Dynasties of ChinaNorthern and Southern DynastiesNorthern Zhou Dynasty
Baoding and others · Reign 560—578
After forbearing for twelve years, he killed the powerful official Yuwen Hu, banned Buddhism in the entire army, destroyed the Northern Qi Dynasty and unified the north. He died of illness in his prime during the Northern Expedition.
Yuwen Yong's courtesy name is Niluotu, the fourth son of Yuwen Tai, and his biological mother is Chinu. Before Emperor Ming was poisoned in 560, the imperial edict passed down to him, and he was eighteen years old when he came to the throne. For the next twelve years, the government was still controlled by his cousin Yuwen Hu. Yuwen Yong was submissive on the surface but secretly accumulated strength. The Northern Zhou Dynasty formed an alliance with the Turks and jointly attacked the Northern Qi Dynasty twice, but neither of them succeeded. In March 572, he took advantage of the opportunity when Yuwen Hu entered the palace to knock down Yuwen Hu with his own hands, ordered his people to kill her, and began to rule personally.
After taking office, he worked hard to govern, lived frugally, wore cloth robes, and slept with cloth quilts. In 574, an edict was issued to ban Buddhism and Taoism, order monks to return to secularism, and confiscate temple properties to increase military resources and taxes. They also changed the government soldiers to aides, expanded the sources of government soldiers, and recruited a large number of Han people into the army. In 576, he personally led an army to the east and conquered Jinyang. In 577, he captured Yecheng, captured the Last Ruler of the Northern Qi Dynasty, unified the north, and ordered the release of miscellaneous households and slaves as people.
In 578, the Zhou army defeated the Chen army in Luliang and captured Chen general Wu Mingche. The land of Huaibei was returned to the Northern Zhou Dynasty. In May of the same year, Emperor Wu personally led an army to the northern expedition to the Turks. He fell seriously ill on the way and died in June at the age of thirty-six. After Crown Prince Yuwen Yun came to the throne, he was dissolute and immoral, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty was seized by Yang Jian soon after.
Yuwen Yong endured for twelve years and executed the powerful ministers in one fell swoop. After taking office, he reorganized the government troops, banned Buddhism and Taoism, released slaves, and concentrated manpower and material resources on enriching the country and strengthening the army. He defeated the weak and conquered the Northern Qi Dynasty, unified the north, and laid the foundation for Sui Dynasty to unify the country. He was frugal and diligent in political affairs, and was one of the most accomplished monarchs in the late Northern and Southern Dynasties. However, during the process of banning Buddhism, a large number of temple scriptures and statues were destroyed, resulting in heavy cultural losses; he was strict with the Crown Prince but failed to properly arrange the succession, and the government quickly deteriorated after his death.
PoliticsThe posthumous edict ascended the throne
In April, Emperor Ming was poisoned by Yuwen Hu, and his final edict was passed to his fourth brother Yuwen Yong. After Yuwen Yong came to the throne, he changed the Yuan Dynasty to Baoding the next year, and the government was still presided over by Yuwen Hu as Otsuka Prime Minister.
Politicspromulgate the law
Twenty-five chapters of the "Dalu" were promulgated, and the code of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was thus established. Punishments were divided into five categories: rod, whip, punishment, exile, and death.
MilitaryAlliance with Turks to conquer Qi
The Northern Zhou Dynasty united with the Turks to attack the Northern Qi Dynasty and penetrated deep into the city of Jinyang. However, they were defeated due to the cold weather and the Qi army fought to the death. The following year, they besieged Luoyang and were defeated by Gao Zhanggong, Hu Lüguang and others, the Lanling kings of the Northern Qi Dynasty, at Mang Mountain.
Lasting legacyAccording to the "Book of the Northern Qi Dynasty", the people of Qi Dynasty composed "The Song of King Lanling Entering the Battle" to praise this battle; the music and dance with this name was later introduced to Japan and is still a repertoire of Japanese elegant music.
DiplomacyMarry a Turkic princess
After several years of negotiations, the Turkic Mugan Khan finally sent his daughter Ashina to Chang'an, and Emperor Wu made her his queen. The alliance between the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Turks was thus consolidated.
PoliticsKill Yuwen Hu
In March, Yuwen Hu came to the palace to see the Queen Mother. Emperor Wu asked him to recite the "Jiu Gao" to advise the Queen Mother to stop drinking. Taking advantage of her unpreparedness, he hit her on the back of the head with a jade stick. The eunuch He Quan and Wei Wang Yuwen immediately killed him.
PeopleNorthern Qi destroyed the Great Wall
The famous Northern Qi general Hu Lüguang was unjustly killed by the Last Ruler Gao Wei after he believed the slander. Emperor Wu was overjoyed when he heard the news and ordered a general amnesty in the territory to celebrate, believing that the time to destroy Qi was approaching.
CultureDetermining the order of the three religions
Convened ministers, monks, and Taoists to debate the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and determined Confucianism first, Taoism second, and Buddhism third, to prepare public opinion for the ban on religion.
CultureForbidden Buddhism
In May, an edict was issued to ban Buddhism and Taoism at the same time, destroy scriptures and statues, confiscate temple property, and order monks and Taoists to return to secular life. This was the second time in the "Three Martial Arts and One Sect" to exterminate Buddhism. At the same time, a passage temple was established, and famous monks and Taoists were selected to study the three doctrines.
MilitaryChange the government soldiers to servants
The sergeants of the government soldiers were renamed as servants and were directly subordinate to the emperor. Peasants with equal land were recruited into the army and exempted from taxes. The number of government soldiers increased greatly. It was known in history that "half of the Xia people were soldiers".
MilitaryFirst expedition to Qi
In July, he personally led the army to attack Qi and captured more than 30 cities including Heyin Dacheng. However, he could not attack Heyinzi City for a long time. Emperor Wu was ill and had to retreat. The next year, he changed his attack from the direction of Jinzhou.
MilitaryBattle of Pingyang and Jinyang
In October, he again marched eastward and captured Pingyang. Northern Qi's Last Ruler and Feng Xiaolian learned about the military situation while hunting and decided to hunt again. In December, the Zhou army defeated the Qi army and took advantage of the victory to capture Jinyang, the other capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
MilitaryDestroy Northern Qi
In the first month of the first month, Yecheng, the capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty, was captured. The Last Ruler of the Northern Qi Dynasty fled eastward and was captured in Qingzhou. The Northern Qi Dynasty was destroyed and the Northern Zhou Dynasty unified the north.
SocietyFree the slaves and miscellaneous households
The imperial edict was issued to exempt those who were captured as slaves and miscellaneous households in the Northern Qi Dynasty from becoming civilians. The policy of banning Buddhism was also implemented in the original Northern Qi area, and a large number of monks and nuns returned to secular life and established their households.
PoliticsRequirements for issuing sentences
In order to rectify the public security after the Qi Dynasty was wiped out, the "Essential System of Criminal Records" was promulgated, which imposed severe penalties on crimes such as banditry, gathering of people, and concealment of household registration.
MilitaryGreat victory in Luliang
Chen general Wu Mingche went on a northern expedition and besieged Pengcheng. Northern Zhou general Wang Gui cut off the Huaihe River's retreat, defeated Chen's army, captured Wu Mingche alive, and captured more than 30,000 people.
PoliticsDied of illness during the Northern Expedition
In May, he personally led the army to the northern expedition to the Turks. When he arrived in Yunyang, he fell seriously ill. In June, he died on the way back to Chang'an at the age of thirty-six.
Lasting legacyEmperor Wu Xiaoling's mausoleum is located in Xianyang, Shaanxi today. Archaeological excavations in the 1990s revealed the epitaph of Ashinahuanghou and the golden seal of "Empress Dowager Tianyuan's Seal".
The nephew of Yuwen Tai, he had been in power for fifteen years in the early Northern Zhou Dynasty. He deposed and killed Emperor Xiaomin, poisoned Emperor Ming, and failed in many external attacks on Qi. He was executed by Emperor Wu in 572.
The fifth son of Yuwen Tai, the younger brother of Emperor Wu, was good at using troops and made great achievements in conquering Qi. Emperor Wu was jealous and killed by Emperor Xuan after his death.
In 546, he held on to the jade and defeated Gao Huan's army. Later, he fabricated ballads to alienate the Northern Qi monarchs and ministers, which led to the murder of Hu Lüguang and participated in the destruction of the Qi Dynasty.
The daughter of the Turkic Magan Khan, she married to Chang'an and became the queen in 568, which led to the Zhou-Turkish alliance. Emperor Xuan was revered as the empress dowager when she entered the Sui Dynasty. She died after entering the Sui Dynasty and was buried in the Xiaoling Mausoleum with Emperor Wu.
Mingyue, the most famous general in the Northern Qi Dynasty, repeatedly defeated the Zhou army. In 572, he was slandered and unjustly killed by the Last Ruler of the Northern Qi Dynasty. The biggest obstacle to the Northern Zhou Dynasty's destruction of Qi was thus eliminated.
A famous general from the Northern Qi clan, it is said that he was beautiful and often wore a mask to fight. In the Battle of Mangshan in 564, he led 500 cavalry into the Zhou army's siege and solved the siege of Luoyang. In 573, he was killed by the Last Ruler of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
He was originally a monk in Shu and later returned to secular life. In 567, he wrote a letter requesting the reduction of monasteries, monks and nuns, and advocated the establishment of a "Pingyan Temple" that would not distinguish between monks and laymen, which provided a theoretical basis for Emperor Wu to ban the Buddha.