The Northern Zhou Dynasty (Chinese:北周) followed the Western Wei, and ruled northern China from 557 to 581. It was followed by the Sui Dynasty.

Northern Zhou's basis of power was established by Yuwen Tai, who was paramount general of Western Wei, following the split of Northern Wei into Western Wei and Eastern Wei in 535. After Yuwen Tai's death in 556, Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu forced Emperor Gong of Western Wei to yield the throne to Yuwen Tai's son Yuwen Jue (Emperor Xiaomin), establishing Northern Zhou. The reigns of the first three emperors (Yuwen Tai's sons) -- Emperor Xiaomin, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Wu were dominated by Yuwen Hu, until Emperor Wu ambushed and killed Yuwen Hu in 572 and assumed power personally. With Emperor Wu as a capable ruler, Northern Zhou destroyed rival Northern Qi in 577, taking over Northern Qi's territory. However, Emperor Wu's death in 578 doomed the state, as his son Emperor Xuan was an arbitrary and violent ruler whose unorthodox behavior greatly weakened the state. After Emperor Xuan's death in 580 (when he was already titularly retired emperor (Taishang Huang)), Emperor Xuan's father-in-law Yang Jian seized power, and in 581 seized the throne from Emperor Xuan's son Emperor Jing, establishing Sui. The imperial Yuwen clan, including the young Emperor Jing, was subsequently slaughtered by Yang Jian.

Emperors of Northern Zhou

Posthumous Names (Shi Hao 諡號)	Born Names	Period of Reigns	Era Names (Nian Hao 年號) and their according range of years
Northern dynasty
Northern Zhou Dynasty 557-581
Convention: Northern Zhou + posthumous name
Xiao Min Di (孝閔帝 xiào mǐn dì)	Yuwen Jue (宇文覺 yǔ wén jué)	557	Did not exist
Ming Di (明帝 míng dì) or Xiao Ming Di (孝明帝 xiào míng dì)	Yuwen Yu (宇文毓 yǔ wén yù)	557-560	Wucheng (武成 wǔ chéng) 559-560
Wu Di (武帝 wǔ dì)	Yuwen Yong (宇文邕 yǔ wén yōng)	561-578	Baoding (保定 bǎo dìng) 560-565 Tianhe (天和 tiān hé) 566-572 Jiande (建德 jiàn dé) 572-578 Xuanzheng (宣政 xuān zhèng) 578
Xuan Di (宣帝 xuān dì)	Yuwen Yun (宇文贇 yǔ wén yūn)	578-579	Dacheng (大成 dà chéng) 579
Jing Di (靜帝 jìng dì)	Yuwen Chan (宇文闡 yǔ wén chǎn)	579-581	Daxiang (大象 dà xiàng) 579-581 Dading (大定 dà dìng) 581

See also

• Chinese history
• Southern and Northern Dynasty
• Chinese sovereign

Notes

References

• Book of Zhou.
• History of Northern Dynasties.
• Zizhi Tongjian.