Northern Wei Eastern Wei Western Wei Northern Qi Founder of this empire in China’s west and northwest was Yuwen Jue 宇文覺 (posthumous Beizhou Xiaomindi 北周孝閔帝 - see titles of rulers), a son of the mighty Xiongnu 匈奴 general Yuwen Tai 宇文泰. Tai and his son controlled the descendents of the Northern Wei (Beiwei 北魏) rulers that had fled to Chang'an 長安 (modern Xi'an) during the period of political disorder in the 530ies. In 557 Yuwen Jue deposed the weak emperor of this Western Wei Dynasty (Xiwei 西魏) and made himself emperor of Northern Zhou (Beizhou 北周) . After the assassination of Yuwen Jue in the same year, some minor emperors were successively controlled by Yuwen Hu 宇文護 who was finally killed in 572. Emperor Yuwen Yong 宇文邕 (posthumous Beizhou Wudi 北周武帝) from now on personally took over the regency and implemented some integral reforms. The garrison militia (fubing 府兵) were integrated into the state official system and therewith belonged to the imperial officialdom. He also abandoned the long lasting politics of separation between the warring Non-Chinese population and the farming Chinese population. Chinese could enter the ranks of the militia, and Non-Chinese could become farmers. Yuwen Yong also altered some regulations of the equal-field system (juntianfa 均田法) for the size of the alloted fields and the tax in silk material. To facilitate traffic, he had built some canals. Slaves and private militia had to be disbanded, Buddhist and Daoist monks and nuns had to become laypersons again (huan su 還俗), land and soil owned by monasteries was confiscated by the state. The two religions were even interdicted. These measures should raise the number of tax-liable households and the public productivity. The emperor’s own lifestyle tended to a kind of austerity in order to disburden the state treasury. Concerning the structure of the central government, Yuwen Yong followed the innovations of Yuwen Tai 宇文泰 in the 530es, installing the six ministries (liuguan 六官) that are described in the Confucian classic Zhouli 周禮. The better economical conditions and the higher military potential of the central government allowed the Northern Zhou state to conquer the neighboring Northern Qi (Beiqi 北齊) and to reunite northern China in 577. The young emperor Yuwen Chan 宇文闡 (posthumous Beizhou Jingdi 北周靜帝) was controlled by a relative of his mother, Yang Jian 楊堅, who deposed Yuwen Chan and founded his own Dynasty, Sui 隋, in 581. See also titles of rulers. Rulers of Northern Zhou (Beizhou) 北周 (557-581) Capital: Chang'an 長安 (modern Xi'an 長安/Shaanxi) dynastic title {temple name} ----reign periods personal name Beizhou Xiaomindi 北周孝閔帝 557 Yuwen Jue 宇文覺 Beizhou Mingdi 北周明帝 {Shizong 世宗} 557-560 -----Wucheng 武成 559-560 Yuwen Yu 宇文毓 Beizhou Wudi 北周武帝 {Gaozu 高祖} 560-578 -----Baoding 保定 561-565 -----Tianhe 天和 566-571 -----Jiande 建德 572-577 -----Xuanzheng 宣政 578 Yuwen Yong 宇文邕 Beizhou Xuandi 北周宣帝 578-579 -----Dacheng 大成 579 Yuwen Yun 宇文贇 Beizhou Jingdi 北周靜帝 579-581 -----Daxiang 大象 579-580 -----Dading 大定 581 Yuwen Chan 宇文闡 (or Yan 衍)

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