Imperial Consort Yu lived during the Three Kingdoms era (220-280 C.E.). She was the first wife of Emperor Ming of the Wei Dynasty.[1] However, she was not favoured.[2] When Emperor Ming failed to make Imperial Consort Yu his Empress, Imperial Consort Yu was deeply upset.[3] She criticised his parents.[4] She was exiled and forced to spend her remaining years in disgrace.[5]
The birth date of Imperial Consort Yu is unknown.[6] Her personal name is unknown.[7] Her parents are also unknown.[8] However, she came from a wealthy and influential family.[9] She married Prince Cao Rui (the Prince of Pingyuan). However, Prince Cao Rui preferred his concubine, Lady Mao, over Princess Yu.[10] Princess Yu did not have any children with Prince Cao Rui.[11]
On 26 June 226 C.E., Cao Rui ascended the throne as Emperor Ming of the Wei Dynasty. He made Lady Mao his Empress of the Wei Dynasty.[12] Princess Yu was made Emperor Ming’s Imperial Consort.[13] Imperial Consort Yu was very upset that she was not made Empress.[14] Grand Empress Dowager Bian tried to comfort her.[15] However, Imperial Consort Yu bitterly said:
“The [Caos] are fond of making regular consorts out of women of lowly status; there has never been one who was made empress because it was her due. Yet, an empress takes charge of affairs within, while the sovereign listens to governmental matters outside; in this manner, they complement each other. One who does not begin correctly and justly will never have a happy ending. Because of this, [the house of Cao] will probably lose the state and lack posterity to continue the ancestral sacrifice.”[16]
Historians believe that Imperial Consort Yu said those words without thinking and was saying them out of emotion.[17] They believe that she did not think about these consequences when she said those words.[18] Her words greatly displeased Grand Empress Dowager Bian because she was originally a prostitute.[19] Her words also greatly displeased Emperor Ming because she criticised him for choosing a woman of lowly birth.[20] Therefore, Imperial Consort Yu was forced to leave the imperial palace.[21] She was sent back to the palace of Ye (modern-day Cixian in Hebei Province).[22] Imperial Consort Yu’s life afterwards is unknown.[23] Her death date and cause of death were never recorded.[24]
Imperial Consort Yu has been known in history for opposing the royal Cao men’s interest in women of common status.[25] This obviously shows that she was haughty and looked down on common women.[26] However, Imperial Consort Yu had to suffer the consequences for her criticism.[27] She was exiled from the palace and forced to live in disgrace.[28] Imperial Consort Yu died lonely and forgotten.[29] However, Imperial Consort Yu’s reckless words of criticism of the Cao imperial family have been preserved for thousands of years.[30]
Sources:
Chen, S. & Pei, S. (1999). Empresses and Consorts: Selections from Chen Shou’s Records of the Three States with Pei Songzhi’s Commentary. (R. J. Cutter, Ed.; S. Pei. Ed.; W. G. Crowell, Ed.). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Ching-Chung, P. (2015). “Mao, Empress of Emperor Ming of Wei”. 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. 322-323.
[1] Chen and Pei, 1999; Ching-Chung, 2015
[2] Ching-Chung, 2015
[3] Ching-Chung, 2015
[4] Chen and Pei, 1999; Ching-Chung, 2015
[5] Ching-Chung, 2015
[6] Ching-Chung, 2015
[7] Ching-Chung, 2015
[8] Ching-Chung, 2015
[9] Chen and Pei, 1999; Ching-Chung, 2015
[10] Chung-Chung, 2015
[11] Ching-Chung, 2015
[12] Ching-Chung, 2015
[13] Chung-Chung, 2015
[14] Chen and Pei, 1999; Ching-Chung, 2015
[15] Ching-Chung, 2015
[16] Ching-Chung, 2015, p. 323
[17] Ching-Chung, 2015
[18] Ching-Chung, 2015
[19] Ching-Chung, 2015
[20] Chen and Pei, 1999; Ching-Chung, 2015
[21] Ching-Chung, 2015
[22] Ching-Chung, 2015
[23] Ching-Chung, 2015
[24] Ching-Chung, 2015
[25] Chen and Pei, 1999; Ching-Chung, 2015
[26] Chen and Pei, 1999; Ching-Chung, 2015
[27] Ching-Chung, 2015
[28] Ching-Chung, 2015
[29] Ching-Chung, 2015
[30] Chen and Pei, 1999; Ching-Chung, 2015
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