Biography
Family Background and Early Life
Yuwen Yun was the eldest son of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yong, and was born in Tongzhou in 559. His mother Li Ezi was a daughter of the Western Wei general Li Qianzhe and was later honored as Imperial Empress Dowager after giving birth to Yuwen Yun.
Raised within the imperial household, Yuwen Yun was only three when he was made Duke of Lu on the first day of the fifth lunar month in 561. On the twenty-first day of the fourth lunar month in 572, Emperor Wu personally reported the appointment to the ancestral temple, capped Yuwen Yun at the eastern steps, and formally established him as crown prince. The *Book of Zhou* records the ceremony explicitly.
Emperor Wu placed high expectations on his heir but regarded him as mediocre and self-indulgent and therefore disciplined him harshly. At audiences Yuwen Yun was required to observe the same strict deportment as officials and was allowed no respite even in extreme heat or cold. Because he liked alcohol, Emperor Wu prohibited wine from entering the Eastern Palace. Whenever Yuwen Yun committed an offense, the emperor beat him with canes or whips and even warned that many crown princes had been deposed before and that he had other sons who could replace him. Officials of the Eastern Palace were ordered to record Yuwen Yun's words and conduct and report monthly.
Fearing his father's severity, Yuwen Yun carefully concealed his real disposition. Even so, Wang Gui and other ministers urged Emperor Wu to replace the heir. The emperor judged that his second son Yuwen Zan was also unworthy and the remaining sons too young, so Yuwen Yun retained his position. The *Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance* records Wang Gui lamenting during a banquet that although Emperor Wu was admirable, his heir was weak. Emperor Wu appears to have shared some of these concerns but did not act.
Period as Crown Prince
In 573, Emperor Wu ordered the crown prince to inspect the western regions, and that same year Yuwen Yun married Yang Lihua, eldest daughter of Duke Yang Jian of Sui, as crown princess. In 574, after Empress Dowager Wenxuan Chinu died, Emperor Wu observed mourning and ordered Yuwen Yun to oversee the government for fifty days. Thereafter, when Emperor Wu traveled on inspection, he often left Yuwen Yun in charge of court affairs. In February 576 Yuwen Yun again inspected the west and used the occasion to campaign against Tuyuhun.
Although he appeared outwardly disciplined during his years as crown prince, he had long suppressed his impulses. Conscious of his father's severity, he concealed his temperament to avoid punishment. The source presents this prolonged repression as contributing to the extreme indulgence of his later reign.
Accession
Emperor Wu died on the first day of the sixth lunar month of 578. Yuwen Yun ascended the throne the next day. He honored his father's principal wife Ashina as empress dowager and his birth mother Li Ezi as imperial empress dowager and designated the following year as the first year of Dacheng. Whereas established mourning norms expected a new ruler to observe mourning for about a month, Yuwen Yun took the throne immediately after his father's death, buried him ten days later, then removed mourning clothes and celebrated his accession.
The *Book of Zhou* states that Yuwen Yun showed no grief at his father's death and even touched scars on his feet left by past beatings and shouted toward Emperor Wu's coffin that he had died too late. After accession he rapidly displayed an extravagant and violent disposition. He ordered that daughters of officials of Yitong rank and above were not to marry so that he could choose among them for the palace. He withdrew into the inner court, relied on eunuchs, undertook large construction projects, imposed arbitrary punishments, punished memorials for writing errors, and sent confidants to monitor ministers.
Execution of Imperial Clansmen and Weakening of the Princes
On the twenty-eighth day of the sixth lunar month of 578, Yuwen Yun killed his uncle Yuwen Xian, Prince of Qi, a famous Northern Zhou general of exceptional prestige. In May 579 he ordered Yuwen Zhao, Prince of Zhao; Yuwen Chun, Prince of Chen; Yuwen Sheng, Prince of Yue; Yuwen Da, Prince of Dai; and Yuwen You, Prince of Teng to leave Chang'an for their respective fiefs. The strength of the imperial clan declined markedly.
These measures strengthened Yuwen Yun's immediate personal authority but weakened the wider Northern Zhou imperial house and, according to the source, helped create conditions later exploited by Yang Jian.
Abdication and the Tianyuan Emperor Period
On the nineteenth day of the second lunar month in 579, Yuwen Yun abdicated in favor of his eldest son Yuwen Yan, later renamed Yuwen Chan. He changed the era name to Daxiang and styled himself Tianyuan Emperor. Yang Lihua became Tianyuan Empress. His residence was called the “Terrace of Heaven”; he wore a crown with twenty-four pendant strands; vehicles, dress, banners, and drums were organized in units of twenty-four; his commands were styled “heavenly decrees,” “heavenly edicts,” and “heavenly orders”; and he referred to himself as “Heaven.” Ministers were required to fast for three days and purify themselves for one day before appearing before him.
Although he had transferred the throne to his son, Yuwen Yun remained the effective ruler and issued orders as retired emperor. He established five empresses: Grand Tianyuan Empress Yang Lihua, Great Heavenly Empress Zhu Manyue, Central Heavenly Empress Chen Yueyi, Left Heavenly Empress Yuchi Chifan, and Right Heavenly Empress Yuan Leshang. Historical records call this the “five empresses ruling concurrently,” surpassing the three empresses of Liu Cong of Former Zhao.
Yuwen Yun ordered large-scale selection of women throughout the realm for the palace. Chen Yueyi, the eighth daughter of Grand General Chen Shanti, and Yuan Leshang, the second daughter of Yitong Yuan Sheng, were especially favored. The source attributes the rapid deterioration of Yuwen Yun's health to excessive sexual indulgence and constant pleasure-seeking.
Later Years and Death
In his later years Yuwen Yun became suspicious of his father-in-law Yang Jian, Duke of Sui. He once intended to order the death of Yang Jian's daughter Yang Lihua, who was spared only after Yang Jian's wife Dugu Jialuo pleaded for her. On another occasion Yuwen Yun summoned Yang Jian with instructions that he be killed if his facial expression changed; Yang Jian remained composed and survived. Deeply uneasy, Yang Jian asked the emperor's trusted official Zheng Yi to persuade Yuwen Yun to give him an outside assignment.
In the fifth lunar month of 580, Yuwen Yun planned a campaign against Southern Chen and asked Zheng Yi's opinion. Zheng Yi took the opportunity to recommend Yang Jian, and the emperor approved. On the eighteenth day of the fifth lunar month Yuwen Yun appointed Yang Jian chief administrator of Yangzhou to direct the southern campaign. Yang Jian suddenly developed a foot illness and did not depart immediately. On the twenty-fourth day Yuwen Yun became critically ill and summoned Liu Fang, Lesser Imperial Corrector, and Yan Zhiyi, Middle Grand Master of Imperial Correction, to entrust final matters, but he could no longer speak. Liu Fang, Zheng Yi, and others then planned to place Yang Jian in charge of the government and forged an associated testamentary edict. Yuwen Yun died that day in Tiande Hall at the age of twenty-two and received the posthumous title Emperor Xuan. He was buried at Dingling on the twelfth day of the seventh lunar month.
After Yuwen Yun's death, Yang Jian took control of government as regent. The following year he deposed Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou, established the Sui dynasty, and brought Northern Zhou to an end.