Northern Zhou
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{{NS_Dynasties}}
The '''Northern Zhou Dynasty''' (Chinese:北周) followed the [[Western Wei Dynasty|Western Wei]], and ruled northern [[China]] from [[557]] to [[581]]. It was followed by the [[Sui Dynasty]].
Northern Zhou's basis of power was established by [[Yuwen Tai]], who was paramount general of Western Wei, following the split of [[Northern Wei]] into Western Wei and [[Eastern Wei]] in [[535]]. After Yuwen Tai's death in [[556]], Yuwen Tai's nephew [[Yuwen Hu]] forced [[Emperor Gong of Western Wei]] to yield the throne to Yuwen Tai's son [[Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou|Yuwen Jue]] (Emperor Xiaomin), establishing Northern Zhou. The reigns of the first three emperors (Yuwen Tai's sons) -- Emperor Xiaomin, [[Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou|Emperor Ming]], and [[Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou|Emperor Wu]] were dominated by Yuwen Hu, until Emperor Wu ambushed and killed Yuwen Hu in [[572]] and assumed power personally. With Emperor Wu as a capable ruler, Northern Zhou destroyed rival [[Northern Qi]] in [[577]], taking over Northern Qi's territory. However, Emperor Wu's death in [[578]] doomed the state, as his son [[Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou|Emperor Xuan]] was an arbitrary and violent ruler whose unorthodox behavior greatly weakened the state. After Emperor Xuan's death in [[580]] (when he was already titularly retired emperor (''[[Taishang Huang]]'')), Emperor Xuan's father-in-law [[Emperor Wen of Sui|Yang Jian]] seized power, and in [[581]] seized the throne from Emperor Xuan's son [[Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou|Emperor Jing]], establishing Sui. The imperial Yuwen clan, including the young Emperor Jing, was subsequently slaughtered by Yang Jian.
<br>
== Emperors of Northern Zhou ==
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! Posthumous Names ([[Shi Hao]] 諡號) !! Born Names !! Period of Reigns !! Era Names ([[Nian Hao]] 年號) and their according range of years
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"|'''[[Northern dynasty]]'''
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"|'''Northern Zhou Dynasty [[557]]-[[581]]'''
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"|''Convention: Northern Zhou + posthumous name''
|-
|[[Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou|Xiao Min Di]] (孝閔帝 xiào mǐn dì)
|Yuwen Jue (宇文覺 yǔ wén jué)
|[[557]]
|Did not exist
|-
|[[Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou|Ming Di]] (明帝 míng dì) or Xiao Ming Di (孝明帝 xiào míng dì)
|Yuwen Yu (宇文毓 yǔ wén yù)
|[[557]]-[[560]]
|Wucheng (武成 wǔ chéng) [[559]]-[[560]]
|-
|[[Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou|Wu Di]] (武帝 wǔ dì)
|Yuwen Yong (宇文邕 yǔ wén yōng)
|[[561]]-[[578]]
|Baoding (保定 bǎo dìng) [[561]]-[[565]]<br>Tianhe (天和 tiān hé) [[566]]-[[572]]<br>Jiande (建德 jiàn dé) [[572]]-[[578]]<br>Xuanzheng (宣政 xuān zhèng) [[578]]
|-
|[[Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou|Xuan Di]] (宣帝 xuān dì)
|Yuwen Yun (宇文贇 yǔ wén yūn)
|[[578]]-[[579]]
|Dacheng (大成 dà chéng) [[579]]<br>
|-
|[[Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou|Jing Di]] (靜帝 jìng dì)
|Yuwen Chan (宇文闡 yǔ wén chǎn)
|[[579]]-[[581]]<ref>In [[580]], after Emperor Xuan's death, the general [[Yuchi Jiong]], believing that the regent [[Emperor Wen of Sui|Yang Jian]] was about to seize the throne, rose against Yang and declared a son of Emperor Wu's brother Yuwen Zhao (宇文招) the Prince of Zhao, whose name is lost to history, emperor, but as Yuchi was soon defeated, and nothing further was known about the emperor that he declared, that son of Yuwen Zhao is usually not considered an emperor of Northern Zhou.</ref>
|Daxiang (大象 dà xiàng) [[579]]-[[581]]<br>Dading (大定 dà dìng) [[581]]
|}
{{History of China}}
<references/>
==See also==
*[[Chinese history]]
*[[Southern and Northern Dynasty]]
*[[Chinese sovereign]]
== References ==
* ''[[Book of Zhou]]''.
* ''[[History of Northern Dynasties]]''.
* ''[[Zizhi Tongjian]]''.
[[Category:Northern Zhou|*]]
[[Category:557 establishments]]
[[Category:581 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Former countries in Chinese history]]
[[de:Nördliche Zhou]]
[[fr:Dynastie Zhou du Nord]]
[[ko:북주]]
[[ja:北周]]
[[nl:Noordelijke Zhou-dynastie]]
[[ru:Северная Чжоу]]
[[zh:北周]]