Shen Faxing

Shen Faxing (died AD 620[1]) was an official of the Chinese Sui dynasty who, after Emperor Yang was killed in a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji in 618, seized the area of present-day Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu and declared himself the king of Liang (梁王).

As of 618, Shen Faxing was serving as the governor of Wuxing Commandery (吳興), the new name for Chen's Hu province, under Emperor Yang.

He was on a campaign against the agrarian rebel leader Lou Shigan (樓世幹) when news came that Emperor Yang had been killed at Jiangdu (江都, modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) in a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji.

By fall 619, with Sui having fallen earlier in the year after the general Wang Shichong forced Yang Tong to yield the throne and then established the new state of Zheng, Shen Faxing, believing that he could easily pacify the region south of the Huai River, declared himself the king of Liang (perhaps evoking the Liang dynasty) and set his capital at Piling.

In 620, Li Zitong, who had by then claimed the title of Emperor of Wu, crossed the Yangtze and captured Shen's key city Jingkou (京口, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu).

Shen initially accepted, but on the way regretted the decision and considered assassinating Ye and fleeing toward Kuaiji (present-day Shaoxing in Zhejiang).

Map showing major uprisings and rebellions in the last years of Sui dynasty. Shen Faxing was a major power in the east.