epilogue The Aftermath and the Romanticization of the Liang

With the Rebellion and the fall of the Liang, the cultural world of the Southern Dynasties came to an end—the Chen was but a fading echo of the Liang. But if the Liang officially ended in 557, its life contin- ued long afterward, both politically and culturally. After the sacking of Jiangling in 555, the set up Cha 蕭詧, Xiao Tong’s third son, as the new ruler of Liang; his territory was limited to and sandwiched between the Western Wei, the Eastern Wei, and the Chen. Although subordinated to the Western Wei, Xiao Cha neverthe- less ruled over the small portion of land as emperor, and his dynasty is known as the Latter Liang 後梁. It lasted thirty-three years, almost as long as the Liang itself. Xiao Cha died at the age of forty-three in 562 and received the posthumous title, Emperor Xuan 宣帝. The throne passed to his third son, Xiao Kui 蕭巋, Emperor Ming 明帝. In 582 Xiao Kui’s daughter was chosen to be the consort of the Sui prince Yang Guang 楊廣, better known as Emperor Yang of the Sui or Sui Yangdi 隋煬帝 (r. 605–17). Emperor Wen of the Sui treated Xiao Kui with exceptional generosity; at the suggestion of his wife, Em- press Yang, he even dismissed the Sui army stationed in the Western City of Jiangling. He also told Xiao Kui that he would conquer the Chen and escort Xiao Kui back to Jiankang. But Xiao Kui did not live to see that day. Like his father, he died at forty-three. The year was 585,

415 416 < The Romanticization of the Liang three years before Emperor Wen unified China. Xiao Kui’s son 蕭琮 succeeded him. Any illusion that the Sui would grant autonomous power to the Liang ruler soon vanished. In 587 Xiao Cong was summoned to the Sui capital, Chang’an. The people of Jiangling, sensing the end was drawing near, wept at his departure, saying, “Our prince is not coming back!” After Xiao Cong set out, the Sui emperor sent an army to take over the Liang defenses; Xiao Cong’s uncle Xiao Yan 蕭巖 and his son Xiao Huan 蕭瓛 rebelled and in the end escaped to the Chen. The state of the Latter Liang was thereupon abolished. Long after the splendid reign of Emperor Wu of the Liang was over, the people of the South retained their affection for the Liang. When Xiao Huan was appointed governor of Wuzhou by the Chen emperor, the el- ders of the three Wu regions fondly referred to him as “the son of our sov- ereign.” A superstitious belief contributed to Xiao Huan’s popularity in the South: just like Emperor Wu, Xiao Gang, Xiao Cha, and Xiao Kui, Xiao Huan was the third son in his family. After the Sui conquest of the Chen in 589, the Wu people made Xiao Huan their leader and opposed the Sui rule. After a brief period of resistance, Xiao Huan’s army was crushed, and he was executed in Chang’an at the age of twenty. Xiao Huan was not the last hope for a Liang renaissance. In 617, as the Sui was being torn apart by insurgencies, a group of military officers at Yuezhou 岳州 (in modern Hu’nan) plotted a rebellion. When they tried to put one Dong Jingzhen 董景珍 in charge, Dong Jingzhen de- clined, saying that his family origins were too humble for him to be a commanding presence. He suggested instead a descendent of the Liang royal family, 蕭銑 (584–621), the then-magistrate of Luo- chuan 羅川 (in modern Hu’nan), arguing that Xiao Xian was “tolerant, kind, and gracious, very much resembling Emperor Wu.”1 Xiao Xian was a great-grandson of Xiao Cha; his grandfather Xiao Yan had been executed by the Sui army in 587. Xiao Xian grew up in straitened cir- cumstances and made a living as a scribe. It was only because a cousin of his father was the empress of Sui Yangdi that he had been granted a low office. Accepting the request to be the rebel leader, Xiao Xian showed remarkable diplomatic talent at the beginning of his career. In ( 1. Jiu Tang shu 56.2263.