Yuwen Tai (Chinese: 宇文泰; pinyin: Yǔwén Tài) (505/7 – 21 November 556[1]), nickname Heita (黑獺), formally Duke Wen of Anding (安定文公), later further posthumously honored by Northern Zhou initially as Prince Wen (文王) then as Emperor Wen (文皇帝) with the temple name Taizu (太祖), was the de facto ruler and paramount general of the Xianbei-led Chinese Western Wei dynasty, a branch successor state of the Northern Wei. In 534, Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei, seeking to assert power independent of the paramount general Gao Huan, fled to Yuwen's domain, and when Gao subsequently proclaimed Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei emperor, a split of Northern Wei was effected, and when Yuwen subsequently poisoned Emperor Xiaowu to death around the new year 535 and declared his cousin Yuan Baoju emperor (as Emperor Wen), the split was formalized, with the part under Gao's and Emperor Xiaojing's control known as Eastern Wei and the part under Yuwen's and Emperor Wen's control known as Western Wei. For the rest of his life, Yuwen endeavored to make Western Wei, then much weaker than its eastern counterpart, a strong state, and after his death, his son Yuwen Jue seized the throne from Emperor Gong of Western Wei, establishing the Northern Zhou dynasty.
^According to Yuwen Tai's biography in Book of Zhou, he died aged 52 (by East Asian reckoning) on the yihai day of the 10th month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei. This corresponds to 21 Nov 556 in the Julian calendar. ([魏恭帝三年]冬十月乙亥，崩于云阳宫，还长安发丧。时年五十二。) Zhou Shu, vol.02. Thus by calculation, his birth year should be 505. However, his biography in History of the Northern Dynasties recorded that he was 50 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. (帝薨于云阳宫，还长安发丧，时年五十。) Bei Shi, vol.09. If this account is correct, his birth year would be 507. Note that both Zhou Shu and Bei Shi gave the same date of death.
YuwenTai (Chinese: 宇文泰; pinyin: YǔwénTài) (505/7 – 21 November 556), nickname Heita (黑獺), formally Duke Wen of Anding (安定文公), later further posthumously...
Western Wei's paramount general YuwenTai, and after YuwenTai's death in 556, he became the guardian to YuwenTai's son Yuwen Jue. In 557, he forced Emperor...
eastern Xianbei (東部大人) by Chinese rulers. A descendant of the Yuwen tribe, YuwenTai, established the Northern Zhou Dynasty in the 6th century. Yuanhe Xingzuan...
imperial powers. Yuwen Yu was born in 534, as the oldest son of the then-Northern Wei general YuwenTai. His mother was YuwenTai's concubine Lady Yao...
his brother Yuwen Yu (Emperor Ming). Later that year, Yuwen Hu had Yuwen Jue executed. Yuwen Jue was born in 542 as the son of YuwenTai, then the paramount...
the focus of world attention to the well-known "Dugu prophecy" given to YuwenTai that states the true king is not yet set and the Dugu family will be the...
the general that he then depended on, YuwenTai, soon deteriorated as well, and around the new year 535, YuwenTai poisoned Emperor Xiaowu to death, making...
the Western Wei paramount general YuwenTai. His mother was YuwenTai's concubine Lady Chinu. He was born at YuwenTai's then-headquarters at Tong Province...
power by the paramount general YuwenTai. In 554, he tried to plot to have Yuwen killed, but his plot was discovered, and Yuwen deposed him, and soon had him...
general YuwenTai. He carried little actual power, and in 556, after YuwenTai's death, YuwenTai's nephew Yuwen Hu, serving as guardian to YuwenTai's son...
territory of modern Sichuan. In 557 YuwenTai's nephew Yuwen Hu deposed Emperor Gong and placed YuwenTai's son Yuwen Jue on the throne, ending Western...
YuwenTai, formally broke with Gao. When Gao advanced south to try to again take control of the imperial government, Emperor Xiaowu fled to Yuwen's territory...
strangled him. Yuwen Xian was born in 544, as the fifth son of YuwenTai, the paramount general of Western Wei. His mother was YuwenTai's concubine Lady...
of the late-Northern Wei general YuwenTai, who later became prominent in the politics of the Western Wei under Yuwen's regency. Yang Jian's mother was...
Eastern Wei in 537. He rose to high ranks under YuwenTai, and his eldest daughter married YuwenTai's son Yuwen Yu. When the Northern Zhou dynasty replaced...
defeating Hou in 552 declared himself emperor. In 554, after offending YuwenTai, the paramount general of rival Western Wei, Western Wei forces descended...
Qiang and Xiongnu tribesmen, Emperor Taizong sent the chancellor Yuwen Shiji (Yuwen Huaji's brother) to investigate, and in fear, Li Youliang's staff...
Jing's great-grandfather YuwenTai—put to death, as well as Emperor Jing's brothers Yuwen Kan (宇文衎) the Duke of Lai and Yuwen Shu (宇文術), the Duke of Yan...
paramount general YuwenTai, and was created the Duke of Longxi and given the Xianbei surname Daye (大野). Li Hu died before YuwenTai's son Emperor Xiaomin...
prominence while his uncle YuwenTai served as the paramount general of Western Wei, and subsequently served Northern Zhou after the Yuwen clan established the...
Book of Sui, Vol.9 He married Princess Shunyang (順陽公主), daughter of the regent YuwenTai. Book of Sui, Vol.44 History of the Northern Dynasties, Vol.78...
Tufa Poqiang (禿髮破羌, 407–479), a paramount general of the Northern Wei YuwenTai (宇文泰, 507–556), a paramount general of the state Western Wei, a branch...
frequently invaded the western frontier of Wei. The chancellor of Western Wei, YuwenTai, sent An Nuopanto (安諾盤陀, Nanai-Banda, a Sogdian from Bukhara,) as an emissary...
assistant YuwenTai, who sternly warned him against trying, and Hou retreated, allowing Yuwen to take control of Heba's troops. This allowed Yuwen to take...
general YuwenTai awarded Li Ezi to his son Yuwen Yong, then the Duke of Fucheng, to be Yuwen Yong's concubine. She was seven years older than Yuwen Yong...
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