 During the late reign of Emperor Yang, Yang Yichen was one of the few Sui generals having success against agrarian rebels, but in 616, Emperor Yang, unhappy about Yang Yichen's mounting influences, removed him from his military position, and thereafter the agrarian rebels went unchecked.Yang Yichen died soon afterwards.Yang Yichen's father Yuchi Chong (尉遲崇) was ethnically Xianbei and a distant relative of the general Yuchi Jiong.