生平

其父杨津，北魏时累为司空侍中，杨愔小时不爱讲话，六岁学史，好《左氏春秋》。杨愔一家四世同堂，家门非常兴旺，兄弟同时上学的有三十多人。杨家学馆前有颗柰树，果实落地时，孩子们都去争抢，只有杨愔端坐不动。杨愔的八叔杨����恰巧进入学馆，见到后非常诧异，回头对宾客说：「这孩子恬静和睦，有我们家族的风范。」杨家住宅内有茂密的竹林，杨����于是在竹林边另外修建了一间屋子，命杨愔独居其中，杨����经常用铜盘盛丰盛的饭菜给杨愔，以此督促勉励自己的儿子们说：「如果你们也像遵彦那样谨慎，自然就会得到竹林别室、铜盘重肉。」

永安初年（528年）官至散骑都尉，年十八。高欢曾寻访杨愔，除太原公开府司马，转长史，复授大行台右丞，封华阴县侯，迁给事黄门侍郎，并将庶女嫁给他。

天保元年（550年）高洋自立时，杀魏孝静帝，将姐姐（孝静帝的皇后）太原长公主嫁给杨愔，并累封开封王，十分信任。

高洋虽宠幸杨愔，但上厕所时，总叫杨愔拿篾片在旁守候，还用马鞭抽打杨愔背脊，流血浃袍。杨愔体胖，高洋给他起外号叫「杨大肚」，一日高洋喝醉，用小刀想剖开杨愔的肚子，幸好崔季舒从旁笑语解纷，杨愔才免去一死。有时还用棺材把杨愔放进去，打算活埋，最后总算作罢。由于杨愔能理国事，政治还算清明，人称「主昏于上而政清于下」。高洋死前，遗诏尚书杨愔、领军大将军高归彦、侍中燕子献、黄门侍郎郑颐等为高殷辅政。高洋死后，癸未，发丧，群臣无下泪者，只有杨愔一人涕泗横流，呜咽不已。

杨愔和燕子献等人商议外调高演和高湛离京（首都邺城）到外地担任刺史。皇太后李祖娥把这道密奏给高仲密的前妻李昌仪看，李昌仪再向太皇太后娄昭君告密。乾明元年（560年），二月乙巳（560年4月4日），尚书省大宴文武百官。杨愔等将去参加，散骑常侍兼中书侍郎郑颐劝他不可前往，杨愔说：「我等精忠体国，常山王拜职岂有不到之理！」宴中被抓，令家奴施以暴打，杨愔等人头破血流，杨愔的一只眼睛被打出来。娄昭君起初想保住女婿杨愔性命，贺拔仁说杨愔已经被打得眼珠迸出，活不了。娄昭君亲自送丧，哭曰：「杨郎忠而获罪。」并命人制造黄金眼珠放入杨愔眼眶下葬。时年五十。

家庭

注释

延伸阅读

参考书目

• 《北齐书》卷三十四卷·列传第二十六

• 北齐《可朱浑孝裕墓志》

Background

Yang Yin came from a clan that produced many officials of Northern Wei, including his father Yang Jin.

At the age of 5, Yang Yin studied the histories; by 10, he was studying the Shi Jing, and the I Ching, but particularly favored the Zuo Zhuan version of the Spring and Autumn Annals.

In 526, during the reign of Emperor Xiaoming, Northern Wei was suffering greatly from agrarian rebellions, and Yang Jin was commissioned with an army as the governor of Ding Province, roughly modern Baoding, Hebei). Yang Yin accompanied his father to Ding Province, and on account of his contribution to his father's campaign, was created the Baron of Weichang. However, Yang Yin did not accept this appointment. On 12 February 528, Ding Province fell to the rebel general Du Luozhou, and Yang Jing's household was imprisoned by Du. Soon thereafter, Du was defeated by another rebel general, Ge Rong. Ge wanted to marry one of his daughters to Yang Yin and make him an official, but Yang, not willing to accept Ge's commission, pretended to be ill by holding cow blood in his mouth and then spitting it out. In 529, after Ge Rong had been defeated by the Northern Wei paramount general Erzhu Rong, Yang Yin returned to the Northern Wei capital Luoyang and was made a low level imperial official in the administration of Emperor Xiaozhuang. Later that year, when Yuan Hao the Prince of Beihai claimed imperial title under support from Liang Dynasty and captured Luoyang briefly, forcing Emperor Xiaozhuang to flee, Yang Yin convinced his cousin Yang Kan to remain loyal to Emperor Xiaozhuang. However, after Yuan Hao was subsequently defeated by Erzhu, permitting Emperor Xiaozhuang to return to Luoyang, Yang Yin believed that the empire was not yet at peace and decided to leave governmental service, taking up a hermit's existence with his friend Xing Shao at Mount Song.

Service under Gao Huan and Gao Cheng

Thereafter, however, Yang Yin's cousin Yang Youqing, while advising Emperor Xiaowu, whom Gao Huan had made emperor, used strong language that offended Emperor Xiaowu and was put to death. Another member of Gao's staff, Guo Xiu, was jealous of Yang's abilities, and he therefore gave Yang false news that Gao was intending to deliver him to Emperor Xiaowu. Yang therefore pretended to have committed suicide by drowning, but changed his name to Liu Shi'an and fled to Guang Province, roughly modern Yantai, Shandong) and hid on an island. In 535, after Northern Wei had divided into Eastern Wei (with Gao in control) and Western Wei (with Yuwen Tai in control), Gao heard that Yang was still alive, and had the governor of Guang Province find him and invite him back to serve on staff. Yang agreed, and Gao married one of his daughters by a concubine to Yang. He subsequently gradually rose in ranks. After Gao Huan's death in 547, Yang continued to serve Gao Huan's heir Gao Cheng, who took over as regent. In 549, Gao Cheng convened a meeting with Yang, Chen Yuankang, and Cui Jishu to discuss the process of seizing the throne from Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei, when Gao Cheng's slave Lan Jing made a surprise attack on Gao Cheng, killing him and Chen. Yang was able to flee from Lan's attack and was not killed. Subsequently, Gao Cheng's younger brother Gao Yang took over the regency, and on 9 June 550 took over the throne, ending Eastern Wei and establishing Northern Qi.

Service under Emperor Wenxuan

Emperor Wenxuan made Yang Yin his prime minister and created him the Duke of Huashan, and during Emperor Wenxuan's reign, Yang served capably, finding appropriate officials for the key posts. Therefore, although Emperor Wenxuan, particularly late in his reign, turned violent and wasteful, the imperial government nevertheless functioned effectively. Yang was praised for remembering those who had helped him in the past, repaying them greatly, but not bearing grudges against those who had tried to hurt him. With Emperor Wenxuan, in his late years, accustomed to killing people for entertainment while he was drunk, Yang thought of an unusual solution—he sent a supply of condemned prisoners to the palace, to be killed whenever Emperor Wenxuan wanted to kill someone; if the prisoners could survive three months without being killed, they would be freed. Emperor Wenxuan's brother Gao Jun the Prince of Yong'an, once rebuked Yang for not trying to dissuade Emperor Wenxuan from his behavior, and Yang, who knew that Emperor Wenxuan was particularly suspicious whenever governmental officials conversed with imperial princes, reported the conversation to Emperor Wenxuan, eventually leading to Gao Jun's imprisonment and death. By 559, Yang's title was Prince of Kaifeng.

Service under Emperor Fei

Emperor Fei's uncle Gao Yan the Prince of Changshan, while respected by the people, was not given great power, and while his (and Emperor Wenxuan's) mother Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun had some desire to have Gao Yan made emperor instead, there was insufficient support at the time, and Yang, in fear that Gao Yan and another brother of Emperor Wenxuan, Gao Zhan the Prince of Changguang, would try to take power, took steps to curb their authorities. Emperor Fei honored his grandmother Empress Dowager Lou as grand empress dowager and mother Empress Li Zu'e as empress dowager. Pursuant to his edicts, the palace construction projects that Emperor Wenxuan started, which caused much misery for his people in the latter years of his reign, were halted.

Once the imperial train arrived at Yecheng, the situation became even more tense, as an associate of Yang's, Kezhuhun Tianhe, was convinced that Emperor Fei would not be safe in his reign unless his two uncles were killed, and alternatively, Yan Zixian considered putting Grand Empress Dowager Lou, who still wielded much power as the clan matriarch, under house arrest, and forcing her to turn her authorities to Empress Dowager Li. Meanwhile, the ambitious Yang was carrying out a governmental reorganization scheme to trim unnecessary offices and titles and to remove incompetent officials. The officials who were hurt by Yang's actions became disaffected and largely hoped that Gao Yan and Gao Zhan would take action and began to encourage them to do so. Yang considered sending Gao Yan and Gao Zhan outside the capital to be provincial governors, but Emperor Fei initially disagreed. Yang wrote a submission to Empress Dowager Li to ask her to consider, and she consulted her lady in waiting Li Changyi, who leaked the news to Grand Empress Dowager Lou. She informed the two princes, and they set up an ambush, with Gao Guiyan and the generals Heba Ren and Hulü Jin, at a ceremony where Gao Yan was to be named to a ceremonial post. Yang, Kezhuhun, Yan, Zheng Yi (郑颐), and Song Qindao were all severely battered and captured.

Gao Yan and Gao Zhan subsequently entered the palace and accused Yang and his associates of crimes. They were all executed on 4 April 560, although Grand Empress Dowager Lou, who was otherwise supportive of her son Gao Yan's actions, personally attended Yang's wake and made the comment, "Lord Yang was faithful and suffered for his faithfulness."