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Yang Gao (楊杲; 607 – 11 April 618), nickname Jizi (季子), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Sui dynasty. He was the youngest son of Emperor Yang.
Life
Yang Gao was born in 607, after Emperor Yang had already become emperor. His mother was Consort Xiao, of whom little is known, and she might have been a sister or a relative of Emperor Yang's wife Empress Xiao. In 613, he was created the Prince of Zhao. Yang Gao was said to be intelligent and handsome in his childhood, as well as filially pious—such that when Emperor Yang was ill and unable to eat, Yang Gao would refuse to eat as well, and when Empress Xiao was ill and considered moxibustion, he volunteered to undertake it first. Emperor Yang, when he was under siege by the Eastern Turk leader Shibi Khan in 615 at the seat of Yanmen Commandery in present-day Daixian, Shanxi, was recorded as so desperate that he was not doing anything except holding Yang Gao and crying.
In 618, while Emperor Yang was at Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), forces participating in a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji entered the palace and surrounded him. Yang Gao was by his side and started crying bitterly. Perhaps in irritation or perhaps to show Emperor Yang that the coup leaders were serious, Pei Qiantong (裴虔通) seized Yang Gao and killed him with a sword in Emperor Yang's presence, with Yang Gao's blood spilling onto Emperor Yang's clothes. Emperor Yang then offered to commit suicide but was strangled to death instead. Empress Xiao and her ladies in waiting had to take decorative wooden boards within the palace to make makeshift caskets for Emperor Yang and Yang Gao.
References
Citation
- Volume 185 of Zizhi Tongjian indicated that the palace revolt against Yang Guang (Emperor Yang) began on the yimao day of the 3rd month of the 14th year of the Da'ye era of his reign, and that Yang Gao was killed the next day (i.e. the bingchen day). The date corresponds to 11 Apr 618 on the Julian calendar. The volume also indicated that Yang Gao was 12 (by East Asian reckoning) when he was killed by Pei Qiantiong. (帝爱子赵王杲，年十二，在帝侧，号恸不已，虔通斩之...) Thus by calculation, Yang Gao should be born in 607.
- Xiong (2006), pp. 63–4.
Bibliography
- Book of Sui, vol. 59 .
- History of Northern Dynasties, vol. 71 .
- Xiong, Victor Cunrui (2006), Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty: His Life, Times, and Legacy, Albany: State University of New York Press, ISBN 9780791482681.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 181, 182, 185.