Emperor Ming of Southern Qi ((南)齊明帝) (452–498), personal name Xiao Luan (蕭鸞), courtesy name Jingqi (景棲), childhood name Xuandu (玄度), was an emperor of the Southern Qi dynasty of China. He was a nephew of the Southern Qi founder Emperor Gao, who later became prime minister during the reign of Emperor Gao's great-grandson Xiao Zhaoye.
Believing that Xiao Zhaoye was an incompetent emperor who might act against him, Xiao Luan carried out a coup d'état and assassinated Xiao Zhaoye. After briefly making Xiao Zhaoye's brother Xiao Zhaowen emperor, he deposed Xiao Zhaowen as well, and took over himself as emperor. During his reign, he was known for being exacting and demanding, but also being frugal. He is seen as a very dark figure in history, because he slaughtered the surviving sons of Emperor Gao and Emperor Gao's son Emperor Wu, despite their kindness toward him.
Background
Xiao Luan was born in 452. His mother's name is lost to history, and his father was Xiao Daosheng (蕭道生), a mid-low-level official during Liu Song. Xiao Daosheng died early, and Xiao Luan was raised by Xiao Daosheng's younger brother Xiao Daocheng, a Liu Song general. He had two brothers, Xiao Feng (蕭鳳), who was older, and Xiao Mian (蕭緬), who was younger. Xiao Daocheng was said to have loved Xiao Luan greatly, even more so than his own sons. In 472, at the age of 20, Xiao Luan was made a county magistrate, and during the next few years, as his uncle's powers increased, he was promoted through a number of positions, becoming a general in 478. When Xiao Daocheng took over the throne from Emperor Shun of Liu Song in 479, ending Liu Song and establishing Southern Qi, he created Xiao Luan the Marquess of Xichang.
During Emperors Gao and Wu's reigns
During the reigns of Emperors Gao and Wu, Xiao Luan was steadily promoted, until he reached the higher echelon of power late in the reign of Emperor Wu. He was well regarded by the public and officials alike for his humble attitude and frugality in living, as he did not use luxury items and took on the clothing of an ordinary member of the intelligentsia. At one time, Emperor Wu considered making him the minister in charge of the civil service, but Emperor Wu changed his mind after the idea was opposed by the official Wang Yan (王晏), who believed that Xiao Luan was capable but did not know powerful clans well, and therefore would be ill-equipped to handle the civil service, which at the time weighed the officials' lineages heavily in decisions. Xiao Luan was friendly with Emperor Wu's son Xiao Ziliang (蕭子良) the Prince of Jingling, who served as prime minister. However, Emperor Wu's crown prince Xiao Zhangmao did not like him, and Xiao Ziliang had to defend Xiao Luan before Xiao Zhangmao, and often endorsed Xiao Luan to Emperor Wu. As a result, after the Xiao Zhangmao's death in 493, Emperor Wu, who was himself ill later in the year, designated Xiao Ziliang and Xiao Luan in his will to be the two individuals in charge of the government for his new crown prince, Xiao Zhangmao's son Xiao Zhaoye. Xiao Luan was subsequently instrumental in discovering and thwarting the plot of the official Wang Rong (王融), who tried to divert succession of the throne to Xiao Ziliang. When Emperor Wu died soon thereafter, Xiao Zhaoye succeeded to the throne.
During Xiao Zhaoye's reign
As a result of Wang Rong's plot, Xiao Zhaoye distrusted Xiao Ziliang, and while he granted Xiao Ziliang highly honored titles, actual power rested in Xiao Luan's hands. Soon, however, Xiao Zhaoye demonstrated himself to be a frivolous ruler, spending most of his time in feast and games while expending the treasury surpluses that Emperors Gao and Wu had built up. Xiao Luan tried several times to counsel him to change his ways, with no changes in his behavior, and Xiao Zhaoye in fact began to suspect Xiao Luan and wanted to kill him, but could not resolve to do so, particularly after he consulted with his granduncle (Emperor Wu's son) Xiao Qiang (蕭鏘) the Prince of Poyang, and Xiao Qiang opposed the action. Meanwhile, Xiao Luan also became suspicious that Xiao Zhaoye was going to kill him, and therefore began to set up relationships with key generals—including Xiao Chen (蕭諶) and Xiao Tanzhi (蕭坦之), both of whom were well-trusted by Xiao Zhaoye—while finding pretexts to remove close associates of Xiao Zhaoye, including Xiao Zhaoye's wife He Jingying's lover Yang Min (楊珉), the eunuch Xu Longju (徐龍駒), the general Zhou Fengshu (周奉叔), the teacher Du Wenqian (杜文謙), and the head of the household Qiwu Zhenzhi (綦毋珍之). However, Xiao Zhaoye appeared to be unaware of Xiao Luan's actual intentions, and his own alertness decreased after Xiao Ziliang died of anxiety in summer 494.