Lady Xun (; died 335), formally Lady of Yuzhang (豫章君), was a
concubine of
Emperor Yuan of Jin (Sima Rui) while he was the Prince of Langye. Initially, he favored her greatly; the couple had two sons –
Sima Shao (Emperor Ming) and Sima Pou (司馬裒). Because of the favor that she received, Sima Rui's wife Princess Yu Mengmu (虞孟母) was very jealous of her and mistreated her. Lady Xun, not happy about her low station and Princess Yu's mistreatment, often complained and was rebuked by Prince Rui. Eventually, he threw her out of the household. After Sima Shao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ming in January 323, he gave her a mansion and created her the Lady of Jian'an. Later that year, he welcomed her back to the palace. After he died in October 325 and his son
Emperor Cheng ascended the throne, she was treated as virtual
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 ...
without the title, and she probably effectively raised Emperor Cheng, since Emperor Cheng's mother
Yu Wenjun died in 328 in the midst of the
Su Jun Disturbance, while Emperor Cheng was only seven. She died in 335 and was posthumously created the Lady of Yuzhang, and a temple was built for her. Some sources mention that she was a
Xianbei
The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...
, and that Sima Shao inherited her exotic looks.
[According to vol.27 of ''Shishuo Xinyu'', Wang Dun once called Emperor Ming "yellow-haired Xianbei slave" (黄须鲜卑奴). A ''Yi Yuan'' annotation could be the original source of the information quoted by Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen (〈异苑曰：“帝躬往姑孰，敦时昼寝，卓然惊悟曰：‘营中有黄头鲜卑奴来，何不缚取？’帝所生母荀氏，燕国人，故貌类焉。).]
References
Jin dynasty (266–420) imperial consorts
335 deaths
Year of birth unknown
4th-century Chinese women
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