Yang Yan (empress)
| Yang Yan Dương diễm | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress consort of theJin dynasty | |||||
| Tenure | 20 March 266 – 25 August 274 | ||||
| Successor | Empress Yang Zhi | ||||
| Born | 238 | ||||
| Died | August 25, 274(aged 35–36) | ||||
| Spouse | Emperor Wu of Jin | ||||
| Issue | Sima Gui Sima Zhong Sima Jian (262 - 23 October 291[1]) | ||||
| |||||
| Father | Yang Wenzong | ||||
| Mother | Lady Zhao | ||||
Yang Yan( dương diễm ) (238[2]– August 25, 274[3]),courtesy nameQiongzhi( quỳnh chi ), formallyEmpress Wuyuan( võ nguyên hoàng hậu, "the martial and discerning empress" ) was anempressof theWestern Jin dynasty.She was the first wife ofEmperor Wu.
Early life and marriage to Sima Yan
[edit]Yang Yan was a daughter of Yang Wenzong ( dương văn tông ),[4]a marquess during theCao Weiera, and his wife Lady Zhao. Her mother died early, probably when she was still in infancy, and she was initially raised by her maternal uncle and aunt (who breastfed her). After she grew older, she was raised by her stepmother Lady Duan. By this time, her father, who is said to have also died early, was probably dead.
When she was young, she was described as intelligent, studious and beautiful. A fortune teller once foretold that she would have an extraordinary honour, and it was said that when the Cao Wei regentSima Zhaoheard this, he took her and married her to his eldest son Sima Yan. She had three sons[5]and three daughters[6]with her husband. After Sima Zhao's death in September 265, Sima Yan inherited his father's position and forced the Cao Wei emperorCao Huanto abdicate in favour of him about five months later. This action ended the state of Cao Wei and Sima Yan established the Jin dynasty (as Emperor Wu). On 20 March 266,[7]he created Yang Yan as empress.
As empress
[edit]Empress Yang's oldest son, Sima Gui ( tư mã quỹ ), died whilst a child, making her second son,Sima Zhongthe legitimate heir, by traditional succession laws. However, Emperor Wu hesitated about selecting him ascrown princebecause he wasdevelopmentally disabled.Empress Yang was instrumental in persuading him to have her son designated crown prince anyway, arguing that tradition should not be abandoned easily. She was also instrumental in her son's selection of a wife, as Emperor Wu initially favouredWei Guan's daughter, but Empress Yang, friendly withJia Chong's wifeLady Guo,praised Jia's daughterJia Nanfenggreatly, leading to Jia Nanfeng's selection as crown princess.
In 273, when Emperor Wu was seeking beautiful women to serve as his concubines, he initially put Empress Yang in charge of the selection process. She preferred those women with slender bodies and fair skin, but did not favour those with beautiful faces. She also left off the list a beauty named Bian, whom Emperor Wu favoured, stating that since the Bians have served as empresses for three generations of Cao Wei rulers (Cao Cao's wifePrincess Bian,Cao Mao'sempressandCao Huan'sempress) that it would be too degrading for her to be a concubine. This decision displeased Emperor Wu, so he took over the selection process. Despite this and her husband's obsession with accumulating concubines, they appeared to have had a genuine and continuing affection for each other.
In 274, Empress Yang grew ill. She became concerned that whoever would be empress next (she was particularly concerned about Consort Hu Fen ( hồ phân ), whom Emperor Wu greatly favoured) would not support her son. She therefore asked Emperor Wu to marry her cousinYang Zhi.Emperor Wu, distressed over her illness, agreed. She died soon thereafter in August and was buried with honours due an empress in the tomb that her husband was eventually buried at when he died in May 290. ConcubineZuo Fenwrote a long song of mourning in her honour.[8]
In December 276, based on his promise to her, the emperor married Yang Zhi and created her empress.
Notes
[edit]- ^([ vĩnh bình nguyên niên ] cửu nguyệt giáp ngọ, đại tương quân, tần vương giản hoăng. )Jin Shu,vol.04. ( nguyên khang nguyên niên hoăng, thời niên tam thập,...)Jin Shu,vol.64
- ^According to Lady Yang's biography inBook of Jin,she was 37 (by East Asian reckoning) when she died. ( thái thủy thập niên, băng vu minh quang điện, tuyệt vu đế tất, thời niên tam thập thất. )Jin Shu,vol.31. Thus by calculation, her birth year should be 238.
- ^According to Sima Yan's biography inBook of Jin,Lady Yang died on thebingyinday of the 7th month of the 10th year of theTaishiera of his reign. This corresponds to 25 Aug 274 in the Julian calendar. ([ thái thủy thập niên ] thu thất nguyệt bính dần, hoàng hậu dương thị băng. )Jin Shu,vol.03.
- ^Volume 138 ofTaiping Yulanrecorded Yang Wenzong's name as Yang Bing ( dương bỉnh ). There is speculation that "Wenzong" was Yang Bing's courtesy name; during the Tang dynasty when theBook of Jinwas compiled, "Bing" violated thenaming tabooas Li Bing was Tang Gaozu Li Yuan's father.
- ^( dương nguyên hậu sinh bì lăng điệu vương quỹ, huệ đế, tần hiến vương giản. )Jin Shu,vol.64. The volume contained the biographies of Emperor Hui's two full-brothers.
- ^( sinh bì lăng điệu vương quỹ, huệ đế, tần hiến vương giản, bình dương, tân phong, dương bình công chủ. )Jin Shu,vol.31.
- ^bingwuday of the 1st month of the 2nd year of theTaishiera, per Emperor Wu's biography inBook of Jin.
- ^Kang-i Sun Chang; Haun Saussy, eds. (1999).Women writers of traditional China: an anthology of poetry and criticism.Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.ISBN0-585-36761-2.OCLC47008186.
Sources
[edit]- Kang-i Sun Chang;Haun Saussy;Charles Yim-tze Kwong (1999).Women writers of traditional China: an anthology of poetry and criticism.Stanford University Press.