Yang Zhong (æ¥Âå¿ , 507 â 17 August 568), courtesy name Anyu (æÂÂäºÂ), childhood name Nunu (奴奴), Xianbei name Puliuru Zhong (æ®å Âè¹忠), formally known as Duke of Sui (é¨åÂÂå ¬), was a soldier, later general of the Northern Wei dynasty. He was the father of Yang Jian, the founder of the Sui dynasty.
Yang Zhong was Yang Zhen's son, titled General of Ningyuan County (寧é å°Âè»Â). He is described as a tall handsome man with a long beard.
In 534, Dugu Xin attacked Jingzhou (then part of Eastern Wei), and brought Yang Zhong along. After conquering Jingzhou (and killing Eastern Wei's Inspector of Jingzhou (èÂÂå·Âåºå²) Xin Zhuan (è¾ÂçºÂ)), Yang and Dugu Xin managed to hold it for about half a year, before fleeing to Liang after Eastern Wei counterattacked. While Emperor Wu of Liang bestowed titles upon them, both men returned to Western Wei in 537.
After the establishment of the Northern Zhou dynasty, Yang Zhong was appointed as a marshal and commanded more than ten generals including Yang Zuan (æ¥ÂçºÂ), Li Mu (æÂÂç©Â), Wang Jie (çÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ), Tian Hong (ç°å¼Â), and Murong Yan (æ Â容延). Later, together with the 100,000 troops of the Turkic Khanate, they attacked Jinyang, a city located in Northern Qi. In the Northern Zhou dynasty, Yang Zhong was named Duke of Chenliu (é³çÂÂé¡堬), later changed to Duke of Sui (é¨åÂÂå ¬).
After his son became emperor, he was honored with the title of Emperor Wuyuan (æ¦å ÂçÂÂå¸Â) and his legal wife and the biological mother of Yang Jian, Lady Lü was named Empress Yuanming (å ÂæÂÂçÂÂÃ¥ÂÂÃ¥ÂÂæ°Â).
According to the Book of Zhou and Book of Sui (both compiled during the Tang dynasty), Yang Zhong was born in the Yang clan of Hongnong (å¼Âè¾²æ¥Âæ°Â), but this statement is difficult to confirm.
Chen Yinke (éÂÂ寠æª), a Chinese historian, did not agree that Yang Jian's family was born in Wuchuan County, Inner Mongolia. According to him, Yang Zhong was from a Han Chinese family. Judging from the intermarriage practice of families at that time, Yang Zhong may have been born in the Yang clan of Shandong (å±±ä¸Âæ¨æ°Â).
However, scholar Wang Tongling (çÂÂæ¡Â齡) deduced that Yang Jian's family might have Xianbei blood, or perhaps even purely Xianbei, leading to the belief that he was born in the Yang clan of Hongnong.
Consort and their respective issue(s):