Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
nun name Changbei (), was an
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 ...
of the
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 ...
-led Chinese
Northern Zhou dynasty
Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and ...
Li Ezi was born in 536, around the Jiangling region, then ruled by
Liang dynasty
The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...
. In 554, Northern Zhou's predecessor state
Western Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Western Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei. One of the Northern dynasties during the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the weste ...
's general Yu Jin () launched a major attack on Jiangling, then the capital of Liang's Emperor Yuan, capturing it and killing Emperor Yuan. While Western Wei then declared Emperor Yuan's nephew
Xiao Cha
Emperor Xuan of Western Liang ((西)梁宣帝; 519 – March or April 562), personal name Xiao Cha (蕭詧), courtesy name Lisun (理孫), was the founding emperor of the Western Liang dynasty of China. He took the throne of the Liang dynasty wi ...
Liang's emperor (as Emperor Xuan), to be a vassal of Western Wei, when Yu withdrew, he captured most of the population of Jiangling and the surrounding region back to the Western Wei capital
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 ...
as spoils of war. Western Wei's paramount general
Yuwen Tai
Yuwen Tai () (505/7 – 21 November 556According to Yuwen Tai's biography in ''Book of Zhou'', he died aged 52 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''yihai'' day of the 10th month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei. This co ...
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 ...
. She was seven years older than Yuwen Yong.
Empress dowager
After Yuwen Tai's death in November 556, his son
Yuwen Jue
Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou ((北)周孝閔帝) (542 – early November 557), personal name Yuwen Jue (宇文覺), nickname Dharani (陀羅尼), was the founder of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China, ruling as Heavenly Prince (' ...
took the throne from
Emperor Gong of Western Wei
Emperor Gong of Western Wei ((西)魏恭帝) (537? – April 557Volume 167 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' indicated that Emperor Gong was killed between the ''jiawu'' day of the 2nd month and the ''gengzi'' day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of the ''Yon ...
in 557, ending Western Wei and establishing Northern Zhou as its Emperor Xiaomin. As the emperor's brother, Yuwen Yong continued to carry the title of duke, although he was promoted to the Duke of Lu by another brother, Emperor Ming, who succeeded Emperor Xiaomin after the powerful regent
Yuwen Hu
Yuwen Hu (; 513 – 14 April 572), courtesy name Sabao (薩保, also a title, which can be traced back to ''sartpāw “caravan leader”'', but was used as given name, in many cases by Buddhists - referring to the metaphorical meaning of wise lead ...
deposed and killed Emperor Xiaomin later in 557. In 559, Lady Li gave birth to Yuwen Yong's oldest son Yuwen Yun. (She would later bear him another son, his second son Yuwen Zan (), although the date of Yuwen Zan's birth is not known to history.)
In 560, Emperor Ming was poisoned by Yuwen Hu, and Yuwen Yong became emperor (as Emperor Wu). He created Yuwen Yun the Duke of Lu. He did not create Consort Li empress, and immediately began overtures to pursue formal marital relations with Tujue, commencing in marrying the daughter of Tujue's
Muqan Qaghan
Muqan Qaghan (, , , Rouran: 𑀫𑀼𑀖𑀅𑀦 𑀕𑀅𑀖𑀅𑀦, romanized: ''Muɣan Qaɣan'') was the second son of Bumin Qaghan and the third khagan of the Göktürks who expanded their khaganate and secured the borders against the Hephth ...
, in 568 as his empress. However, Empress Ashina did not bear a son, and in 572, after Emperor Wu killed Yuwen Hu and personally took power, he created Yuwen Yun
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 ...
. In summer 578, Emperor Wu died, and Yuwen Yun became emperor (as Emperor Xuan). He honored both Empress Ashina and Consort Li as empress dowagers (with Consort Li carrying the secondary title of ''Di Taihou'' (), to distinguish her from Empress Ashina's greater title of ''Huang Taihou'' ().
As grand empress dowager and after the fall of Northern Zhou
In spring 579, the erratic Emperor Xuan formally passed the throne to his young son Yuwen Chan (as Emperor Jing), and he took an atypical title for a
retired emperor A Retired Emperor may refer to:
*Taishang Huang of China
*Daijō Tennō of Japan
*Taesangwang
T'aesangwang () and the related title T'aesanghwang () are titles used at various points in History of Korea, Korean history for retired king or emper ...
— "Emperor Tianyuan" (天元皇帝, ''Tianyuan Huangdi''). He thereafter changed her title several times — to ''Tianyuan Di Taihou'' () in spring 579, then ''Tian Huang Taihou'' in summer 579, and ''Tianyuan Sheng Huang Taihou'' in spring 580. In June 580, Emperor Xuan died, and Emperor Jing, then under the control of the
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 ...
Yang Jian, honored both Empress Dowager Ashina and her as grand empress dowagers — but with the title ''Tai Di Taihou'' () to distinguish her from the greater title of ''Tai Huang Taihou'' () that Empress Dowager Ashina carried.
In March 581, Yang Jian seized the throne from Emperor Jing, ending Northern Zhou and established the
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
(as its Emperor Wen). Emperor Jing and other members of Northern Zhou's imperial Yuwen clan were soon killed. In March or April 581, Grand Empress Dowager Li became a Buddhist nun, and changed her name to Changbei (literally meaning "frequent sorrow").(隋開皇元年三月，出俗為尼，改名常悲。) ''Book of Zhou'', vol.09. The month corresponds to 21 Mar to 19 Apr 581 in the Julian calendar. She died in 588, and was buried only with ceremony due a Buddhist nun, south of Chang'an.
References
* ''
Book of Zhou
The ''Book of Zhou'' () records the official history of the Xianbei-led Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties of China, and ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. Compiled by the Tang dynasty
The Tang dy ...
History of the Northern Dynasties
The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the '' Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618 CE: the histories of Northern Wei, Wester ...
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 ...
'', vols.
173
Year 173 ( CLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Pompeianus (or, less frequently, year 926 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 173 for th ...