Birth and childhood

Xiao Tong was born to Xiao Yan, then a Southern Qi general nearing final victory in a civil war against the cruel and violent emperor Xiao Baojuan, in winter 501. He was born at Xiao Yan's power base of Xiangyang, to Xiao Yan's concubine Ding Lingguang (丁令光). (Xiao Yan's wife Chi Hui (郗徽) had died in 499, and from that point on he had only concubines and never made any of them his wife.) After Xiao Yan's victory later in 501, he forced Emperor He of Southern Qi, whom he had supported as a rival claimant to the Southern Qi throne, to yield the throne to him in 502, ending Southern Qi and starting Liang Dynasty (as its Emperor Wu). The officials requested that he make Xiao Tong, then an infant, the crown prince, and while Emperor Wu initially declined on account that the empire had not been pacified, he did so in winter 502, when Xiao Tong was only one year old. After Xiao Tong was created crown prince, his mother Consort Ding, while not made empress, was given a special status co-equal with her son.

Xiao Tong was said to be intelligent, kind, and obedient to his parents from his childhood. As per customs of the time, in 506, he was housed in the Yongfu Mansion (永福省), the residence for the crown prince, in his childhood, but he missed his parents, and so every few days or so Emperor Wu would spend several days at Yongfu Mansion. (Whether Consort Ding did the same is not recorded in history.) In 515, he went through his rite of passage and was declared an adult, and Emperor Wu bestowed him a crown.

As adult

As Emperor Wu was an avid Buddhist, Xiao Tong also became one, and he studied sutras intently, often inviting Buddhist monks to his palace to preach and to discuss Buddhist doctrines. After his rite of passage, Emperor Wu also began to gradually have him handle more and more matters of state, becoming less involved in the day-to-day operations of the empire.

In 522, Xiao Tong's uncle Xiao Dan (蕭憺) the Prince of Shixing died. By custom, a crown prince would not hold a mourning period for an uncle, but Xiao Tong believed this custom to be unfilial, and therefore requested the officials to further discuss the matter. After the official Liu Xiaochuo suggested that he hold a one-month mourning period, he agreed, and in fact made this a precedent for the Liang Dynasty.

During this period, Xiao Tong and others compiled a compendium of ancient poetry and texts, which he referred to as Wenxuan (文選, "Selections of Refined Literature"), which was later known after his death, by his posthumous name, as the Zhaoming Wenxuan (昭明文選). It is a work of historical importance, as it preserved many ancient texts which otherwise might have been lost.

In 526, Consort Ding grew ill, and Xiao Tong spent his days attending to her without rest. She died in winter 526, and Xiao Tong was so saddened that he ate nothing. It was after Emperor Wu tried to console him by pointing out that he should not harm his body and that he still had his father that Xiao Tong began to take porridge, but he ate nothing further. He was described to be fairly obese until that point, but he lost a lot of weight during the mourning period for Consort Ding.

Death

The death of Consort Ding brought about a disastrous effect in Xiao Tong's relationship with his father, however. Xiao Tong sought out an appropriate place to bury Consort Ding, but while he was doing so, a land owner bribed the eunuch Yu Sanfu (俞三副) into convincing Emperor Wu that that piece of land would bring good fortune for the emperor, and so Emperor Wu bought the land and buried Consort Ding there. However, once Consort Ding was buried, a Taoist monk informed Xiao Tong that he believed that the land would bring ill fortune for Consort Ding's oldest son—Xiao Tong. Xiao Tong therefore allowed the monk to bury a few items intended to dissolve the ill fortune, such as wax ducks, at the position reserved for the oldest son. Later on, when one of Xiao Tong's attendants, Bao Miaozhi (鮑邈之), was squeezed out of Xiao Tong's inner circles by another attendant, Wei Ya (魏雅), he, in resentment, reported to Emperor Wu that Wei had carried out sorcery on Xiao Tong's behalf. When Emperor Wu investigated, waxed ducks were found, and Emperor Wu became surprised and angry, and wanted to investigate further. He only stopped the investigation when he was advised to do so by the prime minister Xu Mian, executing only the Taoist monk who had suggested the burial of wax ducks. Xiao Tong became humiliated in the affair, and was never able to clear himself completely in his father's eyes.

Xiao Tong died in 531. Even when he was very ill, because he was afraid to make Emperor Wu be concerned about him, he still personally wrote submissions to his father. After his death, Emperor Wu personally attended his wake and buried him at a tomb appropriate for an emperor. He also summoned Xiao Tong's oldest son, Xiao Huan (蕭歡) the Duke of Huarong back to the capital Jiankang, preparing to create Xiao Huan crown prince to replace his father. However, still resentful over the wax duck affair, he hesitated for days without carrying out the creation, and finally did not do so. Instead, against popular opinion, he created Xiao Tong's younger brother, also by Consort Ding, Xiao Gang crown prince. In 551, when Xiao Gang, then emperor (as Emperor Jianwen) but under control and virtual house arrest by the general Hou Jing, Hou, to try to show off his power, deposed Emperor Jianwen and made Xiao Tong's grandson Xiao Dong the Prince of Yuzhang emperor. It was then that Xiao Tong was posthumously honored an emperor.

Literary legacy

Xiao Tong is survived by his great literary compendium, the Wenxuan, an anthology of literature divided into 60 chapters. Chapter 29 preserves the Nineteen Old Poems, a major source for early Classical Chinese poetry. Xiao appears to consider these to be anonymous works, a view supported by modern scholarship, despite the claims of Xu Ling in his New Songs from the Jade Terrace.

Personal information

• Father

　• Emperor Wu of Liang

• Mother

　• Consort Ding Lingguang (丁令光) (485-526), posthumous name Mu

• Wife

　• Crown Princess Cai, the Crown Princess Jing, later posthumously honored as Empress Jing

• Major Concubines

　• Lady Gong, mother of Prince Cha and possibly Prince Yu

• Issue

　• Xiao Huan (蕭歡), initially the Duke of Huarong, later Prince An of Yuzhang (created 531)

　• Xiao Yu (蕭譽), initially the Duke of Zhijiang (created 521), later Prince Wuhuan of Hedong (created 531, killed by Emperor Yuan of Liang 550)

　• Xiao Cha (蕭詧), initially the Duke of Qujiang, later the Prince of Yueyang (created 531), later Emperor Xuan of Western Liang

　• Xiao Pi (蕭譬), the Prince of Wuchang (created 531)

　• Xiao Jian (蕭鑒), the Prince of Yiyang (created 531)

生平

天監元年（502年）十一月立為太子。

普通七年（526年），蕭統為其母丁貴嬪選定墓地，宦官俞三副在蕭衍面前進讒，說太子選擇的墓地會對蕭衍不利。蕭衍此時已經六十多歲，對生死之事頗有忌諱，便下令讓蕭統將墓地改為俞三副新選的地方，之後有道士對蕭統說俞三副選擇的地方風水會對他不利，只有通過厭禱的方式才能化解，于是將一隻蠟燭鵝和一些物品埋在了墓地旁邊長子的位置。此時此事只有太子親信知道，不過不久後太子親信鮑邈之因為做錯事被蕭統疏遠，便向乘機向蕭衍進言說太子暗中行巫蠱之事。蕭衍盛怒之下要一查到底，多虧大臣徐勉勸阻下才作罷，但蕭統因為蠟鵝厭禱事件與父親的關係漸漸疏遠。

然英年早逝，未及即位即於中大通三年（531年）去世，死後諡「昭明」，故世稱昭明太子。梁武帝召其子蕭歡回京，欲立為皇太孫。但蠟鵝厭禱之事始終讓蕭衍難以釋懷，最終還是因為對蕭統的猜忌未果，遣返蕭歡，立蕭統胞弟蕭綱為太子，進封蕭統諸子為王。

其第三子蕭詧555年于江陵即位為西梁皇帝，追謚蕭統為高宗昭明皇帝。蕭統編纂了中國最早的一部詩文總集—《文選》（人稱《昭明文選》）。很多梁代以前的文學作品賴此得以保存。

侯景之亂期間，蕭詧攻打叔父湘東王蕭繹，部將杜岸叛變，蕭詧因此處決杜岸並滅其族，幼兒閹割，挖其家族墳墓，挫骨揚灰。後來杜岸兄杜崱兄弟隨蕭繹軍收複都城建康，為了報仇，挖掘蕭統安寧陵，挫骨揚灰，以為報仇，蕭繹也不怪罪。

著名的大乘佛教經典《金剛經》，其中「三十二分則」的編輯，即是昭明太子所作。原本長篇連貫的經文，經過他整理成為容易傳誦理解的三十二個分則，各段並補充濃縮精要的副標題。

由於他與其父親對佛教教義流通的貢獻，禪宗寺廟時常以梁武帝與昭明太子父子合祀為護法神。

家庭

父母

• 父 梁武帝蕭衍

• 母 丁令光：貴嬪→皇太后（追尊），謚穆太后

兄弟

• 第二弟 蕭綜：豫章郡王，字世謙

• 第三弟 蕭綱：晉安郡王→皇太子→皇帝，字世讚，謚簡文皇帝

• 第四弟 蕭績：南康郡王，字世謹，謚簡王

• 第五弟 蕭續：廬陵郡王，字世訢，謚威王

• 第六弟 蕭綸：邵陵郡王，字世調，謚攜王/忠壯王

• 第七弟 蕭繹：湘東郡王→皇帝，字世誠，謚孝元皇帝

• 第八弟 蕭紀：武陵郡王→皇帝，字世詢，謚貞獻王

妻妾

• 皇太子妃蔡若音

• 保林龔氏

子女

• 蕭歡，豫章郡王，追尊安皇帝

• 蕭譽，河東武桓王

• 蕭詧，梁宣帝

• 蕭𧫷：武昌郡王

• 蕭譼：義陽郡王

• 廬陵公主，嫁王㳬