Du Lingyang (; 321 – 7 April 341), formally Empress Chenggong (成恭皇后) was an empress of the

Jin dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty or Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the or the , was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty in China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had previou ...

of China. Her husband was

Emperor Cheng of Jin Emperor Cheng of Jin (; December 321 or January 322 – 26 July 342According to Emperor Cheng's biography in ''Book of Jin'', he died aged 22 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''guisi'' day of the 6th month of the 8th year of the ''Xiankang'' era ...

Naming

Some historians believe that her name was simply Du Ling, and that imperial archivists mistakenly attached the character "yang" to her name later. They point out that while the name of a county with the character "ling" in its name was changed pursuant to

naming taboo A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly ...

, many names of places with "yang" in their names were not changed. However, there can be other explanations for this.

Life

Du Lingyang was a daughter of Du Yi (杜乂), a mid-level official and the hereditary Marquis of Dangyang, a grandson of the general

Du Yu Du Yu (223 – January or February 285), courtesy name Yuankai, was a Chinese classicist, military general, and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the late Three Kingdoms period and early Jin dynasty. Life Du Yu was from Duling County ...

, who contributed much to

Emperor Wu of Jin Emperor Wu of Jin (; 236 – 16 May 290), personal name Sima Yan (), courtesy name Anshi (安世), was a grandson of Sima Yi, nephew of Sima Shi and son of Sima Zhao. He became the first emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty a ...

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

. Du Yi died early, and Du Lingyang, who did not have any brothers, was raised by her mother Lady Pei. Du Lingyang was famed for her beauty and virtues, and Emperor Cheng made her his empress on 17 March 336,''xinhai'' day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year of the ''Xian'kang'' era, per Emperor Cheng's biography in ''Book of Jin'' when both of them were 15. He apparently favored her greatly, but she was childless. She died in April 341, a year before his death. After her death, her name was tabooed (meaning that other important people or places should not share her name) to honour her, and thus the name of the county Lingyang (headquarter in modern Southern Lingyang town,

Qingyang, Anhui Qingyang County () is a county in the south of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It is the northeasternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Chizhou Chizhou () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Anhui pr ...

) was changed to Guangyang. This is believed to be the first instance of a geographical name being changed due to a taboo of the name of an empress.

References

* Fang, Xuanling. ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, ...

'' (''Jin Shu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Lingyang, Empress 321 births 341 deaths Jin dynasty (266–420) empresses 4th-century Chinese women 4th-century Chinese people Du clan of Jingzhao