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Yuchi Jiong
Northern Zhou general, nephew of Yuwen Tai, who conquered Shu for the Western Wei and in 580 rose at Ye against Yang Jian's regency, dying when the city fell
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.
Yuchi Jiong, courtesy name Bojuluo, came of a Xianbei family from Dai; his father Yuchi Sidou married Yuwen Tai's elder sister, the Grand Princess of Changle, which made him Yuwen Tai's nephew. In the spring of 553, while the Liang prince Xiao Ji had marched east to fight for the throne, Yuwen Tai sent him south through the Dasan Pass, and he took Chengdu and secured the whole of Shu, becoming its governor and Duke of Ningshu, later raised to Duke of Shu under the Northern Zhou. Under Emperor Xuan he was made governor-general of Xiangzhou, with his seat at Ye. When Xuan died in 580 and the emperor's father-in-law Yang Jian took the regency, Yuchi, convinced that Yang meant to usurp the throne, rose in the sixth month and was joined by Sima Xiaonan and Wang Qian. Yang Jian sent Wei Xiaokuan against him, and sixty-eight days after the rising began Ye fell, and Yuchi climbed a tower, cursed Yang Jian and killed himself. Yang Jian founded the Sui the following year.
Life and times
Dates 516 CE–580 CE