inner court. In 477, after the young emperor Liu Yu was murdered by his attendants, he enthroned Liu Zhun as Emperor Shun, took control of the government and defeated Shen Youzhi, governor of Jing province, and Yuan Can, who had plotted against him at Stone City. In 479 he accepted the abdication and proclaimed the Qi dynasty, reigning as Jianyuan; the History of Southern Qi (Nan Qishu) quotes him saying that given ten years he would make gold as cheap as earth. He died in 482 aged fifty-six, and that history was written by his grandson Xiao Zixian.
Life and times
Dates 427 CE–482 CE