Yang You

Yang You

Emperor Gong of Sui (???) (605 – 14 September 619), personal name Yang You (??), was an emperor of the Chinese Sui Dynasty. He was Li Yuan's puppet emperor, and after Emperor Yang of Sui died, Li then became the founding emperor of the Tang dynasty and had Yang You executed. Traditionally, he was considered the last emperor of the Sui dynasty because he was succeeded and executed by Li Yuan (Emperor Gaozu of Tang), the founding emperor to the succeeding Tang Dynasty. However, after him, his brother Yang Tong claimed the throne and continued to do so until 619. Li had rebelled against the rule of Yang You's grandfather Emperor Yang of Sui in 617 and captured the capital Chang'an later that year, seizing Yang You and installing Yang as a puppet emperor. However, only the commanderies under Li's control recognized Yang You as emperor. The rest of the commanderies continued to recognize Emperor Yang of Sui as emperor. In 618, after news arrived that Emperor Yang had been killed by the general Yuwen Huaji, Li had the young emperor yield the throne to him. Li then murdered and executed Yang You a year later.

Update this biography »
Complete biography of Yang You »