Yuwen Hu (宇文護) (513[1] – 14 April 572[2]), courtesy name Sabao (薩保, also a title, which can be traced back to sartpāw “caravan leader”, but was used as given name, in many cases by Buddhists - referring to the metaphorical meaning of wise leader),[3][4] formally Duke Dang of Jin (晉蕩公), was a regent of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China.
In 524, with Northern Wei's northern provinces engulfed in peasant rebellions, Yuwen Gong and his sons, along with another local leader, Heba Duba (賀拔度拔) and his sons, led a counter-rebellion against one of the major rebels, Poliuhan Baling (破六韓拔陵), who had taken Wuchuan earlier, and they killed Poliuhan's general Wei Kegu (衛可孤), temporarily restoring order.
However, soon Yuwen Gong and his sons were forced to flee and join the army of another rebel leader, Xianyu Xiuli (鮮于修禮).
In 533, when Heba added the strategically important Xia Province (夏州, roughly modern Yulin, Shaanxi) to the ones he controlled, he made Yuwen Tai its governor.
In fall 556, while Yuwen Tai was on a tour of the northern provinces, he became ill at Qiantun Mountain (牽屯山, in modern Guyuan, Ningxia).
His plot included two of Yuwen Tai's key associates, Li Zhi (李植) and Sun Heng (孫恆), as well as the other officials Yifu Feng (乙弗鳳) and Heba Ti (賀拔提), each of whom was ambitious and therefore further tried to fan Emperor Xiaomin's suspicions against Yuwen Hu.
When Emperor Xiaomin wanted to summon Li and Sun back to the capital Chang'an, Yuwen Hu urged against it, pledging his loyalty.
Zhang again informed Yuwen Hu, who discussed the matter with the generals Helan Xiang (賀蘭祥) and Yuchi Gang (尉遲綱).
Helan suggested to him to depose Emperor Xiaomin, and Yuwen Hu had Yuchi arrest Yifu and Heba and disband the imperial guards.
A month later, Yuwen Hu executed him and forced his wife, Princess Yuan, to become a Buddhist nun.
Emperor Ming ate them and became ill. Knowing that he was near death, he instructed that, because his sons were young, the throne should be passed to his younger brother Yuwen Yong the Duke of Lu.
In 561, Emperor Wu formally bestowed Yuwen Hu, as the Minister of Palace Affairs (大冢宰), authority over the other five ministries as well.
In spring 563, when Emperor Wu made a sudden night trip back to Chang'an while visiting Yuan Province (原州, roughly modern Guyuan, Gansu), Houmochen Chong (侯莫陳崇) the Duke of Liang made an off-the-cuff comment to his staff that it must be that Yuwen Hu died.
During the years, Yuwen Hu had tried to send spies to locate his mother Lady Yan and paternal aunt, who were left in the territory of Eastern Wei and its successor state Northern Qi—not knowing that they had been made servants at the subsidiary palace in Zhongshan (中山, in modern Baoding, Hebei).
(Historians largely blamed the defeat on Yuwen Hu's half-hearted devotion to the attack and his lack of overall military strategic talent.)
In the summer of 567, when the Chen general Hua Jiao (華皎), fearful of adverse intentions of the regent Chen Xu, offered to defect with his Xiang Province (湘州, modern central Hunan), Yuwen Hu, over the opposition by the official Cui You (崔猷), sent an army commanded by Emperor Wu's brother Yuwen Zhi (宇文直) the Duke of Wei to assist Hua and the forces of Northern Zhou's vassal Emperor Ming of Western Liang, who was also aiding Hua.
The Chen general Wu Mingche, however, quickly defeated the joint forces of Northern Zhou, Western Liang, and Hua, forcing Hua and Yuwen Zhi to both give up the war and flee to the Western Liang capital Jiangling.
By Emperor Wu's orders, Yuwen Hu did not observe the customary three-year mourning period, but continued to serve as regent.
Subsequently, Yuwen Xian was able to force Hulü into a stalemate, but substantial territories were still lost to Northern Qi.
Once they reached her palace, Yuwen Hu, pursuant to Emperor Wu's request, started reading the Jiu Gao.