Empress Gao (, personal name unknown) was an

empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

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 Chinese

Eastern Wei dynasty 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 ...

. Her husband was Emperor Xiaojing, Eastern Wei's only emperor. She was the second daughter of the 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 ...

, who, after a formal break with

Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝武帝) (510 – February 3, 535), personal name Yuan Xiu (元脩 or 元修), courtesy name Xiaoze (孝則), at times known as Emperor Chu (出帝, "the emperor who fled"), was an emperor of the Xianbei-le ...

in 534, made Xiaojing, then age 10, emperor, thus dividing Northern Wei 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 539, Gao Huan married her to Emperor Xiaojing. It is not known whether Emperor Xiaojing's only son known by name, Yuan Zhangren (元長仁), who was created

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 ...

in 549, was her son or not. (He had two other sons whose names are lost to history.) In 550, Empress Gao's brother Gao Yang, who had by that point succeeded Gao Huan and another son of Gao Huan's,

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 ...

, forced Emperor Xiaojing to yield the throne to him, ending Eastern Wei and starting

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. He created the former Emperor Xiaojing the Prince of Zhongshan, and created the former Empress Gao the Princess Taiyuan, and she therefore carried double titles. Fearful that her brother, who was known for his violent nature, would harm her husband, she took her husband wherever she went, and she also tasted all of his food to make sure that it was not poisoned. Despite her precautions, however, she could not prevent his death, as around the new year 552, Emperor Wenxuan invited her to the palace for a feast, and then, as she was attending the feast, he sent assassins to force the Prince of Zhongshan and his three sons to drink poisoned wine. Later in 552, Emperor Wenxuan married the Princess Taiyuan to one of his officials,

Yang Yin Yang Yin (楊愔) (511–560), courtesy name Zhunyan (遵彦), nickname Qinwang (秦王), was a high-level official of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a ...

. That was the last reference to her in history, and it is not known whether she survived to 560, when Yang was killed by another brother of hers, Gao Yan the Prince of Changshan in a power struggle.

References

* ''

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 ...

'', vols. 158,

163 Year 163 ( CLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laelianus and Pastor (or, less frequently, year 916 '' Ab urbe con ...

, 164, 168. * ''

Book of Wei The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to 5 ...

'', vols. 12, 13. * ''

Book of Northern Qi The ''Book of Northern Qi'' (Chinese: 北齊書, pinyin Běi Qí Shū), was the official history of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. It was written by the Tang Dynasty historian Li Baiyao (李百藥) and was completed in 636. It is listed among ...

'', vol. 3

* ''

History of 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, the histories of Northern Wei, Western We ...

'', vols.

1

4

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Empress Xiaojing Northern Wei empresses Northern Qi people Year of birth missing Year of death missing Place of birth missing