Consort Yang, imperial consort rank '' Xianfei '' (楊賢妃, personal name unknown) (died February 12, 840''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vol. 246.), was an imperial consort of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. She was a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

of Emperor Wenzong who became involved in the selection process of his heir and who died as a result of her involvement.

Background

Little is known about Consort Yang's background, as there was no biography of her among the biographies of the empresses and imperial consorts in either the ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'' or the ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

''. However, in an allegation that Emperor Wenzong's brother Emperor Wuzong later made against her (posthumously) and the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Yang Sifu Yang Sifu (楊嗣復) (783–848), courtesy name Jizhi (繼之), nickname Qingmen (慶門), formally Count Xiaomu of Hongnong (弘農孝穆伯), was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Wenzo ...

, Emperor Wuzong stated that Yang Sifu had written a letter to her urging her to assume

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

as 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 Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere. The title was also g ...

in which Yang Sifu referred to her as an aunt. This allegation, if true, would suggest that she was a daughter of Yang Sifu's grandfather Yang Taiqing (楊太清), who served as a county magistrate, and a sister to Yang Sifu's father Yang Yuling (楊於陵), who was an honored official during the reign of Emperor Wenzong's father Emperor Muzong. (Emperor Wuzong also referred to a younger brother of Consort Yang as Yang Xuansi (楊玄思), and it would have been somewhat unusual, although not highly so, for Yang Xuansi and Yang Yuling to be brothers but not share a character in their personal names.)

As imperial consort

It is not known when Consort Yang became Emperor Wenzong's

, but it is known that as of 837, she was an imperial consort with the rank of ''Zhaorong'' (昭容), the sixth highest rank possible for imperial consorts.''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 51. In 837, she was promoted to the rank of ''Xianfei'' (賢妃), the fourth highest rank for imperial consorts, while fellow imperial consort Consort Wang, the mother of Emperor Wenzong's oldest son Li Yong, was promoted from the rank of ''Zhaoyi'' (昭儀) (fifth highest rank) to ''Defei'' (德妃) (third highest rank). There was no indication as to whether she was involved in Yang Sifu's becoming chancellor in 838. By 838, it was said that Consort Wang, who was not favored by Emperor Wenzong, had been killed at Consort Yang's instigation after Consort Yang made false accusations against her. It was further said that Li Yong, who was then

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 is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

, himself favored games and feasting and had become close to scoundrels, leading to Consort Yang's continually making accusations against him. As a result, in 838, Emperor Wenzong put Li Yong under arrest and convened a group of high-level officials, announcing that he was intending to depose Li Yong from his position as Crown Prince. The officials and

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been 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 2nd millennium ...

s largely opposed the move, and Li Yong was at that time spared, although a large number of his associates were executed. (Li Yong himself died later that year, and some historians, include the modern Chinese historian

Bo Yang Bo Yang (; 7 March 1920 – 29 April 2008), sometimes also erroneously called Bai Yang, was a Chinese historian, novelist, philosopher, poet, and politician based in Taiwan. He is also regarded as a social critic. According to his own memoir, t ...

, believed that he was assassinated at the implicit approval of Emperor Wenzong and Consort Yang.)''

Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 59 38 After Li Yong's death, Consort Yang repeatedly recommended Emperor Wenzong's younger brother Li Rong the Prince of An as the new crown prince. (As Emperor Wuzong later would allege, he believed that Li Rong flattered Consort Yang in order to receive her favor.) When Emperor Wenzong asked for the chancellors' opinions, however, Li Jue opposed this, so Emperor Wenzong instead created

Li Chengmei Li Chengmei (李成美) (died February 12, 840), formally the Prince of Chen (陳王), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, serving briefly as Crown Prince during the reign of his uncle Emperor Wenzong. Background It is not known ...

, the Prince of Chen, the son of his older brother Emperor Jingzong, as Crown Prince.

Death

In spring 840, Emperor Wenzong grew seriously ill, and he had Yang Sifu and Li Jue summoned to the palace, intending to entrust Li Chengmei to them. However, the powerful eunuchs

Qiu Shiliang Qiu Shiliang () (died 843), courtesy name Kuangmei (), formally the Duke of Chu (), was an eunuch official of the History of China, Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, becoming particularly powerful after the Ganlu Incident — an event in which Emperor W ...

and Yu Hongzhi (魚弘志), who had no input in Li Chengmei's being made crown prince, opposed Li Chengmei. They forged an edict in Emperor Wenzong's name deposing Li Chengmei (on the excuse that Li Chengmei was too young) and naming another younger brother of Emperor Wenzong's, Li Chan the Prince of Ying, crown prince. After Emperor Wenzong died soon thereafter, Qiu persuaded Li Chan, then still carrying the title of Crown Prince, to issue an order that Consort Yang, Li Rong, and Li Chengmei commit suicide.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vols. 245,

246 __NOTOC__ Year 246 ( CCXLVI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 246th Year of the Common Era ( CE) and Anno Domini ( AD) designations, the 246th year of the 1st millennium, th ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Consort 840 deaths Tang dynasty imperial consorts Year of birth unknown Executed Tang dynasty people 9th-century executions by the Tang dynasty Forced suicides of Chinese people