From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou
Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou
(Bei) Zhou Jingdi ((北)周靜帝) As emperor
Family name: Yuwen (宇文, yǔ wén)
Emperor Xuan, even though he formally passed the
Given name: Initially Yan (衍, yǎn), throne to Emperor Jing, retained imperial powers, and
later Chan (闡, chǎn) there was no indication that the young Emperor Jing ex-
Posthumous name: Jing (靜, jìng) ercised any actual authority.
literary meaning: "silent" In summer 579, because Emperor Jing was now em-
Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou ((北)周靜帝) (573–581), peror, Emperor Xuan created Emperor Jing’s mother
personally name né Yuwen Yan (宇文衍), later Yuwen Consort Zhu the special title of "Empress Tianyuan" (天
Chan (宇文闡), was the last emperor of the Chi- 元帝后, Tianyuan Di Hou), slightly subordinate to the title
nese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou. He became emper- of Emperor Xuan’s wife Empress Yang.
or at the age of six, after his father Emperor Xuan formal- In fall 579, Emperor Jing formally married Sima Lingji,
ly passed the throne to him, but Emperor Xuan retained the daughter of the general Sima Xiaonan (司馬消難) as
the imperial powers. After Emperor Xuan’s death in 580, his wife and empress, and she carried the semi-official
the official Yang Jian, the father of Emperor Xuan’s wife title of "Empress Zhengyang" (正陽皇后) to distinguish
Empress Yang Lihua, seized power as regent. Yang soon her from Emperor Xuan’s empresses.
defeated the general Weichi Jiong, who tried to resist In summer 580, the erratic Emperor Xuan died. Em-
him, and in 581 had the young Emperor Jing yield the press Yang’s father Yang Jian quickly took control of
throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing power and served as regent. The general Weichi Jiong,
Sui Dynasty. Yang soon had the young emperor, as well as believing that Yang’s intentions were to seize the throne,
other members of Northern Zhou’s imperial Yuwen clan, rose in rebellion, and he was joined by Sima Xiaonan and
put to death. Wang Qian (王謙). The central government forces, fol-
lowing Yang’s orders under the command of the general
Wei Xiaokuan, quickly defeated Weichi, forcing Weichi to
Background commit suicide. Wang was also defeated and killed, while
Yuwen Chan was born in 573, initially with the name Sima Xiaonan fled to rival Chen Dynasty. On account of
Yuwen Yan. (It is not known when the name was changed Sima Xiaonan’s resistance of Yang Jian, Emperor Jing’s
to Yuwen Chan.) His father Yuwen Yun was then crown wife Empress Sima was deposed.
prince under Yuwen Chan’s grandfather Emperor Wu, Prior to Weichi’s rebellion, Yang Jian, apprehensive
and Yuwen Chan was his oldest son. Yuwen Chan’s moth- that Emperor Jing’s granduncles Yuwen Zhao (宇文招)
er Zhu Manyue was Yuwen Yun’s concubine, who, on ac- the Prince of Zhao, Yuwen Chun (宇文純) the Prince of
count of her low birth, was not made Yuwen Yun’s wife. Chen, Yuwen Sheng (宇文盛) the Prince of Yue, Yuwen
Rather, nine months after Yuwen Chan’s birth, Yuwen Da (宇文達) the Prince of Dai, and Yuwen You (宇文逌)
Yun married Yang Lihua, the daughter of the general the Prince of Teng, whom Emperor Xuan had sent to
Yang Jian the Duke of Sui, as his wife and crown princess. their fiefs, would resist him, summoned them to the cap-
Emperor Wu died in summer 578, and Yuwen Yun ital Chang’an. Soon, believing that the princes would act
took the throne as Emperor Xuan. In spring 579, Emperor against him, he first executed Yuwen Xian (宇文賢) the
Xuan created Yuwen Chan, then six-years-old, as the Prince of Bi (Emperor Xuan’s cousin). When Yuwen Zhao
Prince of Lu—echoing the title of Duke of Lu that both did subsequently carry out an attempted assassination of
Emperors Wu and Xuan carried prior to their becoming Yang, Yang had Yuwen Zhao and Yuwen Sheng put to
emperor. 14 days later, Emperor Xuan created Yuwen death. Following Weichi’s defeat, Yang continued to exe-
Chan crown prince. Less than a month later, Emperor cute the princes in earnest. Around the new year 581, he
Xuan formally passed the throne to Yuwen Chan (as Em- had Emperor Jing create him the Prince of Sui and bestow
peror Jing), Emperor Xuan himself becoming retired em- the nine bestowments on him. Two months later, he had
peror (with the atypical title of "Emperor Tianyuan" (天 Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, ending Northern
元皇帝, Tianyuan Huangdi). Emperor Jing’s palace became Zhou and establishing Sui Dynasty, with Yang taking the
known as Zhengyang Palace (正陽宮), and he received throne as its Emperor Wen.
the same complement of staff as his father Emperor
Xuan.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou
Chinese royalty
Preceded by Emperor of Northern Zhou Dynasty ended
Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou 579–581
Emperor of China (Northern/Western) Succeeded by
579–581 Emperor Wen of Sui
Death • Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou
• Mother
Emperor Wen created the young emperor the Duke of • Empress Zhu Manyue, Emperor Xuan’s concubine
Jie. However, he had all of close male clansmen of the • Wife
duke—all grandsons of Emperor Jing’s great-grandfather • Empress Sima Lingji (created 579, deposed 580)
Yuwen Tai -- put to death, as well as Emperor Jing’s
brothers Yuwen Kan (宇文衎) the Duke of Lai and Yuwen
Shu (宇文術) the Duke of Yan. About three months later,
References
Emperor Wen had the Duke of Jie secretly assassinated as • Book of Zhou, vol. 8.[1]
well, but pretended to be shocked and declared a mourn- • History of Northern Dynasties, vol. 10.[2]
ing period, and then buried him with honors due an em- • Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 173, 174, 175.
peror. The dukedom was passed to a distant relative, Persondata
Yuwen Luo (宇文洛).
Name Zhou, Emperor Jing of Northern
Alternative names
Era names Short description Emperor of Northern Zhou
• Daxiang (大象 dà xiàng) 579-581 Date of birth 573
• Dading (大定 dà dìng) 581
Place of birth
Date of death 581
Personal information Place of death
• Father
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emperor_Jing_of_Northern_Zhou&oldid=472685231"
Categories:
• Northern Zhou emperors
• Sui Dynasty people
• 573 births
• 581 deaths
This page was last modified on 22 January 2012 at 21:49. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
2