Yuwen Zhiji (died 619) was a military officer of the Sui dynasty. He was the son of

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 ...

, the Duke of Xu. He was the younger brother of

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 ...

and older brother of Yuwen Huiji (宇文惠及). He had another younger half-brother

Yuwen Shiji Yuwen Shiji (died 642), courtesy name Renren, formally Duke Zong of Ying, was a Chinese monarch and politician of the Sui and Tang dynasties, serving as a chancellor, as ''Shizhong'' (侍中) (625–626) and ''Zhongshu Ling'' (中書令) (626� ...

. His ancestors were from

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

descent with the surname Pòyětóu (破野头). The Poyetous later were naturalized to

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 th ...

ethnicity and changed their surname to

Yuwen The Yuwen ( < Eastern Han Chinese: *''wa^B-mun'' < Ol ...

(宇文). In 616, after Shu's death, Emperor Yang made

protector-general of the right camp (右屯衛将軍) and Zhiji supervisor of indequity (将作少監). In 618, Zhiji with his brother Huaji conspired with the officers of Xiaoguo Army (驍果军)— Sima Dekan (司馬德戡), Zhiji's friend Zhao Xingshu (趙行枢), Xue Shiliang (薛世良), Zhiji's nephew Yang Shilan (楊士覧)—to announce Emperor Yang and killed his youngest son Yang Gao. Emperor Yang was strangled to death by Linghu Xingda (令狐行達). A number of high-level officials, including the prime minister

Yu Shiji Yu Shiji (虞世基; before 558 – 11 April 618), courtesy name Maoshi (懋世 or 茂世), was a Chinese politician, poet, and calligrapher who served Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty as a ''de facto'' chief minister from 607 to 618. Acclaimed fo ...

, Pei Yun (裴蘊), Lai Hu'er (來護兒), Yuan Chong (袁充), Yuwen Xie (宇文協), Yuwen Jiong (宇文皛), and Xiao Ju (蕭矩) the Duke of Liang (the nephew of Emperor Yang's wife Empress Xiao), were also put to death. The Xiaoguo Army declared Yang Hao—son of Prince Yang Jun, Emperor Yang's younger brother—the emperor. Zhiji was made Deputy minister of the Left (左僕射) and went to the North with Huaji. They were obstructed by

Wang Shichong Wang Shichong (; 567– August 621), courtesy name Xingman (行滿), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician during the Sui dynasty who deposed Sui's last emperor Yang Tong and briefly ruled as the emperor of a succeeding state ...

's,

Li Yuan Emperor Gaozu of Tang (7 April 566 – 25 June 635, born Li Yuan, courtesy name Shude) was the founding emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 618 to 626. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in the area of modern-da ...

's, Li Mi's and other forces. Huaji then poisoned Yang Hao and made his base Weixian, declared himself the Emperor of Xu (許帝). He appointed his allies officials, and Zhiji the King of Qi (齐王). In 619,

was defeated at Liaocheng by

Dou Jiande Dou Jiande (; 573 – 3 August 621) was a leader of the agrarian rebels who rose against the rule of Emperor Yang of Sui near the end of the Chinese Sui dynasty. Generally considered the kindest and most able of the agrarian rebel leaders ...

. The Yuwen brothers—except

, who was then with

Feng Deyi Feng Lun (; 568–627), courtesy name Deyi (), better known as Feng Deyi, formally Duke Miao of Mi, was a Chinese official of the Sui and Tang dynasties who served as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Gaozu of Tang and Emperor Taizong ...

Jibei Jibei Kingdom ( zh, 濟北國) was a kingdom of Han dynasty, in present-day northern Shandong and southern Hebei. The kingdom was first established on the lands of Qi Kingdom (Han dynasty), Qi in 178 BC for Liu Xingju, son of Liu Fei, Prince of ...

(济北)—alongside with Yang Shilan, Xu Hongren (許弘仁), Meng Jing (孟景), Yuan Wuda (元武達) were executed. Their severed heads were exposed at the castle's gate.

Sources

History of the 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 W ...

, Volume 74 ( Biography #62 in Chinese

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually re ...

) *

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. ...

, Volume 85 ( Biography #50 in Chinese

) *

, Book 6,

Zhonghua Book Company Zhonghua Book Company (), formerly spelled Chunghwa or Chung-hua Shu-chü, and sometimes translated as Zhonghua Publishing House, are Chinese publishing houses that focuses on the humanities, especially classical Chinese works. Currently it has ...

(

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

), 1973, pp1888–1892, {{ISBN, 7-101-00316-8 Sui dynasty generals Sui dynasty politicians 619 deaths Chinese regicides Executed Chinese people People executed by the Tang dynasty by decapitation Yuwen