Consort Zhang Lihua
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Zhang Lihua (; died 589) was an imperial consort of the Chinese Chen dynasty. She was the favorite
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 Chen's final emperor,
Chen Shubao Chen Shubao (, 10 December 553 – 16 December 604), also known as Houzhu of Chen (), posthumous name Duke Yáng of Chángchéng (), courtesy name Yuánxiù (元秀), childhood name Huángnú (黃奴), was the fifth and last emperor of the Chines ...
. It is not known when Zhang Lihua was born. She was the daughter of a soldier, but her family was so poor that her father and older brother had to support the family by sewing seating pads. After Chen Shubao became
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 wi ...
in 569 after his father Emperor Xuan took the throne, she was initially selected into the palace to serve as a servant to his concubine Consort Gong. When Chen Shubao saw her, however, he was infatuated with her and took her as a concubine. She bore two sons --
Chen Yuan Chen Yuan (, born in January 1945) is a Chinese economist who served as the Chairman of the China Development Bank from March 1998 to April 2013. Chen Yuan then served as Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Politica ...
and Chen Zhuang (陳莊). (It is not clear whether she bore any of his at least six daughters.) Emperor Xuan died in 582, and Chen Shubao, after surviving a coup attempt by his brother Chen Shuling (陳叔陵) the Prince of Shixing and cousin Chen Bogu (陳伯固) the Prince of Xin'an, took the throne. Chen Shubao created his wife Crown Princess Shen Wuhua empress, and created Consort Zhang an imperial consort with the honored title of ''Guifei'' (貴妃) -- the highest rank for imperial consorts. In the coup attempt, Chen Shubao suffered serious injuries, and Consort Zhang attended to him in the illness, as he did not favor Empress Shen and did not allow Empress Shen to attend to him. She became even more favored than before, and she effectively became the ruler of his palace notwithstanding that Empress Shen was empress. Chen Shubao had a large number of concubines—10 of whom were said to be favored—but Consort Zhang continued to be his favorite. He constructed three particularly luxurious pavilions within his palace—Linchun Pavilion (臨春閣), Jieqi Pavilion (結綺閣), and Wangxian Pavilion (望仙閣), residing himself at Linchun Pavilion, while having Consort Zhang reside at Jieqi Pavilion and Consorts Gong and Kong share Wangxian Pavilion. He often spent his days feasting with his concubines, headed by Consort Zhang, as well as those
ladies in waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...
and officials who had literary talent, having those officials sing or write poetry to praise his concubines' beauty. Two of the particularly known songs, ''Yushu Houting Hua'' (玉樹後庭花) and ''Linchun Yue'' (臨春樂), were written to praise the beauties of Consorts Zhang and Kong. Consort Zhang was said to be particularly capable at dressing herself and decorating herself beautifully, as well as engaging witches to pray to gods to help her stay beautiful. At times, her beauty was compared to goddesses. As Chen Shubao was not much interested in the matters of state, whenever he had important petitions to decide on, he would hold Consort Zhang on his lap and have her read the petition and rule on it. She therefore became very powerful politically as well, and so she and Consort Kong (who, while not related to the high-level official Kong Fan (孔範), referred to Kong Fan as her brother) became ones that people would bribe and beg when they had special requests. The officials soon were forced to first discuss important matters with Consorts Zhang and Kong before they could discuss them with the emperor. Because of Chen Shubao's favor for Consort Zhang, he also most favored her sons Chen Yuan and Chen Zhuang among his sons. In 588, he deposed his oldest son and crown prince Chen Yin because he suspected Chen Yin (who, while not born of Empress Shen, was raised by her and considered her son) of despising him for not favoring Empress Shen. He replaced Chen Yin with Chen Yuan. In 589, the Sui dynasty launched a major attack, and with Chen Shubao not paying attention to his generals requesting aid, Sui forces were quickly able to reach and capture the Chen capital Jiankang. Chen Shubao and Consorts Zhang and Kong hid in a well, but were eventually found and taken captive. Chen Shubao was spared (and eventually treated with kindness by Emperor Wen of Sui), as were Chen Yuan and Chen Zhuang, but the Sui general
Gao Jiong Gāo Jiǒng () (died August 27, 607), courtesy name Zhaoxuan (昭玄), alternative name Min (敏))) known during the Northern Zhou period by the Xianbei name Dugu Jiong (独孤颎/獨孤熲), was a Chinese military general and politician of the C ...
, blaming her for Chen's collapse and comparing her to
Daji Daji () was the favourite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China. In legends and fictions, she is portrayed as a malevolent fox spirit who kills and impersonates the real Daji. Her identification as ...
, the wicked wife of
King Zhou of Shang King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or King Shou of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu ( 紂) also refers to a horse cr ...
who was beheaded by the
Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
general Jiang Ziya after Zhou conquered Shang, beheaded her despite an order from Emperor Wen's son Yang Guang the Prince of Jin, who commanded the entire operation, to spare her. (Whether Yang Guang wanted to seize her as his own concubine can only be speculated.) In 607, after Yang Guang had succeeded Emperor Wen in 604 (as Emperor Yang), he executed Gao after Gao who had expressed disagreement with him on the large amount of award that he was giving to Tujue's submissive
Qimin Khan 啓民可汗 , title=First Khagan of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate , image= , caption= , reign=603–609 , coronation= , full name= , successor=Shibi Qaghan , spouse=Princess Anyi (安义公主) Princess Yicheng (義成公主) , issue= , royal hous ...
. Many traditional historians believed that he was punishing Gao for having executed Consort Zhang despite his order.


References

* ''
Book of Chen The ''Book of Chen'' or ''Chen Shu'' (''Chén Shū'') was the official history of the Chen dynasty, one of the Southern Dynasties of China. The ''Book of Chen'' is part of the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by ...
'', vol. 7. * ''
History of Southern Dynasties The ''History of the Southern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. It contain 80 volumes and covers the period from 420 to 589, the histories of Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang dy ...
'', vol. 1

* ''
Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...
'', vols. 176, 177. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Lihua Chen dynasty people Sui dynasty people 589 deaths Chinese imperial consorts Year of birth unknown