Yang Xingmi

Yang Xingmi
楊行密
Prince of Wu
Prince of Wu (吳王)
Reign902 – 905
PredecessorProclaimed the Prince of Wu
SuccessorYang Wo as Commandery Prince of Hongnong
Commandery Prince of Hongnong
(弘農郡王)
Reign895 – 902
SuccessorProclaimed the Prince of Wu
jiedushi of Huainan Circuit
(淮南節度使)
Tenure887 – 888
PredecessorQin Yan
SuccessorSun Ru
Tenure892 – 905
PredecessorSun Ru
SuccessorYang Wo
Born852
DiedDecember 24, 905
Burial
Xingling Mausoleum (興陵, in modern Yizheng, Jiangsu)
Full name
Era dates
Tiānyòu (天祐): 904–905[1]
Posthumous name
Initially Prince Wuzhong (武忠王) (honored by Tang dynasty),
later Prince Xiaowu (孝武王) (honored by Yang Longyan),
finally Emperor Wu (武皇帝) (honored by Yang Pu)
Temple name
Taizu (太祖) (honored by Yang Pu)
DynastyWu

Yang Xingmi (Chinese: 楊行密; 852[2] – December 24, 905[3][4]), né Yang Xingmin (楊行愍, name changed 886), courtesy name Huayuan (化源), formally Prince Wuzhong of Wu (吳武忠王, "martial and faithful"),[5] later posthumously honored King Xiaowu of Wu (吳孝武王, "filial and martial") then Emperor Wu of Wu (吳武帝) with the temple name of Taizu (太祖), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He was the military governor (jiedushi) of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) late in the Chinese Tang dynasty, whose takeover of Huainan and several nearby circuits allowed him and his family to rule over territory that would eventually become the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms state Wu (although Yang Xingmi would be the first ruler in his line to receive the title of Prince of Wu, it was a Tang-bestowed title and did not denote independence of the state), including most of modern Jiangsu and Anhui and parts of modern Jiangxi and Hubei.

  1. ^ Adopted the era name of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. 905 was the 1st year of Tiānyòu.
  2. ^ Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 1.
  3. ^ Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.
  4. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 265.
  5. ^ Yang Xingmi's title of Wang (王) is translatable in English as either "prince" or "king." It will be largely translated as "prince" here as he made no attempt to claim his domain to be a state independent from Tang dynasty, and it was not until the time of his son Yang Longyan (King Xuan), by which time the Tang imperial line had long been extinguished, that the Wu state formally declared itself independent, that the Wu rulers claimed the title of Guowang (lit., "state prince/king"). However, "king" will be used for the posthumous honors that Yang Longyan bestowed on him as Yang Longyan was then claiming the Guowang title. See Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 270.