While Emperor Wu initially declined on account that the empire had not been pacified, he did so on 24 December 502,[4] when Xiao Tong was only one year old.

After Xiao Tong was created crown prince, his mother Consort Ding, while not made empress, was given a special status co-equal with her son.

After his rite of passage, Emperor Wu also began to gradually have him handle more and more matters of state, becoming less involved in the day-to-day operations of the empire.

After the official Liu Xiaochuo (劉孝綽) suggested that he hold a one-month mourning period, he agreed, and in fact made this a precedent for the Liang Dynasty.

In late 526, Consort Ding grew ill, and Xiao Tong spent his days attending to her without rest.

It was after Emperor Wu tried to console him by pointing out that he should not harm his body and that he still had his father that Xiao Tong began to take porridge, but he ate nothing further.

Xiao Tong therefore allowed the monk to bury a few items intended to dissolve and defuse the ill fortune, such as wax gooses, at the position reserved for the oldest son.

He only stopped the investigation when he was advised to do so by the prime minister Xu Mian, executing only the Taoist monk who had suggested the burial of wax gooses.

Xiao appears to consider these to be anonymous works, a view supported by modern scholarship, despite the claims of Xu Ling in his New Songs from the Jade Terrace.