Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou

Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou ((北)周明帝) (534–560), personal name Yuwen Yu (宇文毓), nickname Tongwantu (統萬突), was an emperor of the Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou, although at the start of his reign he used the alternative title "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang). He was made emperor after his younger brother Emperor Xiaomin was deposed and killed by the regent Yuwen Hu. Emperor Ming himself assumed some, but not all, powers from Yuwen Hu, and was generally considered able. Because of this, Yuwen Hu became apprehensive, and in 560, he poisoned Emperor Ming to death. While near death, however, Emperor Ming appointed his brother Yuwen Yong (Emperor Wu) as his successor, believing Yuwen Yong to be intelligent and capable, and in 572, Yuwen Yong was finally able to kill Yuwen Hu and assume full imperial powers.

Yuwen Yu was born in 534, as the oldest son of the then-Northern Wei general Yuwen Tai. His mother was Yuwen Tai's concubine Lady Yao. His nickname of Tongwantu was derived from the fact that Lady Yao gave birth to him at the important city of Tongwan (統萬, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi) while accompanying Yuwen Tai on an inspection of the city. Also in 534, Northern Wei divided into two rival states, Western Wei and Eastern Wei, with Yuwen Tai as the paramount general of Western Wei. In 548, Emperor Wen of Western Wei, to further honor Yuwen Tai, created Yuwen Yu the Duke of Ningdu. In 550, he was made a provincial governor, and for the next several years, he was rotated between several provinces. During his term as a provincial governor, he married the daughter of the key general Dugu Xin (獨孤信) as his wife.

In spring 556, Yuwen Tai was pondering the issue of succession. His wife Princess Fengyi, the sister of Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei, had one son, Yuwen Jue, but he considered the fact of whether making Yuwen Jue heir apparent over Yuwen Yu would trouble Dugu Xin. On the advice of Li Yuan (李遠), who argued that the son of a wife always had precedence over the son of a concubine, Yuwen Tai made Yuwen Jue his heir apparent. Yuwen Tai died later that year, and Yuwen Jue inherited his titles, under the guardianship of Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu. In early 557, Yuwen Hu forced Emperor Gong of Western Wei to yield the throne to Yuwen Jue, ending Western Wei and establishing Northern Zhou (with Yuwen Jue as its Emperor Xiaomin but using the alternative title of "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang)).

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