Yang Zhi (楊芷) (259 – 6 March 292),
courtesy name
A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Jilan (季蘭), nickname Nanyin (男胤), formally Empress Wudao (武悼皇后, literally "the martial and fearful empress") was an
empress
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
of the
Jin dynasty. She was
Emperor Wu's second wife and cousin to his first wife,
Empress Yang Yan.
As empress consort
Not much is known about Yang Zhi's life before she married Emperor Wu. Before Empress Yang Yan died in August 274, she was fearful that whoever became empress next would undermine her
developmentally disabled son
Crown Prince Zhong's position as
crown prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent.
''Crown prince ...
, and therefore she asked Emperor Wu to marry her cousin Yang Zhi after her death. Emperor Wu agreed and, in December 276, married Yang Zhi and created her empress. Her father
Yang Jun became a key official in the administration and became extremely arrogant.
The new Empress Yang herself was described as beautiful and virtuous and favored by her husband (who, however, also had upwards of 10,000
concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...
s). After Emperor Wu conquered
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 ...
in May 280, he became largely obsessed with feasting and women, and tired of handling important matters of state. Empress Yang's father Yang Jun and her uncles Yang Yao (楊珧) and Yang Ji (楊濟) became those who made actual decisions and became very powerful. Empress Yang had a son, Sima Hui (司馬恢), in 283, but Prince Hui died on 14 August 284. She did not bear Emperor Wu other children afterwards.
Empress Yang was instrumental in keeping Crown Prince Zhong's wife Crown Princess
Jia Nanfeng from being deposed, as Princess Jia was jealous and violent. After several of the crown prince's concubines became pregnant, Princess Jia personally had them killed. When Emperor Wu heard about this, he was angry and wanted to depose the crown princess, but Empress Yang persuaded him to remember the crown princess' father
Jia Chong's contribution to the establishment of Jin. She also rebuked the crown princess to try to rein in her behavior—but the crown princess, not knowing that the empress had persuaded the emperor not to depose her, bore a grudge against the empress as a result.
In 289, Emperor Wu grew ill, and considered whom to make regent for Crown Prince Zhong. He considered both Yang Jun and his uncle
Sima Liang the Prince of Ru'nan, the most respected of the imperial princes. As a result, Yang Jun became fearful of Sima Liang and had him posted to the key city of Xuchang (許昌, in modern
Xuchang
Xuchang ( zh, s=, t= ; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe ...
,
Henan
Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...
). Several other imperial princes were also posted to other key cities in the empire. By 290, Emperor Wu resolved to let Yang and Sima Liang both be regents, but after he wrote his will, the will was seized by Yang Jun, who instead had another will promulgated in which Yang alone was named regent. He died soon after in May. Crown Prince Zhong ascended the throne as Emperor Hui; Empress Yang was honored as
empress dowager
Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...
, and Yang Jun became regent.
As empress dowager
Yang Jun quickly showed himself to be autocratic and incompetent, drawing the ire of many other nobles and officials. He tried to appease them by bestowing many titles and honors among them, but this only brought further contempt for his actions. He knew Emperor Hui's empress Jia Nanfeng to be strong-willed and treacherous, so he tried to put people loyal to him in charge of all the defense forces of the capital
Luoyang
Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...
, and also ordered that all edicts not only be signed by the emperor but also by Empress Dowager Yang before they could be promulgated.
Empress Jia, however, wanted to be involved in the government, and was angry that she was constantly rebuffed by Empress Dowager Yang and Yang Jun. She therefore conspired with the
eunuch
A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...
Dong Meng (董猛) and the generals Meng Guan (孟觀) and Li Zhao (李肇) against the Yangs. She tried to include Sima Liang in the conspiracy, but Sima Liang declined; instead, she persuaded her brother-in-law,
Sima Wei the Prince of Chu, to join her plan. In 291, after Sima Wei returned to Luoyang from his defense post (Jing Province (荊州, modern
Hubei
Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...
and
Hunan
Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...
)) with his troops, a coup went into progress in April.
Empress Jia, who had her husband easily under her control, had him issue an edict declaring that Yang Jun had committed crimes and should be removed from his posts. It also ordered Sima Wei and
Sima Yao (司馬繇) the Duke of Dong'an to attack Yang's forces and defend against counterattacks. Quickly, it became clear that Yang was in trouble. Empress Dowager Yang, trapped in the palace herself, wrote an edict ordering assistance for Yang Jun and put it on arrows, shooting it out of the palace. Empress Jia then made the bold declaration that Empress Dowager Yang was committing treason. Yang Jun was quickly defeated, and his clan was massacred. Only his wife Lady Pang, the empress dowager's mother, was pardoned and allowed to live with the empress dowager. However, Empress Jia continued to be resentful, and soon had Empress Dowager Yang deposed from her position and made a commoner, and then had Lady Pang executed, despite humble pleas from the empress dowager, who was put under house arrest inside the palace. Initially, her closest servants were allowed to remain to serve her, but in February 292, Empress Jia had them moved elsewhere. In despair, Empress Dowager Yang refused to eat and died after eight days of not eating.
Empress Dowager Yang was buried in a way most unfitting for an empress. The superstitious Empress Jia thought she might make accusations to the spirit of Emperor Wu after her death, so had her buried face down and also with various amulets and magical herbs that were intended to suppress her spirit. It was not until 5 May 307, long after Empress Jia's own defeat and death, that she was restored to her empress title and reburied with imperial honors. She was given a temple in which to be worshipped but was not worshipped in her husband Emperor Wu's temple. In May 342,
[3rd month of the 8th year of the ''Xian'kang'' era, per Emperor Cheng's biography in ''Book of Jin'' and vol.97 of ''Zizhi Tongjian''. The month corresponds to 22 April to 20 May 342 in the Julian calendar.] during the reign of
Emperor Cheng, her cult was merged into the temple of Emperor Wu.
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'').
*
Sima, Guang. ''Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance'' (''
Zizhi Tongjian
The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...
'')
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang Zhi, Empress
259 births
292 deaths
Jin dynasty (266–420) empresses
Suicides by starvation
3rd-century Chinese women
3rd-century Chinese people
Suicides in the Jin dynasty (266–420)