Yang Gao (楊杲; 607 – 11 April 618),Volume 185 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' indicated that the palace revolt against Yang Guang (Emperor Yang) began on the ''yimao'' day of the 3rd month of the 14th year of the ''Da'ye'' era of his reign, and that Yang Gao was killed the next day (i.e. the ''bingchen'' day). The date corresponds to 11 Apr 618 on the Julian calendar. The volume also indicated that Yang Gao was 12 (by East Asian reckoning) when he was killed by Pei Qiantiong. (帝爱子赵王杲，年十二，在帝侧，号恸不已，虔通斩之...) Thus by calculation, Yang Gao should be born in 607. nickname Jizi (季子), was an imperial prince of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

dynasty

Sui Dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

. He was the youngest son of

Emperor Yang Emperor Yang of Sui (隋煬帝, 569 – 11 April 618), personal name Yang Guang (), alternative name Ying (), Xianbei name Amo (), also known as Emperor Ming of Sui () during the brief reign of his grandson Yang Tong, was the second emperor of ...

Life

Yang Gao was born in 607, after Emperor Yang had already become emperor. His mother was Consort Xiao, of whom little is known, and she might have been a sister or a relative of Emperor Yang's wife Empress Xiao. In 613, he was created the Prince of Zhao. Yang Gao was said to be intelligent and handsome in his childhood, as well as filially pious—such that when Emperor Yang was ill and unable to eat, Yang Gao would refuse to eat as well, and when Empress Xiao was ill and considered

moxibustion Moxibustion () is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy which consists of burning dried mugwort ('' wikt:moxa'') on particular points on the body. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, ...

, he volunteered to undertake it first. Emperor Yang, when he was under siege by the Eastern Turk leader

Shibi Khan Shibi Khagan (r. 609 or 611–619 AD) succeeded Yami Qaghan as the second khagan of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. Reign He succeeded Yami Qaghan in 609 or 611. From 613 to 615 he was actively supporting agrarian rebels inside China. Pei Ju had ...

in 615 at the seat of

Yanmen Commandery Yanmen Commandery was an administrative subdivision (''jùn'') of the state of Zhao established BC and of northern imperial Chinese dynasties until AD758. It occupied lands in what is now Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Its first seat was at Shanwu ...

in present-day

Daixian Dai County, also known by its Chinese name Daixian, is a county in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, China. Its county seat at Shangguan is also known as Daixian. The county has an area of and had a population of 178,870 at the time of the 2020 ce ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

,. was recorded as so desperate that he was not doing anything except holding Yang Gao and crying. In 618, while Emperor Yang was at Jiangdu (江都, in modern

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

), forces participating in a coup led by the general

Yuwen Huaji Yuwen Huaji (; died March 22, 619) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the Sui Dynasty who, in 618, led a coup against and murdered Emperor Yang of Sui. He subsequently declared Emperor Yang's nephew Yang Hao emperor and ...

entered the palace and surrounded him. Yang Gao was by his side, and started crying bitterly. Perhaps in irritation or perhaps to show Emperor Yang that the coup leaders were serious, Pei Qiantong (裴虔通) seized Yang Gao and killed him with a sword in Emperor Yang's presence, with Yang Gao's blood spilling onto Emperor Yang's clothes. Emperor Yang then offered to commit suicide, but was strangled to death instead. Empress Xiao and her

ladies in waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

had to take decorative wooden boards within the palace to make makeshift caskets for Emperor Yang and Yang Gao.

References

Citation

Bibliography

* ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

'', vol. 5

* ''

History of Northern Dynasties The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western We ...

'', vol. 7

* . * ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vols.

181 Year 181 ( CLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Burrus (or, less frequently, year 934 ''Ab urbe condit ...

182 Year 182 ( CLXXXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 935 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...

185 Year 185 ( CLXXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lascivius and Atilius (or, less frequently, year 938 '' Ab urbe co ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Gao Sui dynasty imperial princes 607 births 618 deaths Executed Sui dynasty people People executed by the Sui dynasty by decapitation 7th-century executions