Gao Changgong was born the fourth son of
Gao Cheng, elder brother of the first emperor of
Northern Qi and therefore a prince of Northern Qi. He was given the title of Prince of Lanling on 1 May 560. Gao Changgong was also made a general by
Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi (Gao Zhan), his uncle, and his distinction in battles as well as personal kindness and bravery led him becoming widely loved and admired. Legend has it that he looked beautiful like a woman, so he wore a mask in battles to appear more fearsome to the enemy. Gao Changgong repelled the
First Turkic Khaganate when they attacked Jinyang (晉陽, now the city of
Taiyuan). His most famous battle however was the rescue of the siege of Jinyong (金墉, near modern
Luoyang) in 564 A.D. Gao Changgong led only 500 cavalrymen and fought through an army of
Northern Zhou, which was attacking the city with 100,000 soldiers. He fought his way to the gates the city, surprising the defenders. The soldiers of Jinyong did not recognize him, so he took off his helmet and mask. The soldiers in the city rejoiced at his arrival and were refilled with courage. They opened the gates and joined the battle outside the city. Soon the army of Northern Zhou was defeated. In order to celebrate the victory, the soldiers composed the famous song and dance "The song of the Prince of Lanling entering the battle camp” (蘭陵王入陣曲, also known as 大面, "The great mask"). According to the
Record of the Court Entertainment Bureau (教坊記) of
Tang dynasty, the dance "Great mask" was one of the courts musics to be performed with the emperor's audience. The song and the dance are long lost in China; however, it was introduced into Japan during the
Tang dynasty with Lanling known as , and is still being performed in some ceremonies today. He was afraid that Gao Changgong might overthrow him. Many members of the Gao family had met their ends at the hands of brothers and cousins, and he became paranoid that he would have the same fate. To avoid the emperor's suspicion and jealousy, Gao Changgong often pretended to be sick, staying away from wars and politics. No matter how low a profile he kept, the emperor still sent him a cup of poisonous wine one day in June or July 573 A.D. Gao Changgong drank the wine and ended his life, probably in his early 30s. Four years after Gao Changgong's death, having lost one of its greatest generals, Northern Qi was destroyed by
Northern Zhou. All the members of the Gao royal family were slaughtered. In 1999, within the cave of Longmen, a message was found carved into a statue, indicating that the Prince of Lanling had living descendants. ==Popular culture==