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Yang Liang
Youngest son of Sui Emperor Wen, Prince of Han and governor-general at Taiyuan, who rose against his brother Emperor Yang in 604 and died in confinement
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Yang Liang, courtesy name Dezhang, was the fifth and youngest son of Emperor Wen of Sui and Empress Dugu, and was made Prince of Han in 581. In 597 he became governor-general at Bingzhou, with fifty-two prefectures from the Taihang mountains to the sea under his command and leave to act on his own authority. In 598 he led the expedition against Koguryo, which turned back after an epidemic without achieving anything. Uneasy after his brother Yang Yong was deposed as heir and another brother, Yang Xiu, was disgraced, he quietly built up his forces. When his father died in 604 and Yang Guang, now Emperor Yang, summoned him to court, he followed the advice of Wang Gui and rose at Bingzhou, claiming to act against the minister Yang Su, but he hesitated to strike at the capital and was defeated by Yang Su and surrendered. The emperor spared his life, struck him from the imperial register as a commoner, and he died in confinement.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; fifth son of Emperor Wen of Sui