Empress Dowager Yang Lihua – The Empress Dowager of Northern Zhou Dynasty who became a Princess of the Sui Dynasty

Empress Dowager Yang Lihua was the last Empress of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. She was the empress consort of Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. After Emperor Xuan’s death, Yang Lihua became the Empress Dowager. She was empress dowager for one year because her father, Yang Jian, took the throne and became the first emperor of the Sui Dynasty. Empress Dowager Yang Lihua was cast into the “awkward position of having been empress dowager in one dynasty and being a mere princess in the next.”^[1]

In circa 561 C.E., Empress Dowager Yang Lihua was born in Liadong (the region that adjoined modern-day Korea).^[2] Her father was Yang Jian (future Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty) and Lady Dugu Qieulo (who would later be Empress of the Sui Dynasty). In 568 C.E., Yang Lihua’s grandfather, Yang Zhong, died, and her father became the next Duke of Sui.^[3] The Yang family were a prominent noble family and served the Northern Zhou Dynasty.^[4]

Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty chose Yang Lihua to be the wife of his fourteen-year-old son, Crown Prince Yuwen Yun.^[5] On 13 October 573 C.E., Yang Lihua married Crown Yuwen Yun. She was twelve years old and became the Crown Princess.^[6] She bore a daughter named Princess Yuwen Eying at an unknown date.^[7]

In June of 578 C.E., Emperor Yuwen Yong died. Yuwen Yun ascended the throne as Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. On 29 July 578 C.E., Yang Lihua was invested as Empress. Emperor Xuan was known to be an eccentric emperor.^[8] Emperor Xuan appointed five empresses at the same time.^[9] He made Empress Yang Lihua his most senior Empress and was given the title of “Heavenly Primordial Empress.”^[10] His next four empresses were from families who held no influence in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.^[11] After Emperor Xuan’s death, his other four empresses would become Buddhist nuns.^[12]

Emperor Xuan intenselyy disliked Empress Yang Lihua.^[13] One day, Emperor Xuan “attempted to humiliate her with groundless accusations.”^[14] Empress Yang Lihua “responded with quiet resistance.”^[15] Emperor Xuan was so furious with Empress Yang Lihua that he ordered her to commit suicide.^[16] Her mother, Lady Dugu Qieluo, learned about the edict and went to the Emperor.^[17] She got on her knees and begged for Empress Yang Lihua’s life.^[18] She “admitted to any and all wrongdoings of the Yang family and kowtowed until her forehead bled.”^[19] Finally, Emperor Xuan rescinded the order and threatened Empress Yang Lihua that “he might exterminate the whole family.”^[20]

In 579 C.E., Emperor Xuan passed the throne to his six-year-old son, Prince Yuwen Chan (whom he had with Imperial Consort Zhu Manyue).^[21] Yuwen Chan ascended the throne as Emperor Jing of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Emperor Xuan became known as “The Retired Emperor.”^[22] On 22 June 580 C.E., Emperor Xuan died at the age of twenty-two.^[23] Yang Lihua was made the Empress Dowager.^[24] Her father, Yang Jian, was appointed Regent.^[25] On 4 March 581 C.E., the eight-year-old Emperor Jing abdicated his throne and gave it to Yang Jian.^[26]

Yang Jian ascended the throne as Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. He named his new dynasty after his fiefdom.^[27] Lady Dugu Qieluo was invested as Empress. Yang Lihua was no longer the Empress Dowager.^[28] Instead, she was given the title of Princess of Leping and was given a large fiefdom.^[29] Empress Dugu Qieluo urged her daughter to remarry.^[30] However, Princess Yang Lihua stubbornly refused to remarry.^[31] Instead, she participated in a marriage selection for her daughter, Princess Yuwen Eying.^[32] The husband chosen for her daughter was Li Min.^[33] Princess Yuwen Eying and Li Min had a daughter named Princess Li Jingxun, who died in 608 C.E..^[34] Princess Li Jingxun was given a lavish burial that befitted a princess.^[35] Among the objects from her sarcophagus was “a gold necklace inlaid with pearls, lapis lazuli, and bloodstone gems.”^[36] The necklace may have been from Iran or western Central Asia through the Silk Road.^[37]

In 609 C.E., Princess Yang Lihua decided to accompany her brother, Prince Yang Guang, on a tour in modern-day Gansu Province.^[38] Along the way, Princess Yang Lihua died.^[39] She was forty-eight years old.^[40] Princess Yang Lihua’s body was carried back to Chang’an.^[41] She was buried beside her husband, Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, in Dingling.^[42] Before her death, Princess Yang Lihua asked her brother, Prince Yang Guang, to take care of her daughter, Princess Yuwen Eying and Li Min.^[43] After Yang Guang became Emperor, he killed Li Min due to suspicion of treason.^[44] A few months after Li Min’s death, Princess Yuwen Eying was poisoned.^[45]

Historians have often viewed Empress Dowager Yang Lihua as a tragic figure.^[46] Her husband, Emperor Xuan, disliked her.^[47] He humiliated her by installing four other empresses alongside her.^[48] Emperor Xuan even ordered her to commit suicide.^[49] When she became a princess of the Sui Dynasty, she was pressured by her parents to remarry.^[50] However, Empress Dowager Yang Lihua fought hard to remain a widow.^[51] Empress Dowager Yang Lihua also tried to ensure that her daughter and her son-in-law would be protected after her death.^[52] However, her request was in vain.^[53] Therefore, Empress Dowager Yang Lihua is truly a sorrowful figure.^[54]

Sources:

Ching-Chung, P. (2015). “Yang Lihua, Empress of Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou”. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. – 618 C.E.. (L. X. H. Lee, Ed.; A. D. Stefanowska, Ed.; S. Wiles, Ed.). NY: Routledge. pp. 368-370.

McMahon, K. (2013). Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao. NY: Rowman and Littlefield.