Yang Hao (; November 22, 586?-October 23, 618), often known by the title of Prince of Qin (秦王), was one of the claimants of the throne 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 ...

Sui Dynasty at the dynasty's end.

Background

Yang Hao was a grandson of Sui's founder Emperor Wen. His father Yang Jun was the Prince of Qin. Yang Hao was one of Yang Jun's two sons, and his mother was Yang Jun's wife Princess Cui. In 597, angry and jealous over Yang Jun's favor for his

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

s, Princess Cui poisoned melons that he was eating. Yang Jun grew ill, and went back from his defense post at Bing Province (并州, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) to the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...

for treatment. After he did so, Princess Cui's poisoning of him was discovered. Emperor Wen ordered that she be divorced and sent back to the household of her brother Cui Hongdu (), and then ordered her to commit suicide. Yang Jun never completely recovered from his illness. He died in 600. Emperor Wen, reasoning that Princess Cui's crime tainted Yang Hao and that his brother Yang Zhan () was born of a concubine and therefore unfit to inherit the title, did not allow either to inherit the title of Prince of Qin, and in fact ordered that Yang Jun's staff members serve as his mourners, suggesting that both Yang Hao and Yang Zhan were excluded from the funeral proceedings.

During Emperor Yang's reign

Emperor Wen died in 604, and Yang Hao's uncle Yang Guang took the throne as Emperor Yang. In 606, he created Yang Hao the Prince of Qin and Yang Zhan the Marquess of Jibei. By 613, Yang Hao was serving as the commander of the militia in Heyang Commandery (河陽, roughly modern

Jiaozuo Jiaozuo ( ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to th ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) when the general

Yang Xuangan Yang Xuangan (楊玄感 ''Yáng Xuángǎn''; died 613) was a Chinese military general and politician who lived during the Sui Dynasty. He was the son of Yang Su, a military general and politician himself, as he knew that Emperor Yang was apprehe ...

rebelled nearby. Emperor Yang, then at the front of a campaign against

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

, sent the general

Yuwen Shu Yuwen Shu (; died 616), courtesy name Botong (伯通), formally Duke Gong of Xu (許恭公), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Sui dynasty. He was a confidant of Emperor Yang (Yang Guang) and was instrumental in Yang Guang's di ...

back to Sui territory to attack Yang Xuangan, and Yuwen and Yang Hao exchanged letters, and they further met and joined forces against Yang Xuangan. However, after Yang Xuangan's rebellion was suppressed, Yang Hao was indicted for communicating with imperial officials—an act not allowed for imperial princes—and removed from his post. In spring 618, with the Sui state engulfed in various rebellions, Yang Hao was with Emperor Yang 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 ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

), when 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 ...

(Yuwen Shu's son) killed Emperor Yang. The coup leaders also killed many of Emperor Yang's relatives and high-level officials. However, as Yang Hao was friendly with Yuwen Huaji's brother Yuwen Zhiji (), Yuwen Zhiji persuaded Yuwen Huaji to spare Yang Hao, and subsequently, Yang Hao was declared emperor by an edict issued in the name of Emperor Yang's wife Empress Xiao, although Yuwen Huaji wielded actual powers, as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Reign

There was no evidence that suggested that Yuwen Huaji permitted Yang Hao to actually exercise any imperial powers. Yuwen Huaji soon abandoned Jiangdu and led the remaining Sui court and the elite Xiaoguo Army () north. During the procession, Yang Hao was effectively put under house arrest at the mobile executive bureau (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng''), under heavy guard. Edicts were signed by Yang Hao, but he was not even permitted to meet with the officials. Yuwen Huaji soon engaged the rebel leader Li Mi but suffered several defeats against Li and eventually forced to withdraw to Wei (魏縣, in modern Handan,

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

). As he saw his military power waning, he became depressed. He then resolved to be emperor while he was still alive, and therefore poisoned Yang Hao, declaring himself emperor of a state of Xu.

Personal information

* Father ** Yang Jun, Prince Xiao of Qin * Mother ** Princess Cui (forced to commit suicide 597), Yang Jun's wife, sister of Cui Hongdu ()

References

* ''

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. 45. * ''

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. 71. * ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...

'', vols. 179, 180,

185 Year 185 (Roman numerals, 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 ...

, 186. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Hao Sui dynasty emperors 586 births 618 deaths 7th-century Chinese monarchs Political office-holders in Henan Transition from Sui to Tang