Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou ((北)周靜帝) (July or August 573 – 10 July 581), personally name né Yuwen Yan (宇文衍), later Yuwen Chan (宇文闡), was the last

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

-led Chinese

Northern Zhou dynasty Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and ...

. He became emperor at the age of six, after his father Emperor Xuan formally passed the throne to him, but Emperor Xuan retained the imperial powers. After Emperor Xuan's death in 580, the official Yang Jian, the father of Emperor Xuan's wife

Yang Lihua Yang Lihua (; 561–609) was an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty, and later a princess of Sui dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou (Yuwen Yun), and her father was Yang Jian who later usurped the Northe ...

, seized power 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 ...

. Yang soon defeated the general

Yuchi Jiong Yuchi Jiong (尉遲迥) (died 11 September 580''gengwu'' day of the 8th month of the 2nd year of the ''Daxiang'' era, per Emperor Jing's biography in ''Book of Zhou''), courtesy name Bojuluo (薄居羅), was a general of the Xianbei-led Western We ...

, who tried to resist him, and in 581 had the young Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing the

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 ...

. Yang soon had the young emperor, as well as other members of Northern Zhou's imperial Yuwen clan, put to death.

Background

Yuwen Chan was born in 573, initially with the name Yuwen Yan. (It is not known when the name was changed to Yuwen Chan.) His father

Yuwen Yun Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou (北周宣帝) (559 – 22 June 580), personal name Yuwen Yun (宇文贇), courtesy name Qianbo (乾伯), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. He was known in history as an erratic and was ...

was then

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

under Yuwen Chan's grandfather Emperor Wu, and Yuwen Chan was his oldest son. Yuwen Chan's mother

Zhu Manyue Zhu Manyue (; 547–586), later known by her Buddhist name Fajing (法淨), was a concubine of the Emperor Xuan (Yuwen Yun) of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. She was the mother of the Emperor Jing (Yuwen Chan). Zhu Manyue was s ...

was Yuwen Yun's

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 ...

, who, on account of her low birth, was not made Yuwen Yun's wife. Rather, nine months after Yuwen Chan's birth, Yuwen Yun married

, the daughter of the general Yang Jian the Duke of Sui, as his wife and crown princess. Emperor Wu died in summer 578, and Yuwen Yun took the throne as Emperor Xuan. In spring 579, Emperor Xuan created Yuwen Chan, then six-years-old, as the Prince of Lu—echoing the title of Duke of Lu that both Emperors Wu and Xuan carried prior to their becoming emperor. 14 days later, Emperor Xuan created Yuwen Chan crown prince. Less than a month later, Emperor Xuan formally passed the throne to Yuwen Chan (as Emperor Jing), Emperor Xuan himself becoming

retired emperor Retired Emperor, Grand Emperor, or Emperor Emeritus is a title occasionally used by the monarchical regimes in the Sinosphere for former emperors who had (at least in name) abdicated voluntarily to another member of the same clan, usually their s ...

(with the atypical title of "Emperor Tianyuan" (天元皇帝, ''Tianyuan Huangdi''). Emperor Jing's palace became known as Zhengyang Palace (), and he received the same complement of staff as his father Emperor Xuan.

As emperor

Emperor Xuan, even though he formally passed the throne to Emperor Jing, retained imperial powers, and there was no indication that the young Emperor Jing exercised any actual authority. In summer 579, because Emperor Jing was now emperor, Emperor Xuan created Emperor Jing's mother Consort Zhu the special title of "Empress Tianyuan" (天元帝后, ''Tianyuan Di Hou''), slightly subordinate to the title of Emperor Xuan's wife Empress Yang. In fall 579, Emperor Jing formally married

Sima Lingji Sima Lingji () (570s to 630s) was, briefly, an empress of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. Her husband was Emperor Jing, the final emperor of the dynasty. Sima Lingji was the daughter of the Northern Zhou general Sima Xiaonan () t ...

, the daughter of the general Sima Xiaonan () as his wife and

empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

, and she carried the semi-official title of "Empress Zhengyang" () to distinguish her from Emperor Xuan's empresses. In summer 580, the erratic Emperor Xuan died. Empress Yang's father Yang Jian quickly took control of power and served as

. The general

, believing that Yang's intentions were to seize the throne, rose in rebellion, and he was joined by Sima Xiaonan and Wang Qian (). The central government forces, following Yang's orders under the command of the general

Wei Xiaokuan Wei Xiaokuan (韋孝寬) (509 – 17 December 580''dingwei'' day of the 11th month of the 2nd year of the ''Daxiang'' era, per Emperor Jing's biography in ''Book of Zhou''. Wei Xiaokuan's biography in ''Book of Zhou'' indicated that he was 72 (by Ea ...

, quickly defeated Yuchi, forcing Yuchi to commit suicide. Wang was also defeated and killed, while Sima Xiaonan fled to rival Chen Dynasty. On account of Sima Xiaonan's resistance of Yang Jian, Emperor Jing's wife Empress Sima was deposed. Prior to Yuchi's rebellion, Yang Jian, apprehensive that Emperor Jing's granduncles Yuwen Zhao () the Prince of Zhao, Yuwen Chun () the Prince of Chen, Yuwen Sheng () the Prince of Yue, Yuwen Da () the Prince of Dai, and Yuwen You () the Prince of Teng, whom Emperor Xuan had sent to their

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

s, would resist him, summoned them 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 Shi ...

. Soon, believing that the princes would act against him, he first executed Yuwen Xian () the Prince of Bi (Emperor Xuan's cousin). When Yuwen Zhao did subsequently carry out an attempted assassination of Yang, Yang had Yuwen Zhao and Yuwen Sheng as well as their households put to death. Following Yuchi's defeat, Yang continued to execute the princes in earnest. Around the new year 581, he had Emperor Jing create him the Prince of Sui and bestow the

nine bestowments The nine bestowments () were awards given by Chinese emperors to officials, ostensibly to reward them for their accomplishments. While the nature of the bestowments was probably established during the Zhou Dynasty, there was no record of anyone r ...

on him. Two months later, he had Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing

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 ...

, with Yang taking the throne as its Emperor Wen.

Death

Emperor Wen created the young emperor the Duke of Jie. However, he had all of close male clansmen of the duke—all other male descendants of Emperor Jing's great-grandfather

Yuwen Tai Yuwen Tai () (505 – 21 November 556According to Yuwen Tai's biography in ''Book of Zhou'', he died aged 52 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''yihai'' day of the 10th month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei. This corre ...

—put to death, as well as Emperor Jing's brothers Yuwen Kan () the Duke of Lai and Yuwen Shu (), the Duke of Yan.This Yuwen Shu 宇文術 should be distinguished from another Yuwen Shu 宇文述,

Yang Guang 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 ...

's supporter and father to Yuwen brothers ( Huaji,

Shiji ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...

and Zhiji). He also executed those of Yuwen Tai's elder brother

Yuwen Hao The Yuwen ( <

Eastern Han Chinese

: *''wa^B-mun'' <

. About three months later, Emperor Wen had the Duke of Jie secretly assassinated as well, but pretended to be shocked and declared a mourning period, and then buried him with honors due an emperor. The dukedom was passed to a distant relative, Yuwen Luo ().

Family

Consorts: *

Empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

, of the Sima clan of Henei (), personal name Lingji ()

Ancestry

References

* ''

Book of Zhou The ''Book of Zhou'' (''Zhōu Shū'') records the official history of the Xianbei-led Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties of China, and ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. Compiled by the Tang dynasty historian ...

'', vol.

* ''

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. 1

* ''

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.

173 Year 173 ( CLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Pompeianus (or, less frequently, year 926 ''Ab urbe ...

174 Year 174 ( CLXXIV) 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 Gallus and Flaccus (or, less frequently, year 927 '' Ab urbe condi ...

175 Year 175 ( CLXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Piso and Iulianus (or, less frequently, year 928 ''Ab urbe condita ...

. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jing of Northern Zhou 573 births 581 deaths 6th-century murdered monarchs Northern Zhou emperors Sui dynasty people Assassinated Chinese politicians Murdered Chinese emperors Murdered Chinese children