Yuwen Hu Yuwen Hu ( 宇文護 ) ( 515 – 572 ) , with Chinese title Sabao ( 薩保 , a distorted form of Sogdian " sartpāw “ caravan leader ” " , also applicable to Sogdian religious leaders ) , formally Duke Dang of Jin ( 晉蕩公 ) , was a regent of the Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou in China . He first came into prominence as the nephew of Western Wei ' s paramount general Yuwen Tai , and after Yuwen Tai ' s death in 556 , he became the guardian to Yuwen Tai ' s son Yuwen Jue . In 557 , he forced Emperor Gong of Western Wei to yield the throne to Yuwen Jue ( Emperor Xiaomin ) , establishing Northern Zhou . However , Yuwen Hu dominated the political scene , and after Emperor Xiaomin tried to seize power later that year , he killed Emperor Xiaomin and replaced him with another son of Yuwen Tai , Emperor Ming . In 560 , he poisoned Emperor Ming , who was succeeded by another son of Yuwen Tai , Emperor Wu . In 572 , Emperor Wu ambushed Yuwen Hu and killed him , personally taking power . Background . Yuwen Hu was born in 515 as a son of Yuwen Hao ( 宇文顥 ) , a son of the local peasant leader Yuwen Gong ( 宇文肱 ) at Wuchuan ( 武川 , in modern Hohhot , Inner Mongolia ) . His mother was Lady Yan , who was probably Yuwen Hao ' s wife . He was said to be particularly bright as a child and was favored by Yuwen Gong . In 524 , with Northern Wei ' s northern provinces engulfed in peasant rebellions , Yuwen Gong and his sons , along with another local leader , Heba Duba ( 賀拔度拔 ) and his sons , led a counter - rebellion against one of the major rebels , Poliuhan Baling ( 破六韓拔陵 ) , who had taken Wuchuan earlier , and they killed Poliuhan ' s general Wei Kegu ( 衛可孤 ) , temporarily restoring order . However , soon Yuwen Gong and his sons were forced to flee and join the army of another rebel leader , Xianyu Xiuli ( 鮮于修禮 ) . It was while serving under Xianyu that Yuwen Gong died in battle , and it was probably also at the same time that Yuwen Hao died as well . After Xianyu Xiuli was killed by his general Yuan Hongye ( 元洪業 ) in 526 , another general , Ge Rong ( 葛榮 ) , in turn killed Yuan and took over Xianyu ' s troops , and Yuwen Hu stayed with his uncles in Ge ' s army . In 528 , after Ge was defeated by Northern Wei ' s paramount general Erzhu Rong , Erzhu forcibly moved Ge ' s troops , including the Yuwens , to his power base at Jinyang ( 晉陽 , in modern Taiyuan , Shandong ) , where he remained for several years . In 531 or 532 , when Yuwen Hu ' s uncle Yuwen Tai was serving under the general Heba Yue ( 賀拔岳 , Heba Duba ' s son ) in the western provinces , Yuwen Hu went to join Yuwen Tai at Pingliang . ( When he did so , he left both his mother Lady Yan and his aunt ( Yuwen Hao ' s sister ) at Jinyang . ) As Yuwen Tai had no sons at that point , when he was out on military campaigns , he entrusted his household to Yuwen Hu . Yuwen Hu was said not to be strict as the household ' s governor but was nevertheless able to keep the household organized and solemn . Yuwen Tai , when he saw this , stated , " this child ' s ambitions and talents are like mine . " In 533 , when Heba added the strategically important Xia Province ( 夏州 , roughly modern Yulin , Shaanxi ) to the ones he controlled , he made Yuwen Tai its governor . Yuwen Tai left Yuwen Hu to serve under Heba . When Heba ' s associate Houmochen Yue ( 侯莫陳悅 ) assassinated Heba in early 534 , Heba ' s generals invited Yuwen Tai to serve as their commander , and he agreed . In the subsequent armed confrontation with Houmochen ( in which Yuwen Tai defeated Houmochen , causing Houmochen to commit suicide ) , Yuwen Hu served as one of his uncle ' s generals . During Western Wei . In 534 , displeased at the control that the paramount general Gao Huan had on the military , Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei entered into an alliance with Yuwen Tai and Heba Sheng ( 賀拔勝 , Heba Yue ' s brother ) , who controlled the southern provinces . When Gao realized this , he marched on the capital Luoyang , and Emperor Xiaowu decided to flee to Yuwen Tai ' s territory , sending messengers informing Yuwen Tai of his decision . Yuwen Hu was part of the army that Yuwen Tai sent to escort Emperor Xiaowu to Yuwen Tai ' s headquarters at Chang ' an , commanded by the general Li Xian ( 李賢 ) . For his participation in protecting the emperor , Yuwen Hu was created the Count of Shuichi . Later in 534 , when Emperor Xiaowu refused to return to Luoyang despite requests by Gao , Gao declared Yuan Shanjian , the son of Emperor Xiaowu ' s cousin Yuan Dan ( 元亶 ) , emperor ( as Emperor Xiaojing ) , and moved the capital to Yecheng ( 鄴城 , in modern Handan , Hebei ) , thus dividing Northern Wei into two — Western Wei , with Emperor Xiaowu as emperor and its capital at Chang ' an , and Eastern Wei , with Emperor Xiaojing as emperor . During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu ' s cousin and successor Emperor Wen of Western Wei , Yuwen Hu received a number of promotions , and he also had a number of accomplishments in the battlefield . He was created a duke . In 543 , though , he was nearly killed in a battle at Luoyang and was only saved from capture or death by his subordinates Hou Fu ( 侯伏 ) and Hou Long ' en ( 侯龍恩 ) . Yuwen Tai removed him from his posts , but soon returned him to those posts . In 546 , he was created the greater title of Duke of Zhongshan . In 549 , when Yuwen Tai sent the general Yu Jin ( 于謹 ) to launch a major attack on Liang Dynasty ' s capital Jiangling , Yuwen Hu served as Yu ' s lieutenant . The Western Wei army was able to capture Jiangling and put Emperor Yuan of Liang to death , declaring his nephew Emperor Xuan of Western Liang as Liang ' s emperor instead ( albeit controlling only the Jiangling region ) . For this accomplishment , Yuwen Hu ' s son Yuwen Hui ( 宇文會 ) was created the Duke of Jiangling . in fall 556 , while Yuwen Tai was on a tour of the norther provinces , he became ill at Qiantun Mountain ( 牽屯山 , in modern Guyuan , Ningxia ) . He summoned Yuwen Hu to Qiantun and entrusted the affairs of the state as well as his sons to Yuwen Hu . He soon died , and his heir apparent Yuwen Jue took over his titles , while Yuwen Hu took the reins of the state . ( The senior generals and officials , who obeyed Yuwen Tai as effectively the first among equals , were initially reluctant to follow the leadership of the younger Yuwen Hu , only doing so after Yu Jin , previously Yuwen Hu ' s commanding general , declared his support on the basis that Yuwen Hu was the senior member of the Yuwen clan . ) Around the new year 557 , believing that Yuwen Jue , who was 14 at this time , needed to have his authority affirmed through an imperial title , Yuwen Hu had Emperor Gong of Western Wei ( Emperor Wen ' s son ) yield the throne to Yuwen Jue , ending Western Wei and establishing Northern Zhou . During Emperor Xiaomin ' s reign . Yuwen Jue took the throne ( as Emperor Xiaomin ) , but did not use the title " emperor " ( 皇帝 , huáng dì ) , using instead the Zhou Dynasty - style title " Heavenly Prince " ( " Tian Wang " ) . He created Yuwen Hu the greater title of Duke of Jin . The political situation , with Yuwen Hu as regent , was unstable . About a month after Emperor Xiaomin took the throne , two of the most senior officials , Zhao Gui ( 趙貴 ) the Duke of Chu and Dugu Xin the Duke of Wei , showed signs of displeasure about Yuwen Hu ' s hold on power . Zhao wanted to kill Yuwen Hu , an action that Dugu tried to persuade him against . Soon thereafter , however , Zhao ' s plans were revealed by another official , Yuwen Sheng ( 宇文盛 ) , and Yuwen Hu had Zhao executed and removed Dugu from his office . Soon , he also forced Dugu to commit suicide . When another official , Qi Gui ( 齊軌 ) , criticized Yuwen Hu ' s regency , he was also executed . Meanwhile , Emperor Xiaomin himself , wanting to take power , was engaging in a plot to kill Yuwen Hu . His plot included two of Yuwen Tai ' s key associates , Li Zhi ( 李植 ) and Sun Heng ( 孫恆 ) , as well as the other officials Yifu Feng ( 乙弗鳳 ) and Heba Ti ( 賀拔提 ) , each of whom was ambitious and therefore further tried to fan Emperor Xiaomin ' s suspicions against Yuwen Hu . After Li tried to engage another official , Zhang Guangluo ( 張光洛 ) in the plot , however , Zhang revealed the plot to Yuwen Hu . Yuwen Hu , not wanting to take drastic actions at first , sent Li and Sun away to be provincial governors . When Emperor Xiaomin wanted to summon Li and Sun back to the capital Chang ' an , Yuwen Hu urged against it , pledging his loyalty . However , Yifu and Heba became fearful and plotted to carry out the plot anyway . Zhang again informed Yuwen Hu , who discussed the matter with the generals Helan Xiang ( 賀蘭祥 ) and Yuchi Gang ( 尉遲綱 ) . Helan suggested to him to depose Emperor Xiaomin , and Yuwen Hu had Yuchi arrest Yifu and Heba and disband the imperial guards . Emperor Xiaomin , surprised by the move , barricaded himself in the palace and armed his ladies in waiting and eunuchs . Yuwen Hu sent Helan into the palace to force Emperor Xiaomin to leave the palace and put him under house arrest at his old residence as the Duke of Lüeyang . Yuwen Hu summoned the high level officials and informed them the situation , proposing to depose Emperor Xiaomin and replace him with Emperor Xiaomin ' s older brother Yuwen Yu the Duke of Ningdu ( who was not named heir by Yuwen Tai because his mother Lady Yao was a concubine ) . The high level officials , not daring to oppose Yuwen Hu , agreed . Emperor Xiaomin ' s coconspirators were executed , while he himself was demoted to the rank of Duke of Lüeyang . A month later , Yuwen Hu executed him and forced his wife , Princess Yuan , to become a Buddhist nun . Soon thereafter , Yuwen Yu arrived at Chang ' an and took the throne ( as Emperor Ming ) , still using the title of Heavenly Prince . During Emperor Ming ' s reign . Emperor Ming continued to honor Yuwen Hu with greater titles and honor , and in 558 , he created Yuwen Hu ' s son Yuwen Zhi ( 宇文至 ) the Duke of Chongye . In spring 559 , Yuwen Hu formally returned his authorities to Emperor Ming , and Emperor Ming began to formally rule on all governmental matters , but Yuwen Hu retained authority over the military . In 559 , Emperor Ming began to use the title of emperor . in summer 560 , Yuwen Hu , apprehensive of Emperor Ming ' s intelligence and abilities , instructed the imperial chef Li An ( 李安 ) to poison sugar cookies that were submitted to the emperor . Emperor Ming ate them and became ill . Knowing that he was near death , he instructed that , because his sons were young , the throne should be passed to his younger brother Yuwen Yong the Duke of Lu . He died soon thereafter , and Yuwen Yong took the throne as Emperor Wu . Yuwen Hu again took control of both political and military matters . During Emperor Wu ' s reign . Emperor Wu did all he could to appear to honor Yuwen Hu in all things , speaking little and not interfering with Yuwen Hu ' s decisions . During meetings that Emperor Wu ' s mother Empress Dowager Chinu would have with Yuwen Hu , she would instruct Yuwen Hu to sit at the table with her , while Emperor Wu , as the younger cousin , would stand and attend to them . In 561 , Emperor Wu formally bestowed Yuwen Hu , as the Minister of Palace Affairs ( 大冢宰 ) , authority over the other five ministries as well . In spring 561 , when the general Heruo Dun ( 賀若敦 ) was unable to hold the modern Hunan region against attacks by the Chen Dynasty general Hou Tian ( 侯瑱 ) , it was by Yuwen Hu ' s orders that Heruo was relieved of his posts , despite Heruo ' s being able to withdraw without further losses . Around the same time , when Emperor Wu posthumously created Yuwen Hu ' s father Yuwen Hao and uncle Yuwen Luosheng ( 宇文洛生 ) Dukes of Shao and Ju , respectively , the inheritance of the titles went to Yuwen Hu ' s sons Yuwen Hui ( 宇文會 ) and Yuwen Zhi . In spring 563 , when Emperor Wu made a sudden night trip back to Chang ' an while visiting Yuan Province ( 原州 , roughly modern Guyuan , Gansu ) , Houmochen Chong ( 侯莫陳崇 ) the Duke of Liang made an off - the - cuff comment to his staff that it must be that Yuwen Hu died . When Houmochen ' s comments were reported , Emperor Wu rebuked Houmochen , but Yuwen Hu then followed up by sending soldiers to surround Houmochen ' s house to force him to commit suicide , although he permitted Houmochen to be buried with honors due a duke . Later that year , to show Yuwen Hu even greater deference , Emperor Wu ordered that in official documents , naming taboo be observed as to Yuwen Hu ' s name , an honor rarely given to non - emperors . During the years , Yuwen Hu had tried to send spies to locate his mother Lady Yan and paternal aunt , who were left in the territory of Eastern Wei and its successor state Northern Qi — not knowing that they had been made servants at the subsidiary palace in Zhongshan ( 中山 , in modern Baoding , Hebei ) . In 564 , during peace negotiations with Northern Qi ( following a joint Northern Zhou - Tujue attack on Northern Qi earlier that year ) , Northern Qi released Yuwen Hu ' s paternal aunt to Northern Zhou , and further promised to release Lady Yan . Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi had Lady Yan exchange letters with Yuwen Hu , intending to use her to force concessions , but fearful of another Northern Zhou attack if he angered Yuwen Hu , released her without actually securing concessions . However , Yuwen Hu , concerned that Tujue might be displeased if Northern Zhou abandoned the joint operations , nevertheless launched another joint attack with Tujue later in 564 , but the armies that he sent to attack Luoyang were defeated by Northern Qi troops and forced to withdraw . ( Historians largely blamed the defeat on Yuwen Hu ' s half - hearted devotion to the attack and his lack of overall military strategic talent . ) In 565 , when Heruo , again made a provincial governor , complained to messengers sent to him by the central government , Yuwen Hu became so displeased that he summoned Heruo back to Chang ' an and forced him to commit suicide . In summer 567 , when the Chen general Hua Jiao ( 華皎 ) , fearful of adverse intentions of the regent Chen Xu , offered to defect with his Xiang Province ( 湘州 , modern central Hunan ) , Yuwen Hu , over the opposition by the official Cui You ( 崔猷 ) , sent an army commanded by Emperor Wu ' s brother Yuwen Zhi ( 宇文直 ) the Duke of Wei to assist Hua and the forces of Northern Zhou ' s vassal Emperor Ming of Western Liang , who was also aiding Hua . The Chen general Wu Mingche , however , quickly defeated the joint forces of Northern Zhou , Western Liang , and Hua , forcing Hua and Yuwen Zhi to both give up the war and flee to the Western Liang capital Jiangling . Chen was able to retain all of Hua ' s territory and further make minor territorial gains against both Northern Zhou and Western Liang as well . Yuwen Hu relieved Yuwen Zhi from his posts , and while Yuwen Zhi was eventually restored to them , Yuwen Zhi , who had previously had a cordial relationship with Yuwen Hu , bore a grudge against Yuwen Hu and secretly encouraged Emperor Wu to act against Yuwen Hu . Around the new year 568 , Lady Yan died . By Emperor Wu ' s orders , Yuwen Hu did not observe the customary three - year mourning period , but continued to serve as regent . In winter 570 , when the Northern Qi general Hulü Guang seized the region north of the Fen River ( 汾水 , flowing through modern Linfen , Shanxi ) , Yuwen Hu turned to another brother of Emperor Wu , Yuwen Xian the Duke of Qi , for advice , and Yuwen Xian suggested that he himself could lead an army against Hulü , while Yuwen Hu himself should command the main forces but stop at Tong Province ( 同州 , roughly modern Weinan , Shaanxi ) . Subsequently , Yuwen Xian was able to force Hulü into a stalemate , but substantial territories were still lost to Northern Qi . By 572 , Emperor Wu was conspiring with Yuwen Zhi , as well as his associates Yuwen Shenju ( 宇文神舉 ) , Wang Gui ( 王軌 ) , and Yuwen Xiaobo ( 宇文孝伯 ) , to find a way to kill Yuwen Hu , believing him to be a threat . In spring 572 , after Emperor Wu and Yuwen Hu had a meeting , he invited Yuwen Hu into the palace to meet with Empress Dowager Chinu . On the way to her palace , he told Yuwen Hu that Empress Dowager Chinu was having problem with alcoholism and not listening to his advice to stop her drinking , so he wanted Yuwen Hu to advise her to change her ways as well . He further gave Yuwen Hu the text of the " Jiu Gao " ( 酒誥 ) - - an anti - alcoholism declaration written by King Cheng of Zhou — and suggested that he read the " Jiu Gao " to Empress Dowager Chinu . Once they reached her palace , Yuwen Hu , pursuant to Emperor Wu ' s request , started reading the " Jiu Gao " . Before he could finish it , Emperor Wu stepped behind him and used a jade tablet to stike the back of his head . Yuwen Hu fell to the ground , and Yuwen Zhi , who was hiding nearby , jumped out , and cut off Yuwen Hu ' s head , ending Yuwen Hu ' s hold on power . Yuwen Hu ' s sons , brothers , and key associates were all executed . In 574 , Yuwen Hu was posthumously restored to the title of Duke , reburied with honors due a duke , and awarded with a posthumous name ( albeit the very unflattering one of " Dang " ( 蕩 , meaning " improper " ) ) .