Xue Ju
Xue Ju | |||||||||||||
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Reign | May 13, 617[1][2] – September 3, 618 | ||||||||||||
Died | September 3, 618[1][3] | ||||||||||||
Spouse | Empress Ju | ||||||||||||
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Dynasty | Qín ( |
Xue Ju (薛舉) (died 618), formally Emperor Wu (
As hegemonic prince of Western Qin
[edit]Xue Ju's clan was originally from Hedong Commandery (
In 617, there were many agrarian rebellions in modern eastern Gansu. Hao Yuan (郝瑗), the county magistrate of Jincheng, thus invited people to join the military, and he gathered several thousand men and gave them to Xue Ju to command. in summer 617, after Hao distributed armor and weapons to the soldiers and set out a feast to send them off, Xue Ju, his oldest son Xue Rengao, and 13 other cohorts took Hao captive and announced that they were rebelling against the Sui dynasty. Xue Ju arrested the local officials and opened the food storages to aid those who were poor. He claimed the title of "Hegemonic Prince of Western Qin" (
As emperor
[edit]In fall 617, Xue Ju claimed the title of Emperor of Qin. He made his wife Lady Ju an empress, and Xue Rengao a crown prince. Xue Rengao subsequently captured Tianshui, and Xue Ju moved his capital to Tianshui. As Xue Rengao was fierce but often overly cruel to those he captured, Xue Ju often warned him, "You are capable of great things, but you are strict and cruel, with no grace to others. One day you will surely destroy the state I established and our clan." According to traditional historical accounts, however, Xue Ju himself was also cruel, often killing soldiers he captured, and also often cut off their tongues and noses, and therefore did not gain as much following as he hoped. When he sent Xue Renyue south to try to capture lands in modern Sichuan, Xue Renyue was blocked by Xiao Yu the governor of Hechi Commandery (
Around the new year 618, Xue Ju sent Xue Rengao to attack Fufeng Commandery (扶風, also in modern Baoji), but Xue Rengao was blocked by the rebel leaders Li Hongzhi (
- You, Emperor, should not ask something like this, and Chu Liang's response was absurd and rebellious. Gaozu of Han was often defeated, and the first emperor of Shu could not even protect his wife and children. Winning and losing battles happened throughout history. How can you be ready to give up your state just based on one defeat?"
Xue Ju saw the fallacy in asking the question, and he greatly rewarded Hao and made Hao his chief strategist. Subsequently, when Li Yuan sent his generals Jiang Mo (
In summer 618, Xue Ju launched an attack on Tang's Jing Prefecture (涇州, roughly modern Pingliang, Gansu), and Tang's Emperor Gaozu sent Li Shimin to resist Xue Ju. Li Shimin established his defenses and refused to engage Xue Ju to try to wear Xue Ju out, but at that time, he was afflicted with malaria, and he let his associates Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan (
Family
[edit]Very little (not even a personal name) is known about empress Ju (
Empress Ju was said to be cruel. She liked to whip and batter her servants, and when those who could not endure her beating would roll in pain on the ground, she would bury their feet in dirt so that they would be immobile and resume the beating. It was said that this was part of the reason why Xue Ju was unable to get as many people to follow him as he hoped.[6]
After Xue Rengao's surrender and execution in 618, his brothers and generals were mostly spared. No reference was made, however, to the fate of Empress Ju, and there was no historical record indicating whether Xue Rengao honored her as empress dowager.[7]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 183.
- ^ a b Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 186.
- ^ Later, when Xue Rengao was defeated, historical records implied, but did not explicitly state, that Xue Ju had other sons than Xue Rengao and Xue Renyue, but they were the only ones whose names were recorded in history.
- ^
舊 唐 書 (in Chinese).漢語 大 詞 典 出版 社 . 2004. - ^
欽定 大 淸 會 典 : 100卷 ,事例 1220卷 (in Chinese).商務 印 書 館 . 1909. p. 50. - ^ 灵州
会 盟 (in Chinese). Beijing Book Co. Inc. 1 June 2017. ISBN 978-7-5525-3713-0.
Personal information
[edit]- Father
- Xue Wang (薛汪)
- Wife
- Empress Ju (created 617)
- Children
- Xue Rengao (薛仁杲), initially the Duke of Qi (created 617), later the Prince of Qi (created 617), later the Crown Prince (created 617), later emperor
- Xue Renyue (薛仁
越 ), initially the Duke of Jin (created 617), later the Prince of Jin (created 617)