In 561, Emperor Xiaozhao suffered severe injuries after falling off a horse. Believing himself to be near death, he decided that Gao Bainian was too young to take the throne, at age five, so he issued an edict giving the throne instead to his brother Gao Zhan the Prince of Changguang.
In 561, Emperor Xiaozhao suffered severe injuries from a horsefall. Believing himself near death, he deemed Gao Bainian too young at five to ascend the throne and thus issued an edict bestowing it upon his brother Gao Zhan, who was then the Prince of Changguang.