Yang Zhirou (楊執柔) (died 692?) was an official of

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

's Zhou Dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor. It is not known when Yang Zhirou was born. What is known is that his grandfather Yang Xu (楊續), a member of

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

's predecessor Sui Dynasty's imperial clan, was a brother of the early Tang chancellors

Yang Gongren Yang Guan (died 639), courtesy name Gongren, better known as Yang Gongren, formally Duke Xiao of Guan, was a Chinese military general and politician during the Sui and Tang dynasties, at one point serving as a Tang chancellor. Background It ...

and

Yang Shidao Yang Shidao (died 647), courtesy name Jingyou, posthumously known as Duke Yi of Ande, was a Chinese politician who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Taizong in the Tang dynasty. Background It is not known when Yang Shidao was ...

. As Wu Zetian's mother Lady Yang was a cousin of Yang Xu, she viewed him as a member of her mother's household and treated him well. As of 692, he was serving as the minister of defense (夏官尚書, ''Xiaguan Shangsu''), when she gave him the designation of ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor ''de facto''.Yang's biography in both ''Old Book of Tang'' and ''New Book of Tang'' indicated that he received the higher chancellor ''de facto'' designation of ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin'' (同中書門下三品), but this appeared to be erroneous, as it conflicts with the chronicles of her reign in both of those sources, the table of chancellors in the ''New Book of Tang'' (see ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 6

, and also did not match the chancellor titles during the times of her reign. See ''Old Book of Tang'', vol.

and ''New Book of Tang'', vol.

/ref> When doing so, she commented that she wanted the members of both her father's and mother's clans to be chancellors (and by that time, her nephews

Wu Chengsi Wu Chengsi ( Chinese: 武承嗣; Pinyin: Wǔ Chéngsì) (died July 22, 698), formally Prince Xuan of Wei (魏宣王), was a nephew of the Chinese sovereign Wu Zetian and an imperial prince of the Wu Zhou dynasty. He participated in her planning in ...

and

Wu Youning Wu Youning (武攸寧), formally the Duke of Jiang (江公), was an imperial prince during the reign of Wu Zetian and served as chancellor both during her regency over her son Emperor Ruizong of Tang and her own reign. It is not known when Wu You ...

were chancellors). Seven months later, as part of a major reorganization of her administration, he was removed from his chancellor position along with Wu Chengsi and Wu Youning, and made the minister of public works (地官尚書). He appeared to have died soon thereafter.

Notes and references

* '' Old Book of Tang'', vol. 6

* '' New Book of Tang'', vol. 10

* ''

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 ...

'', vol. 205. Chancellors under Wu Zetian 692 deaths Year of birth unknown Wu Zetian {{China-bio-stub