Empress Yuan (元皇后, personal name unknown) 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 Chinese

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties during the ...

dynasty. known at times semi-formally as Empress Shuncheng (順成皇后) (due to her residence being Shuncheng Palace). Her husband was Emperor Xiaozhao (Gao Yan). Her father, Yuan Man (元蠻), was an official during the preceding

Eastern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Nor ...

as a member of its imperial clan and continued to serve in the Northern Qi government as a mid-level official. One of her uncles, Yuan Cha, was a

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

prior to its division into Eastern Wei and Western Wei. She married Gao Yan while or before he was the Prince of Changshan under the reign of his brother, Emperor Wenxuan, the first emperor of Northern Qi, and she carried the title of Princess of Changshan. They had one son,

Gao Bainian Gao Bainian (高百年) (556 – July 564) was a crown prince of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. Early life Gao Bainian was born in 556. He was Emperor Xiaozhao's second son but was considered his proper heir because he was born of his wife Emp ...

. In 559, when Emperor Wenxuan ordered a general execution of members of the Northern Wei imperial Yuan clan, Yuan Man and his household were one of the few households spared, on account of Gao Yan's intercession. Emperor Wenxuan granted Yuan Man's household a new surname, Buliugu (步六孤), but Yuan Man and Empress Yuan appeared to abandon the name once Emperor Wenxuan died later in the year. Emperor Wenxuan was succeeded by his son, Emperor Wenxuan. In 560, the prime minister,

Yang Yin Yang Yin (楊愔) (511 – 4 April 560), courtesy name Zhunyan (遵彦), nickname Qinwang (秦王), was a high-level official of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. Background Yang Yin came from a clan that produced many officials of Northern Wei ...

, suspicious of the authority that Gao Yan and his brother Gao Zhan, the Prince of Changguang, wielded as the emperor's uncles, tried to strip them of power. Instead, Gao Yan and Gao Zhan set an ambush for Yang and his associates, capturing and then executing them. Gao Yan took over control of the imperial government and, later in the year, his mother, Grand Empress Dowager

Lou Zhaojun Lou Zhaojun (; 501 – 20 May 562), posthumous name Empress Wuming (武明皇后), was an empress dowager and grand empress dowager of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. She was the wife of Gao Huan, the paramount general of the Northern Wei and ...

, issued an edict deposing Emperor Fei and making Gao Yan emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhao). Emperor Xiaozhao made Princess Yuan empress and made her son, Gao Bainian,

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 ...

on 6 December 560.( ��建元年��十一月辛亥，立妃元氏为皇后，世子百年为皇太子。) ''Bei Qi Shu'', vol.06 In fall 561, while on a hunt near the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modern

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

), Emperor Xiaozhao fell off his horse and suffered severe injuries. Believing that he was near death but believing that Gao Bainian to be too young to take the throne, at age five, he issued an edict giving the throne to Gao Zhan. He died the same day, and Gao Zhan took the throne as Emperor Wucheng. Empress Yu accompanied Emperor Xiaozhao's funeral train to the capital, Yecheng (鄴城, in modern

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

). Emperor Wucheng heard rumors that the empress possessed medicines of great value, and he sent

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 ...

s to demand those medicines from her. She either could not or did not turn them over, and Emperor Wucheng had the eunuchs humiliate her. As she was his sister-in-law, not mother, he did not honor her 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 ...

, but only referred to her as Empress Xiaozhao and had her housed at a subsidiary palace, Shuncheng Palace (順成宮). He made her son, Gao Bainian, the former crown prince, the Prince of Leling. In 564, with astrological signs showing ill fortune to the emperor, Emperor Wucheng wanted to deflect the ill fortune onto Gao Bainian, and he had Gao Bainian battered and then beheaded. After Gao Bainian's death, Emperor Wucheng kept Empress Yuan under close guard, and she was not even able to communicate with her father. After one incident, when she was found to possess letters from her father and brother somehow despite her guarded status, her father, Yuan Man, was removed from his office but was not killed. In 577, Northern Qi fell to rival

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties of China's ...

. She, along with other members of the Gao clan, were moved to the Northern Zhou capital of

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

, and she took up residence in the Northern Zhou palace following the subsequent slaughter of members of the Gao clan by

Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou 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 rul ...

. After Yang Jian became the

of Northern Zhou in 580, he allowed her to return to Northern Qi's former territory. Nothing further is known about her activities or the date of her death.

References

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