生平

元晔性格轻浮急躁，有体力，以秘书郎为起家官，略微升迁至通直散骑常侍。建义元年四月甲辰（528年5月21日），魏孝庄帝元子攸封秘书郎中元晔为长广王，食邑一千户，外任太原郡太守，代理并州刺史。尔朱荣死后，尔朱世隆逃回并州的建兴郡高都县，尔朱兆从晋阳县前来汇合，于是在永安三年十月壬申（530年12月5日）推举尔朱荣妻北乡公主的侄子元晔为皇帝，大赦所管辖的地区，年号建明，所有官员加四级。元晔小名盆子，听说此事的人都认为类似赤眉军之事。

建明元年十二月戊申（531年1月10日），元晔在攻克洛阳后大赦天下。尔朱世隆与兄弟密谋，担心元晔的母亲卫氏干预朝政，观察卫氏出行，派遣数十骑兵装扮成劫匪，在京城小巷子里杀死了卫氏。公家和私人都感到惊愕，不知道什么原因。很快又张贴公告悬赏，以一千万钱悬赏劫匪。百姓知道后，没有不垂头丧气的。尔朱世隆很快认为元晔是北魏宗室远支，又不是众望所推的人，想要推举宗室近支广陵王元恭为皇帝。建明元年春二月己巳（531年4月1日），元晔前往邙山南，尔朱世隆等人在洛阳东城外奉迎广陵王元恭，尔朱世隆等人写好禅让的册文，以泰山郡太守窦瑗执马鞭进入行宫，启奏元晔说：「上天和百姓的愿望，都在广陵王身上，请实行尧舜禅让的礼仪。」元晔因此退位。

魏节闵帝元恭登基后，于普泰元年三月癸酉（531年4月5日）封元晔为东海王，食邑一万户。太昌元年十一月甲辰（532年12月26日），安定王元朗和元晔在家中被赐令自杀。元晔的爵位被削除。

家庭

母亲

• 卫氏

兄弟

• 元肃，北魏骠骑大将军、太师、鲁郡王

夫人

• 尔朱皇后，北魏大将军、颍川王尔朱兆之女

儿子

• 拓跋良，北周散骑常侍、开府仪同三司、直阁将军、金紫光禄大夫、太子仆、并恒二州诸军事、二州刺史、晋阳县开国侯

Background

Relatively not much is known about Yuan Ye's early life. His father Yuan Yi (元怡) was a son of Tuoba Zhen (拓拔桢) the Prince of Nan'an, a brother of Emperor Wencheng and son of Tuoba Huang, Emperor Taiwu's crown prince. Tuoba Zhen's line was dishonored after Tuoba Zhen participated in a plot against Emperor Xiaowen's sinicization regime, but Yuan Yi's older brother Yuan Ying (元英) was eventually created the Prince of Zhongshan after he achieved much in the battlefield. Yuan Yi himself was said to be corrupt and violent when serving as the commanding general of the garrison at remote Shanshan (鄯善, in modern Turpan, Xinjiang), and who fled and hid after accusations of such corruption was made against him, dying while in flight sometime between 512 and 515. One of Yuan Yi's sisters married the general Erzhu Rong, and after Erzhu became the paramount general of the empire during the reign of Emperor Xiaozhuang, Yuan Yi was posthumously honored as the Prince of Fufeng.

Yuan Ye himself was not Yuan Yi's oldest son, as he had at least one older brother, Yuan Su (元肃). His mother was Lady Wei, and it is unclear whether she was Yuan Yi's wife or not. Early in Emperor Xiaozhuang's reign, probably on account of his aunt, Yuan Ye was created the Prince of Changguang and made the acting governor of Bing Province (并州, modern central Shanxi), deep in Erzhu Rong's power base. According to the Book of Wei (whose author, Wei Shou, however, might have had an incentive to defame him), he was frivolous and impatient, but physically strong, in his youth.

Becoming emperor

In fall 530, Emperor Xiaozhuang, fearful that Erzhu Rong would eventually seize the throne, ambushed him inside the palace in the capital Luoyang and killed him. Erzhu Rong's wife (Yuan Ye's aunt), along with Erzhu Rong's cousin Erzhu Shilong, fought their way out of Luoyang and headed back north, meeting up with Erzhu Rong's nephew Erzhu Zhao at Zhangzi (长子, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi). They decided to make Yuan Ye emperor, as a competing candidate for the throne against Emperor Xiaozhuang. Yuan Ye created a daughter of Erzhu Zhao empress (although it is not clear whether he had already married her previously, or only married her at that point).

Less than two months later, the Erzhu forces captured Luoyang and arrested Emperor Xiaozhuang. Emperor Xiaozhuang was subsequently delivered to Jinyang (晋阳, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) and killed. Meanwhile, Erzhu Shilong, believing that Yuan Ye's mother Lady Wei would exert political influence, had her assassinated, but staging the assassination to appear as a robbery. Meanwhile, Yuan Ye himself was escorted south toward Luoyang, apparently to take over the throne formally.

However, Erzhu Shilong and his brothers secretly believed that Yuan Ye was too distant in lineage from the recent emperors and lacked sufficient good reputation to be emperor. They made overtures to Yuan Gong the Prince of Guangling, a son of Emperor Xiaowen's brother Yuan Yu (元羽), forcing Yuan Gong to cooperate. When Yuan Ye arrived in Luoyang's vicinity, Erzhu Shilong forced him to yield the throne to Yuan Gong, who took the throne as Emperor Jiemin. (Erzhu Zhao, who was not involved in Erzhu Shilong's plot to replace Yuan Ye with Emperor Jiemin, was initially angered and considered attacking Erzhu Shilong, but calmed down after Erzhu Shilong sent his brother Erzhu Yanbo (尔朱彦伯) to explain the reasoning, and Erzhu Zhao did not carry out any further actions to try to restore Yuan Ye as emperor.)

After removal

Emperor Jiemin created Yuan Ye the Prince of Donghai, a greater title than his original title of Prince of Changguang, and generally treated him with respect. However, Emperor Jiemin lacked much actual power, and the Erzhus remained in control of most of governmental and military affairs, drawing ire from the people for their corruption. The general Gao Huan declared a rebellion against the Erzhus in 531 and declared another member of the imperial clan, Yuan Lang, emperor. By 532, Gao had defeated the Erzhus and imprisoned Emperor Jiemin. Because Yuan Lang was also distant from the lineage of recent emperors, Gao then removed him and replaced him with Yuan Xiu the Prince of Pingyang, a son of Yuan Huai (元怀), a son of Emperor Xiaowen, and Yuan Xiu took the throne as Emperor Xiaowu. In summer 532, Emperor Xiaowu first put Emperor Jiemin to death by poisoning. In winter 532, he similarly put Yuan Ye and Yuan Lang to death, probably by forcing them to commit suicide by poison. Yuan Ye died and his title of Prince of Donghai was not inherited by anyone.

Era name

• Jianming (建明 jiàn míng) 530-531

Family

Consorts and Issue:

• Princess consort, of the Erzhu clan (王妃 尔朱氏)

• Unknown

　• Yuan Liang, Marquis Jinyang (晋阳侯 元良)

Ancestry