Princess Ruru of

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 ...

(蠕蠕公主) (530 CE – 6 May 548 CE) was the consort of

Gao Huan Gao Huan () (496 – 13 February 547), Xianbei name Heliuhun (賀六渾), formally Prince Xianwu of Qi (齊獻武王), later further formally honored by Northern Qi initially as Emperor Xianwu (獻武皇帝), then as Emperor Shenwu (神武皇� ...

, the regent of

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 ...

, and later of

Gao Cheng Gao Cheng (; 521 – 15 September 549), courtesy name Zihui (子惠), formally Prince Wenxiang of Bohai (勃海文襄王), later further posthumously honored by Northern Qi as Emperor Wenxiang (文襄皇帝) with the temple name Shizong (世宗), ...

, Gao Huan's eldest son. She was the daughter of Anagui, the famed khan of the

Rourans The Rouran Khaganate ( Chinese: zh, c=, p=Róurán, label=no), also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan ( zh, c=, p=Ruǎnruǎn, label=no) (or variously ''Jou-jan'', ''Ruruan'', ''Ju-juan'', ''Ruru'', ''Ruirui'', ''Rouru'', ''Rouruan'' or ''Tantan'') ...

Biography

She was born in Mobei, north of Gobi Desert, in an area that included

Outer Mongolia Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gained ''de facto'' ...

, present-day

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. She was said to be very good at shooting. She was born into the royal

Yujiulü clan The Yujiulü clan ( zh, t=郁久閭氏; reconstructed Middle Chinese: ''ʔjuk kjǝu ljwo'') was the ruling clan of the Rouran Khaganate, which ruled over Northern China, the Mongolian Steppe and Southern Siberia. Origin According to Book of Wei ...

, and her father was the famed Anagui, khan of the Rourans. In fall 545, due to an alliance between

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 ...

and Rouran to attack Eastern Wei, Gao Huan sued for peace with Rouran by requesting a marriage between a daughter of Yujiulü Anagui and Gao Cheng, his eldest son. Yujiulü Anagui refused, stating that it would only be sufficient if Gao Huan ''himself'' married her. Gao Huan initially refused, because he respected his then-wife

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 ...

very much, and was therefore reluctant to marry Yujiulü Anagui's daughter and create her as Queen, but was persuaded otherwise, and he married Yujiulü Anagui's daughter, referring to her as the Princess Ruru (蠕蠕公主). To facilitate this marriage, Lou Zhaojun moved out of the mansion, though Gao Huan and Lou Zhaojun were not formally divorced. After Gao Huan's death, pursuant to Rouran customs, Princess Ruru became married to Gao Huan's son Gao Cheng, who also, however, did not formally divorce his wife, Princess Yuan. She gave birth to a daughter with Gao Cheng.

In popular culture

She was portrayed by Bai Shan in the 2013 Chinese television series ''

Legend of Lu Zhen ''Legend of Lu Zhen'' () is a 2013 Chinese television historical drama series based on the novel ''Female Prime Minister'' (女相) by Zhang Wei. Directed by Li Huizhu, Zheng Wei'en and Liang Guoguan and produced by Yu Zheng and Mu Xiaohui, the ser ...

''. There, she is depicted as being the mother of Gao Zhan and Gao Xiang.

References

Sources

* ''

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 ...

'', Biographies of the Second · Concubine Part II. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruru, Princess 6th-century Chinese women 6th-century Chinese people Chinese princesses Yujiulü clan