Consort Yao (姚夫人, personal name unknown) (died 420), who was initially Princess Xiping (西平公主) of the Qiang-led

Later Qin The Later Qin (; 384–417), also known as Yao Qin (), was a state ruled by the Qiang ethnicity of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin dynasty (266–420) in China. The Later Qin is entirely distinct from the Qin dynasty, the Former Qin and the W ...

dynasty, posthumously honored as Empress Zhaoai (昭哀皇后, literally "the accomplished and lamentable empress"), was the wife of Emperor Mingyuan of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...

-led

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

(Tuoba Si).

Biography

Princess Xiping was the daughter of

Yao Xing Yao Xing (; 366–416), courtesy name Zilüe (子略), formally Emperor Wenhuan of (Later) Qin ((後)秦文桓帝), was an emperor of the Qiang-led Chinese Later Qin dynasty. He was the son of the founding emperor Yao Chang (Emperor Wucheng). Fo ...

(Emperor Wenhuan of Later Qin). It is not known when exactly her marriage to the emperor of Northern Wei was negotiated, but they married in 415. When she arrived at the Northern Wei capital of Pingcheng (平城, in modern Datong, Shanxi), Emperor Mingyuan welcomed her with a great ceremony due an empress. However, Northern Wei customs dictated that only a candidate who was able to complete a golden statue with her own hands could become an empress, and Princess Xiping was unable to do so. She was therefore only made an imperial consort, not an empress, although within the palace she was treated as Emperor Mingyuan's wife and an empress. Later, Emperor Mingyuan offered to make her an empress, but she declined. In 416, as Later Qin came under attack by the Jin general, Liu Yu, Emperor Mingyuan considered dispatching troops to attack Liu Yu's flank, in order to save Later Qin (then ruled by Consort Yao's brother, Yao Hong), an idea that many of his officials supported based on the marital relationships and their nagging suspicions that Liu Yu intended to attack Northern Wei as well. But after advice from the official,

Cui Hao Cui Hao () (died 450 CE), courtesy name Boyuan (伯淵), was a ''shangshu'' of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. Largely because of Cui's counsel, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei was able to unify northern China, ending the Sixteen K ...

, whose opinions Emperor Mingyuan respected, he called off the campaign, and except for minor skirmishes near the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

, Liu Yu's campaign against Later Qin went unimpeded by Northern Wei forces, and Later Qin fell in 417. Emperor Mingyuan did then issue a decree that anyone who was able to rescue members of the Later Qin's imperial household and deliver them to Pingcheng would be greatly rewarded, and a number of Later Qin officials also surrendered their domains to Northern Wei. In 420, Consort Yao died. Regretting that he had never made her empress, Emperor Mingyuan buried her with honors due an empress, including a burial with an empress' seal, and posthumously honored her as Empress Zhaoai. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Consort Northern Wei people Later Qin people 420 deaths Chinese imperial consorts Year of birth unknown Northern Wei posthumous empresses