1. Hou Jing was a general of Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, and Liang, and briefly, after controlling the Liang imperial regime for several years, usurped the Liang throne, establishing a state of Han.
62 Facts About Hou Jing
1. 2.
Hou Jing was defeated by the Liang prince Xiao Yi, the prince of Xiangdong, and was killed by his own associates while in flight.
3.
Hou Jing is one of the most reviled figures in ancient Chinese history, known for his extreme cruelty to enemies and civilians.
4.
Hou Jing is known to have called himself "General of the Universe Past, Present, and Future, Commander of all Forces in the Six Directions".
5.
Hou Jing appeared to be ethnically Chinese, but the matter of his ethnicity is not conclusive.
6.
Around this time, Hou Jing joined the army of the Northern Wei general Erzhu Rong, and initially, he learned tactics from Erzhu's lieutenant Murong Shaozong, but soon, Murong found it necessary to consult Hou Jing for his opinion on tactical matters.
7.
In 531, Gao rose against the Erzhus, and in 532, after Gao had defeated the Erzhus, Hou Jing joined Gao, and Gao made him the governor of Ji Province.
8.
Soon Gao appeared to recall Hou Jing and make him one of his subcommanders.
9.
Hou Jing continued to serve under Gao Huan, and he became known as a brilliant tactician as well as a tough warrior even though, unlike many other generals at the time, he was not particularly skilled at horseriding, archery, or any other martial skills, and he was described as walking with a limp with short legs.
10.
Hou Jing often claimed that if Gao allowed him to lead an army south, he could easily capture Emperor Wu of Liang and make Emperor Wu, an avid Buddhist, the head monk of the Taiping Temple.
11.
Hou Jing defeated Heba, forcing Heba to flee to the Liang Dynasty and taking those provinces for Eastern Wei.
12.
But, Hou Jing was later defeated by Chen, and Chen's troops recovered the supplies which Hou Jing's troops had abandoned during their retreat.
13.
In 537, when Gao launched a major attack on Western Wei, seeking to destroy it, Hou Jing was with him, and advised against advancing in a single large army, advocating dividing the army into two parts that would remain at a distance and support each other.
14.
In 538, Hou Jing recaptured several southern provinces that had defected to Western Wei in light of Eastern Wei's defeat at Shawan.
15.
Hou Jing followed up by besieging the old Northern Wei capital, Luoyang, then defended by the Western Wei general Dugu Xin, precipitating a major battle in which both Eastern and Western Wei suffered major losses.
16.
In 543, when the Eastern Wei general Gao Zhongmi defected to Western Wei, along with the important garrison of Hulao, which he controlled, Hou Jing was one of the generals who served under Gao both in besieging Hulao and in combating the Western Wei forces commanded by Yuwen that tried to relieve Hulao.
17.
Hou Jing captured the messengers and, judging that it was more important to capture the garrison quickly, changed the messengers' message to "Withdraw from Hulao," and then allowed the messengers to reach Wei Guang.
18.
Hou Jing first surrendered the 13 provinces that he commanded to Western Wei, but subsequently surrendered to Liang.
19.
Wang, not believing that Hou Jing actually intended to become a loyal Western Wei subject, secured four provinces that Hou Jing was willing to give up control.
20.
Soon, Yuwen Tai demanded that Hou Jing visit the Western Wei capital Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Wen of Western Wei, to show his good faith.
21.
Hou Jing refused, and he tried to persuade a number of Western Wei generals to join him, but only Ren Yue did, with a minor army.
22.
Hou Jing cautioned him against Murong, and informed him that if he defeated Eastern Wei troops, he should not chase them too hastily, lest he fall into a trap.
23.
Hou Jing did not heed the warning, and when Murong arrived at Pengcheng, Murong attacked him.
24.
Hou Jing retreated to Woyang, and the armies faced off against each other.
25.
Hou Jing fled with 800 soldiers who were still loyal to him.
26.
Murong gave chase but gave up the chase when Hou Jing reminded him that he himself would be useless if Hou Jing were destroyed.
27.
Hou Jing himself considered what his next action would be, and he, under advice from the Liang commander Liu Shenmao, ambushed and seized the Liang acting governor of Southern Yu Province, Wei An, taking control of Southern Yu Province's capital city Shouyang.
28.
Hou Jing sent an apology to Emperor Wu, and Emperor Wu, not having the heart to rebuke Hou after his defeat, made him the governor of Southern Yu Province without any punishment.
29.
Meanwhile, Gao Cheng started peace negotiations with Emperor Wu, offering to return Xiao Yuanming and intending to cause Hou Jing to become apprehensive.
30.
Hou Jing opposed peace with Eastern Wei, worried that he would be betrayed if there was peace between the two states.
31.
Hou Jing wrote a harshly worded accusation to Emperor Wu, who responded with meek words that failed to persuade Hou against a rebellion.
32.
Meanwhile, Hou Jing entered into secret negotiations with Emperor Wu's nephew Xiao Zhengde the Prince of Linhe, offering to make the ambitious Xiao Zhangde emperor, and Xiao Zhengde agreed to assist him.
33.
Hou Jing declared a rebellion in summer 548, declaring that his intentions were to have the corrupt officials Zhu Yi, Xu Lin, Lu Yan, and Zhou Shizhen put to death.
34.
Hou Jing further forced the civilians to conduct siege construction against the palace.
35.
Meanwhile, Yang Kan died, and Hou Jing put even greater pressure on the palace defence.
36.
However, Xiao Gang persuaded Emperor Wu to negotiate, and peace terms were negotiated where Hou Jing would be allowed to return to Shouyang, and Emperor Wu would allow him to control the provinces west of the Yangtze River.
37.
However, Hou Jing soon decided that peace would not be sustainable, and once the ceasefire had lasted sufficiently long for him to obtain additional food supplies, he reneged, accusing Emperor Wu of a number of faults, and putting the palace again under siege.
38.
Hou Jing took control of Emperor Wu and Xiao Gang, issuing an edict in Emperor Wu's name ordering the provincial forces to disband.
39.
Hou Jing deposed Xiao Zhengde back to the rank of Prince of Linhe and used Emperor Wu as token authority.
40.
Hou Jing was forced to advance west on the Yangtze.
41.
In spring 550, Hou Jing married Emperor Jianwen's daughter Princess Liyang, and it was said that he loved her greatly.
42.
In fall 550, Hou Jing sent Ren Yue to attack both Xiao Daxin and Xiao Fan's son Xiao Si.
43.
Ren killed Xiao Si in battle, and Xiao Daxin, unable to resist, surrendered, allowing Hou Jing to take his domain under control.
44.
Later that year, Hou Jing made Emperor Jianwen create him the Prince of Han.
45.
Additionally, Hou Jing made Emperor Jianwen promote him to the position of "General of the Universe Past, Present, and Future, Commander of all Forces in the Six Directions".
46.
Hou Jing personally led troops to aid Ren, leaving Wang Wei in charge of Jiankang.
47.
Meanwhile, Xu counterattacked against Ren, and Hou Jing again led troops to reinforce Ren, this time carrying Emperor Jianwen's crown prince Xiao Daqi as hostage.
48.
Hou Jing fled back to Jiankang, and Xiao Yi retook control of Jiangxia.
49.
Hou Jing began to believe that his days might be numbered, and he wanted to become emperor in his remaining days.
50.
Meanwhile, Wang Wei, who believed that Hou Jing was spending too much time with Princess Liyang and ignoring important matters, tried to get him to change his ways, but this drew the princess' ire.
51.
Hou Jing agreed, and in fall 551, he removed Emperor Jianwen and put the sons of Emperor Jianwen under his control, including Xiao Daqi, to death.
52.
Hou Jing made Xiao Tong's grandson Xiao Dong the Prince of Yuzhang emperor.
53.
Hou Jing had Xiao Dong bestow him the nine bestowments.
54.
The first action Hou Jing's troops, commanded by Xie Daren, took after he became emperor was to attack several generals to the east of Jiankang, who had risen against him in the last days of Emperor Jianwen's reign.
55.
Hou Jing initially ordered Hou Zijian, whom he sent against Wang, not to engage Wang and Chen on water, but after Wang pretended to be apprehensive, Hou Jing changed to order and allowed Hou Zijian to engage them on water, and Wang defeated him.
56.
Chen quickly set up advanced positions north of the Qinhuai River, and when Hou Jing himself attacked Chen, Chen defeated him as well.
57.
Against Wang Wei's advice to defend Jiankang, Hou Jing abandoned it and fled, commenting:.
58.
Hou Jing put his two young sons, born during the time he was at Jiankang, into saddle bags and drowned them, and then fled east, intending to join Xie's army to the east.
59.
Hou Jing took his remaining boats and fled on the Yangtze River, throwing his two sons into the water to drown.
60.
When Hou woke up, he tried to give contrary orders, but Yang killed him with a spear and delivered his body to Jingkou.
61.
Hou Jing's body was then stuffed with salt and delivered to Jiankang.
62.
Hou Jing then displayed the body publicly, and the public, including Emperor Jianwen's daughter and Hou's one-time wife, Princess Liyang, quickly cut off Hou's flesh and consumed it.