Empress Dugu or Queen Dugu personal name Dugu Banruo (536 - 14 May 558), posthumously Empress Mingjing (明敬皇后), was the wife of the Emperor Ming (Yuwen Yu) of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

-led

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 an ...

of China. She was the eldest daughter of

Dugu Xin Dugu Xin (Chinese: 獨孤信; 503 – 24 April 557), Xianbei name Qimitou (期彌頭), known as Dugu Ruyuan (獨孤如願) before 540, was a prominent general and official during the chaotic Northern and Southern dynasties period of imperial China ...

, a major general under

Yuwen Tai Yuwen Tai () (505 – 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 corre ...

, Yuwen Yu's father and paramount general of

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 ...

. It is not known when she married Yuwen Yu and became his duchess, although historical texts imply that it was after he became the Duke of Ningdu in 548. In 557, after

's death, his cousin

Yuwen Hu Yuwen Hu (宇文護) (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 ...

, the guardian of his younger brother and Yuwen Tai's heir,

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 ('' ...

, forced

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 ''Yong ...

to yield the throne to Yuwen Jue (Emperor Xiaomin), ending Western Wei and starting Northern Zhou. A month later, Duchess Dugu's father Dugu Xin, then the Duke of Wei, was implicated in a plot to kill Yuwen Hu with another high-level official, Zhao Gui (趙貴), the Duke of Chu, even though he tried to stop Zhao. Zhao was executed, while Dugu Xin was relieved of his posts and subsequently forced to commit suicide. Later in 557, Emperor Xiaomin himself plotted against Yuwen Hu, and when Yuwen Hu discovered the plot, he deposed and killed Emperor Xiaomin and declared Yuwen Yu Heavenly King. On 22 February 558, Emperor Ming created Duchess Dugu "Heavenly Queen".According to Yuwen Yu's biography in ''Book of Zhou'', Lady Dugu was made Heavenly Queen on the ''guichou'' day of the 1st month of the 2nd year of his reign. The date corresponds to 22 Feb 558 in the Julian calendar. ( ��年春正月��丑，立王后独孤氏。) ''Zhou Shu'', vol.04 About three months later, she died childless at the age of 22. 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 ...

suspected she was murdered by Yuwen Hu, because her father also died at his hands, but had no solid evidence. She was buried with honors due an Empress, and when Emperor Ming himself died in 560, he was buried with her.

Popular culture

*Portrayed by

Ady An An Yi-xuan (; born 吳玟靜 on 29 September 1980), also known as Ady An, is a Taiwanese actress and singer who was discovered when she was working in a coffee shop. Born on September 29, 1980, she also is known as Audrey An and Wu Wen Ching. A ...

The Legend of Dugu ''The Legend of Dugu'' () is a 2018 Chinese television series starring Hu Bingqing, Zhang Danfeng, Ady An, Jeremy Tsui and Li Yixiao. The series chronicles the life of the Dugu Sisters. It premiered on Tencent on February 21, 2018. Synopsis Du ...

2018 TV series. *Portrayed by

Xu Xiao Han Xu or XU may refer to: People and characters * Xu (surname), one of two Chinese surnames ( or /), transliterated as Xu in English * ǃXu, a name for the ǃKung group of Bushmen; may also refer to the ǃKung language or the ǃKung people * ǃXu ...

in Queen Dugu 2019 drama series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dugu, Empress Northern Zhou empresses 558 deaths Year of birth unknown 6th-century Chinese women 6th-century Chinese people