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| Emperor Gong of Western Wei 西魏恭帝 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Emperor of Western Wei | |||||||||||||||||
| Reign | c.March 554[1] – 14 February 557[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Emperor Fei | ||||||||||||||||
| Regent | Yuwen Tai (554–556) Yuwen Jue & Yuwen Hu (556–557) | ||||||||||||||||
| Born | 537? | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | 557 (aged 19–20) | ||||||||||||||||
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| House | Tuoba (Yuan) | ||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Western Wei | ||||||||||||||||
Emperor Gong of Western Wei ((西)魏恭帝) (537? – April 557[3]), personal name né Yuan Kuo (元廓), later changed to Tuoba Kuo (拓拔廓), was the last emperor of the Western Wei dynasty of China. He was made emperor in c.March 554 after his older half-brother Yuan Qin was deposed by the paramount general Yuwen Tai. He carried little actual power, and in 556, after Yuwen Tai's death, Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu, serving as guardian to Yuwen Tai's son Yuwen Jue (Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou), forced Emperor Gong to yield the throne to Yuwen Jue, ending Western Wei and founding the Northern Zhou dynasty. The former emperor was killed in 557.
- ^ Vol.5 of Bei Shi indicate that Emperor Gong was crowned in the 1st month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Fei (excluding the 1st year, which remained the 17th year of the Da'tong era of Emperor Wen's reign; the month corresponds to 18 Feb to 18 Mar 554 in the Julian calendar.
- ^ According to Yuwen Jue's biography in Book of Zhou, Emperor Gong relinquished the throne on the gengzi day of the 12th month of the 3rd year of his reign. This corresponds to 14 Feb 557 in the Julian calendar. ([魏恭帝三年]十二月丁亥，魏帝诏以岐阳之地封帝为周公。庚子，禅位于帝。) Zhou Shu, vol.03
- ^ Volume 167 of Zizhi Tongjian indicated that Emperor Gong was killed between the jiawu day of the 2nd month and the gengzi day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of the Yongding era of Chen Baxian's reign; the dates corresponds to 9 and 15 Apr 557 in the Julian calendar.