Yuan Hao (元顥) (495 - 29 August 530?[1]), courtesy nameZiming (子明) was an imperial prince and pretender to the throne of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei, who briefly received allegiance from most of the provinces south of the Yellow River after he captured the capital Luoyang with support of neighboring Liang dynasty. He became complacent after capturing Luoyang, however, and when the general Erzhu Rong, who supported Emperor Xiaozhuang, counterattacked later that year, Yuan Hao fled Luoyang and was killed in flight.
^According to Yuan Hao's epitaph found in "(A) Compilation of Epitaphs from the Han, Wei and Southern and Northern Dynasties" (汉魏南北朝墓志汇编), he died aged 36 (by East Asian reckoning) on the 21st day of the 7th month of the 3rd year of the Yong'an era of Emperor Xiaozhuang's reign. (以永安三年七月廿一日薨于颖川临颖县，时年卅六。) However, Emperor Xiaozhuang's biography in Book of Wei indicate that Yuan Hao was killed on the gui'you day of the 7th month of the 2nd year of the Yong'an era, which corresponds to 13 Aug 529 in the Julian calendar.
