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| 5) Houzhu 后主 Chen Shubao 陈叔宝 583-589 Zhide (至德 zhi de) 583-586
Zhenming (祯明 zh_n ming) 587-589 Chen Shubao (陈叔宝) (553━604), often known in history as Houzhu of Chen (陈后主, literally "Chen's final lord"), posthumous name Duke Yang of Changcheng (长城炀公), courtesy name Yuanxiu (元秀), nickname Huangnu (黄奴), was the last emperor of the Chinese Chen Dynasty. At the time of his ascension, Chen was already facing military pressure by Sui Dynasty on multiple fronts, and, according to traditional historians, Chen Shubao was an incompetent ruler who was more interested in literature and women than in the affairs of the state. In 589, Sui forces captured his capital Jiankang and seized him, ending Chen and unifying China after nearly three centuries of division, which started during the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin. He was taken to the Sui capital Chang'an, where he was treated kindly by Emperor Wen of Sui until his death in 604, during the reign of Emperor Wen's son Emperor Yang of Sui. Background Chen Shubao was born in 553, when his father Chen Xu was serving as a mid-level official under Emperor Yuan of Liang at Emperor Yuan's capital Jiangling. His mother was Chen Xu's second wife Liu Jingyan, and he was Chen Xu's oldest son. In 554, Western Wei attacked Jiangling and captured it, executing Emperor Yuan. Emperor Yuan's nephew Xiao Cha was created the Emperor of Liang and given Jiangling as his capital, but a large segment of Jiangling's population and Emperor Yuan's officials, including Chen Xu and Chen Xu's cousin Chen Chang, were taken to the Western Wei capital Chang'an. For reasons lost to history, Lady Liu and Chen Shubao were not taken to Chang'an, but left at Rangcheng (穰城, in modern Nanyang, Henan). In 557, Chen Xu's uncle (Chen Chang's father) Chen Baxian established Chen Dynasty (as Emperor Wu), with his capital at Jiankang. He requested that Western Wei's successor state Northern Zhou return Chen Chang and Chen Xu to him, but Northern Zhou, while initially agreeing, did not do so during Emperor Wu's lifetime. In 559, Emperor Wu died, and Chen Xu's older brother Chen Qian the Prince of Linchuan, as Emperor Wu's only close male relative in the realm, took the throne as Emperor Wen. In 560, Northern Zhou began making overtures to return Chen Xu to Chen. In 562, Emperor Wen, who had remotely created Chen Xu the Prince of Ancheng, traded the city of Lushan (鲁山, in modern Wuhan, Hubei) to Northern Zhou in exchange for Chen Xu's return. Initially, Chen Shubao and his mother Princess Liu were not returned, but after further negotiations by Emperor Wen, were returned. Chen Shubao was designated as Chen Xu's heir apparent. He held minor offices during Emperor Wen's reign. In 566, Emperor Wen died and was succeeded by his son Chen Bozong the Crown Prince (as Emperor Fei). The high level officials that Emperor Wen left in charge, including Chen Xu, eventually became locked in a power struggle, and in 567, Chen Xu killed Liu Shizhi (刘师之) and Dao Zhongju (到仲举) and seized control of power. In winter 568, he had an edict issued in the name of Emperor Wu's wife Grand Empress Dowager Zhang Yao'er, deposing Emperor Fei and making him emperor. In spring 569, he took the throne (as Emperor Xuan). Chen Shubao was created crown prince, and his mother Princess Liu was created empress. As crown prince In fall 569, Chen Shubao married Shen Wuhua, the daughter of the official Shen Junli (沈君理), as his wife and crown princess. However, eventually he came to favor his concubine Consort Zhang Lihua. As crown prince, Chen Shubao was known for his love of literature and feasting. He therefore wanted to have the official Jiang Zong (江总), who was talented in literature, serve as his chief of staff, and he requested that Kong Huan (孔奂), the minister of civil service, to make it so. Kong declined, citing that Jiang, while talented, lacked steadiness and would not be able to correct Chen Shubao. Chen Shubao then personally made the request to his father Emperor Xuan, and Emperor Xuan, while he hesitated due to Kong's opposition, eventually agreed. Eventually, however, because Jiang and Chen Shubao overly feasted, including instances where Chen Shubao wore civilian clothing to sneak out of the palace to visit Jiang's mansion, Emperor Xuan removed Jiang from his post. In spring 582, Emperor Xuan grew ill, and Chen Shubao, along with his brothers Chen Shuling (陈叔陵) the Prince of Shixing and Chen Shujian (陈叔坚) the Prince of Changsha, attended to Emperor Xuan in the palace. The ambitious Chen Shuling, however, had design on the throne, and when Emperor Xuan died, while Chen Shubao was mourning over Emperor Xuan's casket, Chen Shuling pulled out a sharpened knife and stabbed Chen Shubao's neck. Chen Shubao fell to the ground unconscious. Empress Liu tried to stop Chen Shuling, but was also stabbed several times. The lady in waiting Lady Wu, however, then grabbed Chen Shuling, allowing Chen Shubao to get up and escape. Meanwhile, Chen Shujian grabbed Chen Shuling and tied him to a pillar, but as Chen Shujian then sought Chen Shubao's permission to kill Chen Shuling, Chen Shuling slipped away and mobilized his personal troops to start a coup along with his cousin Chen Bogu (陈伯固) the Prince of Xin'an (Emperor Wen's son). They were soon defeated, however, and both were killed in battle. Chen Shuling's sons were forced to commit suicide, and Chen Bogu's sons were reduced to commoner rank. Three days after the coup attempt, Chen Shubao, still severely wounded, took the throne. He honored his mother Empress Liu as empress dowager. He created his wife Crown Princess Shen empress, and his oldest son Chen Yin (who, while not born of Empress Shen, was raised by her) crown prince. Reign Initially, Chen Shubao was still recovering from his injuries, and Empress Dowager Liu governed as regent, assisted by Chen Shujian. (As Chen Shubao did not favor Empress Shen, she was not allowed to attend to him during his recovery period; rather, Consort Zhang did.) After Chen Shubao recovered─and while it is not clear how long it took him to recover, it seemed to be a period of months─Empress Dowager Liu returned imperial authorities to him and did not again govern. When Emperor Xuan died, Northern Zhou's successor state Sui Dynasty had been attacking Chen, but upon hearing about Emperor Xuan's death, Emperor Wen of Sui (Yang Jian) decided that it was improper to attack a state that had just lost its emperor, and so withdrew his forces, and in fact sent ambassadors to mourn Emperor Xuan's death, and his letter to Chen Shubao referred to himself by name─a sign of humility, but Chen Shubao's return letter included the sentence, "May it be that when you govern your state, all things can be well, and that between heaven and earth, there wil be peace and quiet." The sentence was viewed as arrogant and condescending by Emperor Wen and his key official Yang Su and made them displeased. Despite this, however, for the next few years, the states exchanged ambassadors often and generally had peaceful relations, although Sui's Emperor Wen was gradually building up military power on the Yangtze River and planning for eventual attack against Chen. In spring 583, displeased that Chen Shujian was, in his view, becoming overly powerful, Chen Shubao, encouraged by his associates Kong Fan (孔范) and Shi Wenqing (施文庆), made Chen Shujian the governor of Jiang Province (江州, roughly modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi) to remove him from power. (He subsequently kept Chen Shujian at the capital by promoting him to the honorary post of Sikong (司空), but did not restore Chen Shujian to power.) Meanwhile, despite the fact that Chen Shubao was still supposed to be in mourning period for Emperor Xuan, he was spending much time in feasting. When the official Mao Xi (毛喜) tried to persuade him to change his ways, Chen Shubao demoted Mao and sent him out of the capital. Around the new year 584, Chen Shujian, in fear, prayed to the spirits, hoping that he would be restored to grace. When this was discovered, Chen Shubao considered executing Chen Shujian, but after Chen Shujian reminded him how Chen Shujian was responsible for saving him from Chen Shuling, Chen Shubao spared him but removed him from his posts. In 584, Chen Shubao built three particularly luxurious pavilions within his palace─Linchun Pavilion (临春阁), Jieqi Pavilion (结绮阁), and Wangxian Pavilion (望仙阁), residing himself at Linchun Pavilion, while having Consort Zhang reside at Jieqi Pavilion and Consorts Gong and Kong share Wangxian Pavilion. He often spent his days feasting with his concubines, headed by Consort Zhang, as well as those ladies in waiting and officials who had literary talent (including Jiang Zong, whom he made prime minister, Kong Fan, and Wang Cuo (王□)), having those officials and ladies in waiting sing or write poetry to praise his concubines' beauty. Two of the particularly known songs, Yushu Houting Hua (玉树后庭花) and Linchun Yue (临春乐), were written to praise the beauties of Consorts Zhang and Kong. It was said that Chen Shubao lacked interest and understanding in important governmental matters, and that because he could not comprehend matters well, he would often hold Consort Zhang on his lap and have Consort Zhang, who was considered intelligent, read and rule on the petitions submitted to him. Meanwhile, Consort Kong and Kong Fan, who were not related, began to refer to each other as sister and brother, and used their relationship to further their power as well, so Consorts Zhang and Kong became exceeedingly powerful. To finance Chen Shubao's construction projects, taxes were raised, and soldiers and the officials, who were previously immune to taxes, were also required to pay them, causing general discontent from those classes. Further, at Kong Fan's urging, Chen Shubao transferred much of the military command to civilian officials, further causing the generals to be disgruntled. In spring 585, Zhang Dabao (章大宝) the governor of Feng Province (丰州, roughly modern Fuzhou, Fujian), accused of corruption and on the verge of being replaced by Li Yun (李晕), instead ambushed Li and killed him, starting a rebellion. Zhang was however soon defeated and killed. In fall 587, while Emperor Jing of Western Liang (Xiao Cong, Xiao Cha's grandson) was at the Sui capital to meet with Sui's Emperor Wen, the Liang officials Xiao Yan (萧岩, Emperor Jing's uncle) and Xiao Huan (萧□, Emperor Jing's brother), in fear that the Sui general Cui Hongdu (崔弘度) was actually intending to attack the Liang capital Jiangling, surrendered to Chen Shubao's cousin Chen Huiji (陈慧纪) the Marquess of Yihuang with the people of Jiangling. Chen Shubao accepted the surrender and made Xiao Yan and Xiao Huan provincial governors─acts that Emperor Wen (who, in response, abolished Liang and seized its remaining territory) considered provocation, making him continuing his preparation to attack Chen in earnest. In spring 588, Chen Shubao, believing Consorts Zhang's and Kong's accusations that Chen Yin resented him for not favoring Empress Shen, deposed Chen Yin and created him the Prince of Wuxing, instead creating Consort Zhang's son Chen Shen crown prince. He also considered deposing Empress Shen and replacing her with Consort Zhang, but did not get a chance to do so before Sui launched a major attack in spring 588 as well. By winter 588, the Sui attack was in full operation, with three major prongs commanded by Emperor Wen's sons Yang Guang and Yang Jun, and Yang Su, and with Yang Guang in overall command of the operation, assisted by Gao Jiong. Reports from the upper Yangtze, however, were being suppressed by Shi Wenqing and Shen Keqing (沈客卿) and never reached Chen Shubao, as Shi, not realizing the seriousness of the Sui threat, did not want anything to interfere with his own plans to become the governor of Xiang Province (湘州, roughly modern Changsha, Hunan). Yang Su, who attacked from the upper Yangtze, therefore faced no serious opposition and soon controlled the upper Yangtze, not allowing any Chen forces which might have wanted to head downstream to aid the capital to be able to get through. In spring 589, the Sui general Heruo Bi (贺若弼) crossed the Yangtze from Guangling (广陵, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), and the Sui general Han Qinhu (韩擒虎) crossed the Yangtze at Caishi (采石, in modern Ma'anshan, Anhui), without opposition from Chen forces and sandwiching the Chen capital Jiankang. Only then did Chen Shubao realize the seriousness of the situation, but instead of resisting in earnest, he panicked, leaving Shi in effective control of the situation. Eventually, the general Xiao Mohe convinced Chen Shubao that he should be allowed to engage Heruo, despite opposition from the general Ren Zhong (任忠). Heruo defeated Xiao Mohe and captured him, and the rest of Chen troops collapsed, allowing the Sui forces to enter the capital. In panic and abandoned by his officials, Chen Shubao hid in a well with Consorts Zhang and Kong, but was discovered and captured. When he was brought before Heruo, he was so fearful that he prostrated himself before Heruo─an act that brought words of contempt from Heruo. However, he and his household were generally treated well by the Sui generals, although Gao, blaming Consort Zhang for Chen's collapse, executed her. Some of the Chen generals continued to resist, but were quickly defeated, particularly because at the Sui forces' request, Chen Shubao wrote letters to the Chen generals ordering them to surrender. Chen was at its end. Soon, the Sui army escorted Chen Shubao and his household to the Sui capital Daxing (大兴, near Chang'an). During Sui Dynasty Emperor Wen treated Chen Shubao with kindness, and, not willing to subjugate Chen Shubao as an official under him, initially did not give him any official titles─but was dismayed when Chen Shubao, not understanding the rationale, requested a title. Chen Shubao also engaged in heavy drinking, which Emperor Wen initially tried to curb, but later stopped doing so, reasoning that Chen Shubao must have something to do with his time. Emperor Wen sent members of the imperial Chen household out to the provinces, dividing them so that they could not coalesce. In 594, Emperor Wen, citing the fact that the emperors of Northern Qi, Liang, and Chen were not being sacrificed to, ordered that the former Northern Qi prince Gao Renying (高仁英), Chen Shubao, and Xiao Cong be given regular supplies so that they could make periodic sacrifices to their ancestors. In 604, a few months after Emperor Wen's death and succession by Yang Guang (as Emperor Yang), Chen Shubao died. Emperor Yang posthumously created him the Duke of Changcheng (a title that his granduncle, Chen's Emperor Wu, carried at one point) and gave him the posthumous name of Yang, meaning "slothful." (Ironically, this would be the posthumous name that Emperor Yang would eventually receive from the succeeding Tang Dynasty.) Nan (Southern) Liang Dynasty 555-587 Temple Names ( Miao Hao 庙号 ) Posthumous Names ( Shi Hao 谥号 ) Era Names (Nian Hao 年号) Note: some historians set Nan Liang as a continuation of the Liang Dynasty since it was founded by descendants of the Xiao's, the ruling family of the Liang Dynasty. 1) Zhong Zong 中宗 Xuan Di 宣帝 Xiao Cha 萧察 555-562 Dading (大定 da ding) 555-562 Emperor Xuan of (Western) Liang ((西)梁宣帝) (519━562), personal name Xiao Cha (萧察), courtesy name Lisun (理孙), was a (disputed) emperor of the Chinese Liang Dynasty. He took the Liang throne under support from Western Wei after Western Wei forces had defeated and killed his uncle Emperor Yuan in 554, but many traditional historians, because he controlled little territory and relied heavily on military support by Western Wei and Western Wei's successor state Northern Zhou, did not consider him and his successors true emperors of Liang. Early life Xiao Cha was born in 519, as the third son of Xiao Tong, then the crown prince to Liang Dynasty's founder Emperor Wu. His mother was Xiao Tong's concubine Consort Gong. He was considered studious, concentrating particularly on Buddhist sutras, and as Emperor Wu was a devout Buddhist, he was happy that his grandson studied sutras in this manner. When Emperor Wu created Xiao Tong's sons dukes sometime between 520 and 527, Xiao Cha was created the Duke of Qujiang. In 531, Xiao Tong died, but instead of creating Xiao Tong's oldest son Xiao Huan (萧欢) the Duke of Huarong crown prince to succeed him (as was expected under Confucian principles of succession), Emperor Wu created Xiao Tong's younger brother Xiao Gang crown prince instead. However, he felt that he did not treat Xiao Tong's sons fairly, and therefore he created them princes─in Xiao Cha's case, the Prince of Yueyang─and gave them honors only slightly subordinate to their uncles. Because the capital commandery of Eastern Yang Province (东扬州, modern central and eastern Zhejiang), Kuaiji Commandery (会稽, roughly modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang), was the richest commandery of the entire empire, he rotated them as the governor of Eastern Yang Province, and Xiao Cha was thus rotated there sometime before 546. However, despite these special treatments, Xiao Cha was still angry that he and his brothers were passed over by Emperor Wu. He saw that Emperor Wu, late in his long reign (since 502), was ruling over an imperial regime that was becoming inefficient and beset by factionalism between Emperor Wu's sons, and therefore, when he was made the governor of Yong Province (雍州, modern northwestern Hubei) in 546, he thought that this would be a good chance for him to establish a power base of his own, and therefore he cultivated the loyalty of the people to him by governing carefully. Struggles against Xiao Yi (Emperor Yuan) In 548, the general Hou Jing rebelled and attacked the capital Jiankang, capturing it in 549 and taking Emperor Wu and Crown Prince Gang hostage. (Emperor Wu died later that year and was succeeded by Crown Prince Gang (as Emperor Jianwen), albeit under Hou's control.) Meanwhile, also in 548, Emperor Wu had made Xiao Cha's older brother Xiao Yu (萧誉) the Prince of Hedong the governor of Xiang Province (湘州, modern central Hunan), rotating the previous governor of Xiang Province, Zhang Zuan (张缵) to Yong Province. Zhang was a close friend of Emperor Wu's powerful son Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong, who was then the governor of the key Jing Province (荆州, modern western and central Hubei), and he did not take Xiao Yu seriously, making Xiao Yu felt disrespected. Xiao Yu therefore detained Zhang and did not permit him to leave. Further, when Xiao Yi called for the provincial governors in his command region (which, inter alia, included both Xiang and Yong Provinces) to send troops to help lift the siege on Jiankang, Xiao Yu refused, and while Xiao Cha sent a detachment, he refused to command the detachment personally. When Zhang fled from Xiao Yu's custody late in 548, then, he went to Zhang, and, bearing grudges against Xiao Yu, falsely accused Xiao Yu, Xiao Cha, and their cousin Xiao Cao (萧□) the Prince of Guiyang and governor of Xin Province (信州, modern eastern Chongqing) of conspiring against Xiao Yi. Xiao Yi therefore killed Xiao Cao and prepared an army to attack Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu was initially able to repel Xiao Yi's attack and cause Xiao Yi's heir apparent Xiao Fangdeng (萧方等) to die in battle in summer 549, but by fall 549, he had been defeated by Xiao Yi's general Bao Quan (鲍泉), who put Xiao Yu's headquarters at Changsha (长沙, in modern Changsha, Hunan) under siege. Xiao Yu requested aid from Xiao Cha, and Xiao Cha commanded an army to attack Xiao Yi's headquarters at Jiangling. He put Jiangling under siege, but his attack was affected by heavy rains and repelled by Xiao Yi's general Wang Sengbian, and when his own general Du Ze (杜□) surrendered to Xiao Yi, and Du Ze's brother Du An (杜岸) further launched a surprise attack on Xiao Cha's headquarters at Xiangyang (襄阳, in modern Xiangfan, Hubei), Xiao Cha was forced to withdraw back to Xiangyang. Unable to help his brother and fearing that he would become Xiao Yi's next target─indeed, Xiao Yi then sent the general Liu Zhongli (柳仲礼) to attack Xiao Cha─Xiao Cha submitted to Western Wei, offering to become a vassal, and sought aid, sending his wife Princess Wang and his heir apparent Xiao Liao (萧□) to Western Wei as hostages. Yuwen Tai, the paramount general of Western Wei, accepted Xiao Cha's submission and sent the general Yang Zhong (杨忠) to aid Xiao Cha, and Yang defeated and captured Liu in spring 550. Yang subsequently entered into a treaty with Xiao Yi, putting Xiao Cha under Western Wei's protection. In summer 550, Western Wei offered to declare Xiao Cha the Emperor of Liang to inherit Emperor Wu's throne. Xiao Cha declined, but accepted the lesser title of Prince of Liang and also assumed acting imperial authority. Later that year, made a trip to the Western Wei capital Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Wen of Western Wei and Yuwen. In spring 551, when his uncle Xiao Guan (萧纶) the Prince of Shaoling was captured and killed by Western Wei troops commanded by Yang, Xiao Cha, who respected Xiao Guan, took his body and buried it with honors. In summer 551, when he heard that Hou was launching an attack on Xiao Yi's domain, he sent his general Cai Dabao (蔡大宝) with an army heading toward Jiangling, claiming to be ready to render assistance, but after Xiao Yi sent a rebuking letter, he ordered Cai to withdraw. In 552, after defeating Hou, Xiao Yi declared himself emperor (as Emperor Yuan) and set his capital at Jiangling. Believing himself to be strong, he was arrogant in his dealings with Western Wei, drawing attention from Yuwen, who began to consider invading Liang. When Xiao Cha became aware of this, he paid additional tribute to Western Wei to try to fan the flame. Subsequently, in spring 553, when Emperor Yuan not only made the Western Wei envoy Yuwen Renshu (宇文仁恕) felt insulted by not treating him with as much respect as the envoy from Northern Qi, but further made demands to Yuwen Tai to return former Liang territory taken by Western Wei, Yuwen Tai decided to invade Liang. In winter 553, Northern Zhou troops, commanded by Yu Jin (于谨), arrived at Xiangyang, and Xiao Cha's forces joined them and continued to advance south toward Jiangling. Emperor Yuan was caught unprepared, and while he summoned his generals Wang Sengbian and Wang Lin to come to his aid, Emperor Yuan surrendered before they could arrive. Xiao Cha took the custody of Emperor Yuan, interrogating and insulting him heavily. Around the new year 555, with approval from Western Wei authorities, Xiao Cha put Emperor Yuan to death by suffocating him with a large bag full of dirt. He also executed Emperor Yuan's and Emperor Jianwen's sons who were captured when Jiangling fell. Reign Western Wei created Xiao Cha Emperor of Liang, and he declared himself as such in spring 555 (as Emperor Xuan). Western Wei forces transferred Jiangling and the surrounding area to Emperor Xuan, but required him to transfer control of the Xiangyang region in exchange, and further left a military garrison at Jiangling, both to protect Emperor Xuan and to make sure that he would not rebel. Further, Western Wei troops pillaged Jiangling and took most of the inhabitants and the Liang imperial treasures back to Chang'an. (While Western Wei troops under Yu were still at Jiangling, Emperor Xuan's subordinate Yin Deyi (尹德毅) suggested that he make a surprise attack on Yu and slaughter the Western Wei troops, then reassert Liang's independence. Emperor Xuan declined, reasoning that Western Wei had protected him greatly and that to turn against Western Wei would be unjust. He later regreted the decision, but the decision was probably a correct one as the other Liang generals showed no inclination of recognizing him as emperor.) (As whether Emperor Xuan was a "legitimate" emperor of Liang was thereafter historically debated, his state is usually referred to by historians as either Western Liang or Later Liang.) Emperor Xuan posthumously honored his father Xiao Tong and Xiao Tong's wife Crown Princess Cai as emperor and empress, and honored his mother Consort Gong as empress dowager. He created his wife Princess Wang empress, and as his heir apparent Xiao Liao had died by this point, he created Xiao Liao's younger brother Xiao Kui as crown prince. He entrusted much of the governmental matters to Cai Dabao and Wang Cao (王操), both of whom served him faithfully. He appeared to have full expectation that he would be able to put additional Liang provinces under his control, but immediately, the Liang generals, including Wang Sengbian and Wang Lin, refused to recognize him. Wang Lin, who controlled modern Hunan and later parts of modern Hubei, indeed, sent his general Hou Ping (侯平) to attack Emperor Xuan, and while the attack was unsuccessful, Emperor Xuan was unable to expand his holdings. (Later in 555, Wang Sengbian declared Emperor Yuan's cousin Xiao Yuanming emperor, and in fall 555, after Wang Sengbian was killed by his lieutenant Chen Baxian, Chen deposed Xiao Yuanming and declared Emperor Yuan's son Xiao Fangzhi emperor (as Emperor Jing). After Chen had Emperor Jing yield the throne to him in 558, establishing Chen Dynasty as its Emperor Wu, Wang Lin declared Emperor Yuan's grandson Xiao Zhuang emperor, thus maintaining a competing claim for the Liang throne.) In late 558, with Wang Lin having advanced east to try to attack Chen, Emperor Xuan sent Wang Cao to try to seize the commanderies forming modern Hunan from Xiao Zhuang's domain, although the scope of success for this action was unclear. In any case, however, when Hou Tian (侯□), a general of Chen Baxian's nephew Emperor Wen of Chen defeated Wang Lin in spring 560, a combination of Emperor Xuan's and Northern Zhou troops were able to take the western half of Xiao Zhuang's territory, and Emperor Xuan assumed control over that territory, albeit requiring Northern Zhou military support. In fall 560, Hou Tian continued his advance, intending to take Xiang Province from Emperor Wenxuan. Northern Zhou generals Heruo Dun (贺若敦) and Dugu Sheng (独孤盛) led their troops against Hou, and Chen and Northern Zhou troops soon stalemated, and while initially, Hou was unable to make much progress against Heruo and Dugu, soon, problems with food supplies and illnesses caused Northern Zhou troops to be worn down. Around the new year 561, Dugu was forced to withdraw, putting Heruo under even greater pressure. By spring 561, Yin Liang (殷亮), who was defending Changsha, surrendered to Chen. Hou Tian then proposed to Heruo to let him withdraw peacefully. Heruo agreed and withdrew, and all of the territory previously taken from Xiao Zhuang were now in Chen hands, limiting Emperor Xuan's domain to the Jiangling region again. Emperor Xuan, depressed that his territory was small and heavily damaged by warfare, soon began to suffer from a serious skin lesion on his back. He died in spring 562. Xiao Kui succeeded him (as Emperor Ming). The historian Li Yanshou, in his History of Northern Dynasties, had this to say about Emperor Xuan, both praising him and noting some of his idiosyncricies: Xiao Cha had great ambitions from his youth, and he was not bogged down with details. Although he often suspected others, he was gracious to his soldiers and received their loyalty. He did not drink and was content with frugal living. He served his mother with great filial piety, and did not preoccupy himself with feasting. He particularly disliked women, and even when they were several steps away from him, he would state that he could smell them. Any clothes he wore while having sexual contact with women would be discarded thereafter. After having sexual intercourse with a consort, he would have to take a day to recuperate. He also disliked seeing human hair, and his servants had to either wear turbans or hats so that their hairs would not be exposed. Emperor Xuan was literarily capable, and he wrote 15 volumes of literary works and 36 volumes of commentary on Buddhist sutras. |