121:, he wanted to eventually send a son there due to the wealth and strategic importance of the region. He asked his sons who was willing to go—but none responded except Yuwen Xian. Yuwen Tai responded, "A provincial governor needs to pacify the people and rule over them, and you are too young to do that. Based on age, I will pick an older brother of yours." Yuwen Xian responded, "It should be based on ability, not age. If you let me try and I fail, I am willing to be punished." Yuwen Tai was impressed with the response, but did not send him due to his young age, but left instructions for Yuwen Xian to be eventually entrusted with the region. In 554, Yuwen Xian was promoted to the greater title of Duke of Ancheng.
215:, and Wang was killed, causing the army to panic. Yuwen Xian visited the various army camps and was able to calm the anxious army, and he wanted to resume fighting, but Daxi, as the senior general, judged the situation to be too volatile, and so ordered a withdrawal. From this point on, however, Yuwen Hu entrusted Yuwen Xian with great responsibilities, and he participated in most important decisions. Yuwen Hu often had Yuwen Xian serve as a liaison between himself and Emperor Wu, and Yuwen Xian spent much effort trying to reduce the building tension between the two. By 568, he officially became minister of the army, as well as deputy prime minister (i.e., deputy to Yuwen Hu).
240:(大冢宰) -- but reduced the power of the post from being prime minister to only being minister of palace affairs, therefore reducing Yuwen Xian's authority while ostensibly promoting him. Yuwen Zhi was still jealous of Yuwen Xian, and several times advised Emperor Wu to execute Yuwen Xian. Emperor Wu refused. In 574, Yuwen Xian's title was changed to Prince of Qi. That year, Yuwen Xian authored a five-volume work on military strategies and offered it to Emperor Wu, and Emperor Wu was pleased with the work.
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Wu's death, Emperor Xuan summoned his uncles to the palace under the pretense of giving them new commissions, but took the opportunity to ambush and capture Yuwen Xian. Emperor Xuan then had Yu accuse Yuwen Xian of treason. Yuwen Xian refuted each accusation, but was still strangled to death. Yuwen Xian's friends Wang Xing (王興), Dugu Xiong (獨孤雄), and Doulu Shao (豆盧紹) were also executed under false accusations of conspiring with Yuwen Xian, as were Yuwen Xian's sons.
295:) and resisting Northern Zhou forces. Emperor Wu sent Yuwen Xian to attack Xindu. Yuwen Xian sent a letter from Gao Wei and wrote a letter himself, both trying to persuade Gao Jie to surrender, but Gao Jie refused. Yuwen Xian, however, was able to defeat Gao Jie and Gao Xiaoheng, capturing them. Impressed with their bravery, he personally treated them with respect, even personally attending to Gao Xiaoheng's wounds. Subsequently, Yuwen Xian also defeated the
227:) and seizing substantial amount of territory. Yuwen Hu requested Yuwen Xian's opinion, and Yuwen Xian opined that Yuwen Hu should personally lead an army but stay some distance away from the front, while Yuwen Xian himself would advance and engage Hulü. Yuwen Hu agreed, and Yuwen Xian subsequently won some minor battles against Hulü, eventually causing the armies to again stalemate, although by that point territory had been lost.
166:). Yuwen Xian, despite his young age of 15, was said to be a capable governor, paying attention to the people's concerns and to the important matters and making good decisions on legal cases. The people of the region favored him so much that they created monuments for him. Emperor Ming created him the greater title of Duke of Qi.
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Around the new year 570, Yuwen Xian was sent to try to capture the
Northern Qi city of Yiyang (宜陽), near Luoyang, and while he was not successful against Hulü, the armies stalemated. In winter 570, Hulü changed tactics and headed north, encroaching onto Northern Zhou territory north of the Fen River
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together. Once, when Yuwen Tai was giving his sons horses, Yuwen Xian alone picked a multicolored horse. When Yuwen Tai asked him why he did so, he reasoned that in battle, a multicolored horse would be easier to tell apart from others. Yuwen Tai was pleased with the response, and from that point
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In 578, Emperor Wu was launching a campaign against Tujue, but Yuwen Xian, apprehensive of his own successes on the battlefield, declined a commission from
Emperor Wu to lead the army, making an excuse that he had a skin disorder that made it difficult for him to attend to the army. Before Emperor
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In 575, Emperor Wu, secretly planning a major attack on
Northern Qi, only conferred with Wang Yi (王誼) and Yuwen Xian while making his plans, and Yuwen Xian greatly supported the plan. Emperor Wu personally attacked Luoyang, but after sieging it for 20 days without capturing it, he grew ill and was
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In 572, Emperor Wu, apprehensive of Yuwen Hu, conspired with his brother by the same mother, Yuwen Zhi (宇文直) the Duke of Wei, and they ambushed and killed Yuwen Hu. After Yuwen Hu's death was announced, Yuwen Xian personally met
Emperor Wu to apologize for having served under Yuwen Hu. Emperor Wu
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Emperor Xuan, who was erratic in his behavior, greatly suspected Yuwen Xian on account of his ability. He initially asked the official Yuwen Xiaobo (宇文孝伯) to ambush Yuwen Xian, but Yuwen Xiaobo refused, he instead plotted with his associates Yu Zhi (于智) and Zheng Yi (鄭譯). One month after
Emperor
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In winter 576, Emperor Wu again attacked
Northern Qi, with Yuwen Xian as one of his major generals. The attack, while initially repelled by Northern Qi, was very successful, and Yuwen Xian greatly contributed to the eventual seizure, around new year 577, of Northern Qi's secondary capital Jinyang
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In 560, Yuwen Hu, apprehensive of
Emperor Ming's intelligence, poisoned him to death. Emperor Ming, while on his deathbed, designated Yuwen Yong, then the Duke of Lu, the new emperor, and Yuwen Yong took the throne as Emperor Wu. Yuwen Hu resumed his regency. During Emperor Wu's
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had already abandoned
Yecheng and fled. Subsequently, Northern Zhou forces were able to capture Gao Wei. Yuwen Xian's army was said to be so disciplined that the people of Northern Qi were barely disturbed by them.
255:. Emperor Wu commissioned Yuwen Xian with an army to suppress Yuwen Zhi's rebellion, although before Yuwen Xian could get back to Chang'an the rebellion was already put down by the official Yuchi Yun (尉遲運).
150:. Later that year, Yuwen Jue, trying to seize power from Yuwen Hu, had his plot discovered by Yuwen Hu, and Yuwen Hu deposed and then killed him, replacing him with another older brother of Yuwen Xian's,
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to yield the throne to Yuwen Jue, ending
Western Wei and establishing Northern Zhou. Yuwen Jue took the throne (as Emperor Xiaomin) with the alternative title of "Heavenly Prince" (
154:(as Emperor Ming). In 559, Emperor Ming, remembering Yuwen Tai's instruction, put Yuwen Xian in charge of the modern Sichuan and Chongqing region, with his headquarters at
211:, along with Yuchi Jiong, Daxi Wu (達奚武), and Wang Xiong (王雄). However, the Northern Zhou army was defeated by the Northern Qi army commanded by Duan Shao (段韶) and
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Meanwhile, however, Gao Wei's uncle Gao Jie (高湝) the Prince of
Rencheng and cousin Gao Xiaoheng (高孝珩) the Prince of Guangning were still at Xindu (信都, in modern
188:, Yuwen Xian was recalled from his post at Yi Province to be the governor of the capital province of Yong Province (雍州, roughly modern
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forced to withdraw. While Yuwen Xian made some gains on another front, he abandoned the gains and retreated with Emperor Wu.
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Wu actually launched the campaign, however, he fell ill and died, and was succeeded by his son and
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and "History of the Northern Dynasties" said he died at 34, but his tombstone said he died at 33.
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In fall 574, while Emperor Wu and Yuwen Xian were at Yunyang Palace (雲陽, in modern
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tribal chief Liu Moduo (劉沒鐸), who had claimed imperial title, and captured Liu.
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on, whenever he saw multicolored horses, he would award them to Yuwen Xian.
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59:Yuwen Xian was born in 544, as the fifth son of
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39:(齊煬王), was an imperial prince of the
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361:History of the Northern Dynasties
71:Lady Dabugan, who was ethnically
128:and Yuwen Xian's older brother
419:Northern Zhou imperial princes
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67:. His mother was Yuwen Tai's
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335:Both his own biographies in
219:(汾水, flowing through modern
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138:Emperor Gong of Western Wei
63:, the paramount general of
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175:During Yuwen Hu's regency
170:During Emperor Wu's reign
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132:to Yuwen Xian's cousin
79:(by another concubine,
414:Northern Zhou generals
231:After Yuwen Hu's death
27:) (545–July 18, 578),
41:Northern Zhou dynasty
310:(as Emperor Xuan).
37:Prince Yang of Qi
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205:Northern Qi
156:Yi Province
119:Yuchi Jiong
65:Western Wei
429:578 deaths
424:545 births
408:Categories
323:References
213:Hulü Guang
81:Lady Chinu
77:Yuwen Yong
55:Background
45:Emperor Wu
17:Yuwen Xian
308:Yuwen Yun
143:Tian Wang
130:Yuwen Jue
112:pretender
105:Chongqing
92:Zuo Zhuan
69:concubine
61:Yuwen Tai
376:, vols.
289:Hengshui
253:Chang'an
245:Xianyang
152:Yuwen Yu
134:Yuwen Hu
89:and the
86:Shi Jing
366:vol. 58
354:vol. 12
297:Xiongnu
281:Gao Wei
265:Taiyuan
249:Shaanxi
209:Luoyang
194:Shaanxi
182:Baoding
164:Sichuan
160:Chengdu
115:Xiao Ji
101:Sichuan
29:Xianbei
21:Chinese
273:Handan
269:Shanxi
225:Shanxi
221:Linfen
148:regent
73:Rouran
33:Pihetu
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314:Death
293:Hebei
277:Hebei
201:Tujue
190:Xi'an
184:(保定)
31:name
103:and
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186:era
25:宇文憲
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