Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou
| Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou | |||||||||||||
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| Reign | April 1, 579 – March 4, 581 | ||||||||||||
| Born | 573 | ||||||||||||
| Died | 581 | ||||||||||||
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| Dynasty | Northern Zhou | ||||||||||||
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| Era dates | |
| Dàxiàng (大象) (579-581) Dàdìng (大定) (581) |
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| Posthumous name | |
| Emperor Jìng (靜皇帝, "silent") |
Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou ((北)周靜帝) (573–581), personally name né Yuwen Yan (宇文衍), later Yuwen Chan (宇文闡), was the last emperor of the Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou. 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, seized power as regent. Yang soon defeated the general Yuchi Jiong, who tried to resist him, and in 581 had the young Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing Sui Dynasty. Yang soon had the young emperor, as well as other members of Northern Zhou's imperial Yuwen clan, put to death.
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 was then crown prince under Yuwen Chan's grandfather Emperor Wu, and Yuwen Chan was his oldest son. Yuwen Chan's mother Zhu Manyue was Yuwen Yun's concubine, 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 Yang Lihua, 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 (with the atypical title of "Emperor Tianyuan" (天元皇帝, Tianyuan Huangdi). Emperor Jing's palace became known as Zhengyang Palace (正陽宮), and he received the same complement of staff as his father Emperor Xuan.
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