Hulü Guang () (515 – 22 August 572([武平三年]秋七月戊辰，诛左丞相、咸阳王斛律光...) Bei Qi Shu, vol.08. Hulü Guang's biography in the same work indicate that he was 58 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died.), courtesy name Mingyue (明月), was an ethnic Tiele general of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. During the late years of the dynasty—the reigns of Emperor Wucheng and Gao Wei, traditionally viewed as a period of corruption and debauchery when the Northern Qi's once-powerful status was deteriorating—Hulü was viewed as the key pillar to the state and its army, maintaining the army's strength against the rivaling Northern Zhou and Chen dynasties. However, the powerful officials Zu Ting and Mu Tipo, had disagreements with him and accused him of plotting treason. In August 572, Gao Wei executed Hulü. The Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou was very glad about the news and declared a general pardon, and in 578, the Northern Qi fell to the Northern Zhou.
Early life and career Hulü Guang was born in 515. His father Hulü Jin was a Chile chieftain, subordinate to Northern Wei. Hulü Jin assisted the general Gao Huan in his campaigns to take control of the Northern Wei state, and after Gao Huan became Northern Wei's paramount general in 532, Hulü Jin became an honored general, viewed by Gao Huan in some ways more as an equal than as a subordinate, and this relationship continued after Northern Wei's division into Eastern Wei (under Gao's control) and Western Wei (under Yuwen Tai's control) in 534. Hulü Guang was probably Hulü Jin's oldest son, and in his youth, he was known for his fighting prowess, including horseriding and archery. Once, when accompanying Hulü Jin on a campaign against Western Wei, Hulü Guang hit Yuwen's secretary Mozhe Hui (莫者暉) with an arrow, leading to Mozhe's capture by Eastern Wei troops. Gao Huan was pleased and made him a general.The Book of Northern Qi dated this incident to 531, when Hulü Guang was 16, but by that time, Gao Huan had not yet become the paramount general, nor had Northern Wei divided into Eastern Wei and Western Wei. The event, therefore, if it happened at all, likely happened in the late 530s. After Gao Huan named his son Gao Cheng as his heir, Hulü Guang served on Gao Cheng's staff. In 547, Hulü Guang was created the Viscount of Yongle.
Also in 547, Gao Huan died and was succeeded as regent by Gao Cheng. Gao Cheng immediately faced a major rebellion by the general Hou Jing, and Hulü was sent to serve under Murong Shaozong, the commander of the forces Gao Cheng sent against Hou. In a rare case where Hulü might have exhibited some uncharacteristic overexuberance, when Murong and his lieutenant Liu Fengsheng (劉豐生) were initially defeated by Hou, Hulü and his fellow junior general Zhang Shixian (張恃顯) rebuked Murong and Liu for their defeat. Murong responded, "I have met many opponents, but none is as difficult as Hou. Why do you not try to engage him and see." As Hulü and Zhang rode out to engage Hou, however, Murong warned them, "Do not cross the Guo River [(渦水)]." (Murong's troops and Hou's troops were by this point stalemated across the Guo River.) When Hulü challenged Hou by showing his bow and arrows but did not cross the Guo, Hou told him, "You came for glory, but I am trying to leave in fear of death. I am your father's friend. Why shoot at me? And how do you know not to cross the Guo? It must be Murong Shaozong who taught you." Hulü was unable to respond, and Hou subsequently had his subordinate Tian Qian (田遷) shoot and kill Hulü's horse, and Hulü was forced to withdraw. Hou then captured Zhang but released him, and both Hulü and Zhang fled back to Murong's camp. Murong then stated, "What have you seen now? Do not rebuke me." (In spring 548, Murong defeated Hou, who was forced to flee to the Liang dynasty. Historical records do not indicate whether Hulü contributed to the victory.)
During Emperor Wenxuan's reign After Gao Cheng died in 549, his brother Gao Yang took over as regent, and in 550, he had Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei yield the throne to him, ending Eastern Wei and establishing Northern Qi as its Emperor Wenxuan. Hulü Guang continued to serve as a general, and was created the Viscount of Xi'an. In 552, when Emperor Wenxuan made an attack against the Kumo Xi tribe (in the upper Liao River drainage area), Hulü accompanied him and contributed in the victory. Over the next few years, he served as a provincial governor on the borders with Northern Zhou, and was largely successful in border skirmishes, capturing a number of minor cities from Northern Zhou.
During Emperors Fei's and Xiaozhao's reigns In 560, after Emperor Wenxuan died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Fei, Hulü was made the governor of the important Bing Province (并州, modern central Shanxi).
Also in 560, Emperor Fei's uncle Gao Yan the Prince of Changshan, with support from, among others, Hulü Jin, killed the prime minister Yang Yin and took power. Later that year, Gao Yan's mother and Emperor Fei's grandmother Grand Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun deposed Emperor Fei and made Gao Yan emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhao). Hulü Guang was created the Duke of Julu, and later that year, when Emperor Xiaozhao created his son Gao Bainian crown prince, Emperor Xiaozhao, on account of Hulü Guang's achievements and loyalty, took Hulü Guang's first daughter as Gao Bainian's wife and crown princess. When Emperor Xiaozhao was near death in 561, however, believing that Gao Bainian was too young, he instead passed the throne to his brother Gao Zhan the Prince of Changguang, who took the throne as Emperor Wucheng. Hulü continued to serve under Emperor Wucheng.
During Emperor Wucheng's reign In 564, Emperor Wucheng killed Gao Bainian, and subsequently, Hulü's daughter and Gao Bainian's wife Princess Hulü, in distress, refused to eat, and she died a month thereafter. It was said that she died while holding tight to a jade tablet that Gao Bainian gave her, and that no one could pry it loose even after her death, until Hulü Guang was finally able to pry it from her hand.
In spring 564, Northern Zhou, in alliance with Tujue, launched a major attack on Northern Qi, attacking the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) from the north and Pingyang (平陽, in modern Linfen, Shanxi) from the south. Hulü was sent to resist the southern prong, commanded by the Northern Zhou general Daxi Wu (達奚武), and was successful in his resistance. Subsequently, when Duan Shao defeated the northern prong, Hulü informed Daxi of this and induced Daxi to retreat. When Hulü subsequently rendezvoused with Emperor Wucheng at Jinyang, Emperor Wucheng, in sadness and relief, hugged Hulü's head and cried. In winter 564, Daxi again attacked, this time against the important city of Luoyang. Emperor Wucheng sent Duan, Hulü, and his nephew Gao Changgong, the Prince of Lanling to relieve Luoyang, and they defeated Northern Zhou troops, killing Daxi's lieutenant Wang Xiong (王雄), forcing Daxi to retreat. For this victory, Emperor Wucheng created Hulü with an additional title of Duke of Guanjun.
Sometime during Emperor Wucheng's reign, Emperor Wucheng had taken Hulü's second daughter as the wife and crown princess of his son, the Crown Prince Gao Wei. In 565, at the urging of the officials He Shikai and Zu Ting, Emperor Wucheng passed the throne to Gao Wei and created Crown Princess Hulü empress. (Emperor Wucheng took the title of Taishang Huang (retired emperor) and retained most of imperial powers.)
During Gao Wei's reign In summer 567, Hulü Guang's father Hulü Jin died. Hulü Guang resigned his posts to observe the customary three-year mourning period for his father, but was soon recalled to his posts by Emperor Wucheng. He inherited his father's title of Prince of Xianyang and continued to serve as chieftain of the Shule, and was also created an additional title of Duke of Wude. Around the new year 569, Emperor Wucheng died, and thereafter power was largely in the hands of his favorite (and Empress Dowager Hu's lover) He Shikai.
Around the new year 570, the Northern Zhou general Yuwen Xian put the Northern Qi city Yiyang (宜陽, in modern Luoyang, Henan) under siege, and in spring 570, Hulü was sent to resist, and he defeated Yuwen Xian. However, the stalemate near Yiyang persisted. Hulü decided to take the war to Northern Zhou elsewhere, and in winter 570, he moved north and built forts north of the Fen River (汾水, flowing through modern Linfen), taking the previously unguarded border territory into Northern Qi control. While his subsequent battles in the region against the Northern Zhou generals Yuwen Xian and Wei Xiaokuan were largely indecisive, the region continued to be held by Northern Qi. In summer 571, he moved south again and defeated the Northern Zhou forces sieging Yiyang. As he subsequently returned to the capital Yecheng, however, he received an order to demobilize his troops. As many soldiers had not received their rewards yet, he submitted a secret petition to Gao Wei, requesting the emperor to send imperial messengers to the army to honor the soldiers. Gao Wei did not act immediately, however, and the army approached Yecheng without receiving any words from the emperor. Gao Wei was displeased that Hulü Guang brought the army close to the capital, and he summoned Hulü to the palace before sending messengers to honor the soldiers and demobilizing them. Nevertheless, honoring Hulü for his victory, he created Hulü yet an additional title of Duke of Qinghe.
Later in 571, Gao Wei's brother Gao Yan (note different character than Emperor Xiaozhao) the Prince of Langye, angry at the hold that He Shikai had on power, killed him, and further mobilized his troops to consider seizing power and killing Gao Wei's wet nurse Lu Lingxuan and her son Mu Tipo, who had also become powerful. Hulü, while he approved of Gao Yan's killing of He Shikai, was still loyal to the emperor, and he intervened on the emperor's side, ordering Gao Yan's troops to disband, and they collapsed. Hulü seized Gao Yan and took him to the palace. At Hulü's urging, Gao Wei spared Gao Yan initially, although in winter 571 he nevertheless executed Gao Yan.
By this point, Hulü's position had reached the pinnacle of an imperial official's career. The historian Li Yanshou (李延寿), in his History of Northern Dynasties, described him in this way:
Hulü was stern at home, and he treated his sons and younger brothers as subordinates. Although he was greatly honored, he was frugal in his living, disliking music and beautiful women. He rarely met guests, and he refused gifts, not wanting power. At governmental meetings, he was often the last one to speak, but always spoke logically. When he was making submissions to the emperor, he would dictate them and have his assistants record them, requesting them to make the submissions concise and simple. His military strategies were in Xiongnu fashion, and at the end of the day, until the camps had been completed, he would not himself first rest. Sometimes he would not sit or strip armor off himself for an entire day. He braved the fighting on the fronts. When the soldiers commit offenses, he pounded them with his thick staff, but would not frivolously kill them. Therefore, the soldiers were willing to fight hard for him. Since his early youth, he did not lose a battle, and the rival states were all fearful of him.
Death