Empress Erzhu (514–556) was an empress 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 Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

of China. She was the wife of Emperor Xiaozhuang and a daughter of the paramount general

Erzhu Rong Erzhu Rong (爾朱榮) (493 – November 1, 530), courtesy name Tianbao (天寶), formally Prince Wu of Jin (晉武王), was a general of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. He was of Xiongnu ancestry, and after Emperor Xiaoming was ki ...

. She later became 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 Northern Wei and

Eastern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period, the Eastern We ...

's paramount general

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 (神武皇帝 ...

. In historical texts, she's often referred to by her final title of Princess Dowager of Pengcheng (彭城太妃). To distinguish her from Erzhu Zhao's daughter who married Yuan Ye, she's also referred to as Elder Lady Erzhu (大尔朱氏); while Yuan Ye's wife is referred to as Young Lady Erzhu (小尔朱氏).

Background

Lady Erzhu's father Erzhu Rong had been a hereditary chief of the Qihu (契胡) tribe, a branch of the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

, located at Xiurong (秀容, in modern

Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, in 2010, a popu ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

), and during the agrarian rebellions during Emperor Xiaoming's reign had become increasingly powerful as a military general. Sometime during Emperor Xiaoming's reign, she became Emperor Xiaoming's

with the rank of ''Pin'' (嬪). She was described to be capable as a soldier, and she was able to use the bow well. In 528, Emperor Xiaoming, in a dispute with his mother Empress Dowager Hu over her overly favoring her lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) and Zheng's associate Xu Ge (徐紇), conspired with Erzhu Rong to have him advance south toward the capital

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

to force Empress Dowager Hu to remove Zheng and Xu. When Empress Dowager Hu discovered this, she poisoned Emperor Xiaoming to death. Erzhu Rong refused to recognize the young emperor

Yuan Zhao Yuan Zhao (元釗) (526 – May 17, 528), also known in history as Youzhu (幼主, literally "the young lord"), was briefly an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. Background Yuan Zhao was a son of Yuan Baohui (元寶暉) th ...

that she put on the throne, instead advancing on Luoyang, capturing it and throwing Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Zhao into the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

to drown. He also slaughtered a large number of imperial officials and made Emperor Xiaoming's father

Emperor Xuanwu Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei (May or June 483 – February 12, 515) was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty (499-515). He was born Tuoba Ke, but later changed his surname so that he became Yuan Ke. During Xuanwu's reign, N ...

's cousin Yuan Ziyou emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhuang).

As empress

Erzhu Rong was in control of the military at this point, although Emperor Xiaozhuang retained substantial powers, and Erzhu Rong wanted Emperor Xiaozhuang to marry Lady Erzhu as empress to cement the relationship. Emperor Xiaozhuang initially hesitated, as pursuant to

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

regulations he would be committing

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

if he did. However, the official Zu Ying (祖瑩) convinced him that the union would be advantageous, and so he agreed. Empress Erzhu was described to be jealous and did not tolerate Emperor Xiaozhuang's other consorts. Emperor Xiaozhuang once asked her father's cousin

Erzhu Shilong Erzhu Shilong (爾朱世隆) (500–532), courtesy name Rongzong (榮宗), was an official of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He first became prominent when after his cousin Erzhu Rong overthrew Emperor Xiaoming's mother Empress Do ...

to persuade her to be less jealous. Instead, she told Erzhu Shilong that Emperor Xiaozhuang depended on the Erzhus for his throne and that things could still change; Erzhu Shilong agreed with her. Worried about the hold that Erzhu Rong had on the military and how he had been willing to slaughter imperial officials (including Emperor Xiaozhuang's own brothers Yuan Shao (元劭) and Yuan Zizheng (元子正)), Emperor Xiaozhuang, during Empress Erzhu's pregnancy in 530, tricked him into entering the palace with his close associate Yuan Tianmu (元天穆) the Prince of Shangdang and his son Erzhu Puti (爾朱菩提) and killing them by falsely telling them that Empress Erzhu had given birth. This precipitated a war between the imperial forces and the Erzhus' forces, which lasted for two months, during which Empress Erzhu gave birth to a son. Eventually, the Erzhu forces, under the command of Empress Erzhu's cousin

Erzhu Zhao Erzhu Zhao (爾朱兆) (died 533), courtesy name Wanren (萬仁), Xianbei name Tumo'er (吐沒兒), was a general of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He was ethnically Xiongnu and a nephew of the paramount general Erzhu Rong. After ...

, captured Luoyang and deposed (and later killed) Emperor Xiaozhuang, making his distant relative Yuan Ye the Prince of Changguang, and then later his cousin Yuan Gong the Prince of Guangling emperor. Erzhu Zhao also put Emperor Xiaozhuang's and Empress Erzhu's infant son to death.

As Gao Huan's concubine

The Erzhus controlled the empire for a while, but in 531, the general

, a former subordinate of Erzhu Rong's, rose against them, and by 532 Gao had defeated the Erzhus, becoming the paramount general for Northern Wei (and for the branch state

after Northern Wei's division into Eastern Wei and

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 ...

in 534). Shortly after Gao's defeating of the Erzhus, she became a concubine of Gao's. She and another consort that Gao took, the

Princess Ruru Princess Ruru of Northern Qi (蠕蠕公主) (530 CE – 6 May 548 CE) was the consort of Gao Huan, the regent of Eastern Wei, and later of Gao Cheng. She was the daughter of Anagui, the famed khan of the Rourans. Biography She was born in Mobei ...

(a princess of

Rouran The Rouran Khaganate, also Juan-Juan Khaganate (), was a tribal confederation and later state founded by a people of Proto-Mongolic Donghu origin.*Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000)"Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organizati ...

), were renowned for their military demonstrations, and Gao once commented that these two concubines of his were capable of defeating bandits. In 535, when Gao Huan was angry with his son

Gao Cheng Gao Cheng (; 521–549), 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), was the paramou ...

for having had an affair with Gao Huan's concubine Lady Zheng, he considered replacing his wife

Lou Zhaojun Lou Zhaojun (; 501 – 20 May 562), formally Empress Ming (明皇后, literally "the understanding empress"), was an empress dowager of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. She was the wife of Gao Huan, the paramount general of Northern Wei and i ...

, Gao Cheng's mother, with Lady Erzhu, but ultimately did not do so. Lady Erzhu bore him two sons,

Gao You Gao You (–212) was a Chinese historian, philosopher, and politician during the Eastern Han dynasty under its last emperor and the warlord Cao Cao. Life Gao You was born in Zhuo Commandery ''Zhuōjùn''; present-day Zhuozhou, Hebei). around ...

(高浟) (later the Prince of Pengcheng) in 533 and Gao Ning (高凝) (later the Prince of Huashan). In spring 545, Lady Erzhu's brother Erzhu Wenchang (爾朱文暢) and Zheng Zhongli (鄭仲禮), the brother of Gao Huan's other favorite concubine Zheng Dache (鄭大車), along with Ren Zhou (任冑), conspired to assassinate Gao Huan and support Erzhu Wenchang as leader, but the conspiracy was discovered, and the conspirators were put to death, along with their families. However, because of Gao Huan's favors for Lady Erzhu and Zheng Dache, he spared their brothers. However, she later became a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

nun, even while Gao Huan was still alive, for reasons lost to history; Gao Huan built a temple for her.

After Gao Huan's death

After Gao Huan's death in 547 and his son Gao Yang's abolition of Eastern Wei and establishment of

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

as its Emperor Wenxuan, Lady Erzhu carried the title of Princess Dowager of Pengcheng. In 556, Emperor Wenxuan, while drunk, wanted to have sexual relations with her, and she refused. He killed her by his own hand.(及文宣狂酒，将无礼于太妃，太妃不从，遂遇祸。) ''Bei Shi'', vol.14

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yinge, Empress Erzhu Erzhu Ying'e, Empress Erzhu Ying'e, Empress Erzhu Ying'e, Empress Erzhu Ying'e, Empress 6th-century Buddhist nuns Chinese Buddhist nuns Year of birth unknown 514 births