Xue Rengao
Xue Rengao | |||||||||
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Reign | September 3, 618[1][2] – November 30, 618[1][2] | ||||||||
Died | December 14, 618[1][2] | ||||||||
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Dynasty | Qín ( |
Xue Rengao (Chinese: 薛仁杲; died 618), also known as Xue Renguo (薛仁
Under Xue Ju[edit]
As of 617, Xue Rengao's father Xue Ju was a commander of the local militia at Jincheng (
Xue Rengao was said to be strong and capable at horseriding and archery, and his army respected him, believing that he was capable of standing up to 10,000 men on his own. However, he was also said to be greedy and cruel. For example, when he captured Yu Li (庾立), the son of the Sui official Yu Xin (庾信), angry that Yu Li dared to resist, he hung Yu on the fire and grilled him, and while doing so, cut his limbs off one by one and cut off his flesh to have his soldiers consume it. When he captured Tianshui, he gathered all the rich men and hung them upside down, pouring vinegar into their nostrils to force them to surrender their treasure. 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."
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 (
In fall 618, after Xue Ju had a major victory over Li Shimin, forcing Li Shimin to withdraw back to the Tang capital Chang'an. Hao then suggested to Xue Ju that he should attack Chang'an at once, and Xue Ju agreed, but he then grew ill and died. Xue Rengao succeeded him as emperor.
Reign[edit]
In light of Xue Ju's death, Xue Rengao stopped his army briefly. A month later, he fended off an attack by the Tang general Dou Gui (竇軌), and then, when another Tang general Li Shuliang (
However, it was said that when Xue Rengao was crown prince, he had poor relations with many of his father's generals, and after he became emperor, those generals became fearful and were not wholeheartedly supportive of him. Further, Hao Yuan mourned Xue Ju so greatly that he himself grew ill and died. Three months after Xue Rengao took the throne, Li Shimin arrived, and after a fierce battle between Li Shimin and Zong Luohou in Qianshuiyuan, Li Shimin crushed Zong's forces, and then attacked Xue Rengao. Xue Rengao was forced to withdraw into the city of Gaozhi (
Li Shimin spared Xue Rengao's brothers[6] and Zong, incorporating them into his army as officers. However, he took Xue Rengao back to Chang'an, and Emperor Gaozu executed Xue Rengao, as well as his generals Wu Shizheng (仵士
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.
- ^ a b c d Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 186.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 183.
- ^ Qinxing was actually the era name of Xue Rengao's father Xue Ju, but as Xue Rengao never changed the era name, it would have continued to be used during Xue Rengao's short reign.
- ^ The Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang both gave his name as Xue Rengao, but the Zizhi Tongjian gave his name as Xue Renguo.
- ^ That traditional histories used the plural implied, although did not state explicitly, that Xue Rengao had multiple brothers; however, the only one recorded in history was Xue Renyue (薛仁
越 ) the Prince of Jin.