Empress Yuan (元皇后, 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

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 ...

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 ...

dynasty. known at times semi-formally as Empress Shuncheng (順成皇后) (due to her residence being Shuncheng Palace). Her husband was Emperor Xiaozhao (Gao Yan). Her father, Yuan Man (元蠻), was an official during the preceding

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 Wei ...

as a member of its imperial clan and continued to serve in the Northern Qi government as a midlevel official. One of her uncles,

Yuan Cha Yuan Cha () (died June 525), courtesy name Bojun (伯雋), nickname Yecha (夜叉), was an official of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China, who initially came to power as the brother-in-law of Emperor Xiaoming's mother and regent Empress ...

, was a

regent 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 ...

Northern Wei 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 and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

prior to its division into Eastern Wei and Western Wei. She married Gao Yan while or before he was the Prince of Changshan under the reign of his brother, Emperor Wenxuan, the first emperor of Northern Qi, and she carried the title of Princess of Changshan. She bore him one son,

Gao Bainian Gao Bainian (高百年) (556–564) was a crown prince of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. Early life Gao Bainian was born in 556. He was Emperor Xiaozhao's second son but was considered his proper heir because he was born of his wife Empress Yua ...

. In 559, when Emperor Wenxuan ordered a general execution of members of the Northern Wei imperial Yuan clan, Yuan Man and his household were one of the few households spared, on account of Gao Yan's intercession. Emperor Wenxuan granted Yuan Man's household a new surname, Buliugu (步六孤), but Yuan Man and Empress Yuan appeared to abandon the name once Emperor Wenxuan died later in the year. Emperor Wenxuan was succeeded by his son, Emperor Wenxuan. In 560, the prime minister,

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 ...

, suspicious of the authority that Gao Yan and his brother Gao Zhan, the Prince of Changguang, wielded as the emperor's uncles, tried to strip them of power. Instead, Gao Yan and Gao Zhan set an ambush for Yang and his associates, capturing and then executing them. Gao Yan took over control of the imperial government and, later in the year, his mother, Grand Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun, issued an edict deposing Emperor Fei and making Gao Yan emperor (as Emperor Xiaozhao). Emperor Xiaozhao made Princess Yuan empress and made her son, Gao Bainian,

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 fall 561, while on a hunt near the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modern

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

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 ...

), Emperor Xiaozhao fell off his horse and suffered severe injuries. Believing that he was near death but believing that Gao Bainian to be too young to take the throne, at age five, he issued an edict giving the throne to Gao Zhan. He died the same day, and Gao Zhan took the throne as Emperor Wucheng. Empress Yu accompanied Emperor Xiaozhao's funeral train to the capital, Yecheng (鄴城, in modern

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

). Emperor Wucheng heard rumors that the empress possessed medicines of great value, and he sent

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 to demand those medicines from her. She either could not or did not turn them over, and Emperor Wucheng had the eunuchs humiliate her. As she was his sister-in-law, not mother, he did not honor her as

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 ...

, but only referred to her as Empress Xiaozhao and had her housed at a subsidiary palace, Shuncheng Palace (順成宮). He made her son, Gao Bainian, the former crown prince, the Prince of Leling. In 564, with astrological signs showing ill fortune to the emperor, Emperor Wucheng wanted to deflect the ill fortune onto Gao Bainian, and he had Gao Bainian battered and then beheaded. After Gao Bainian's death, Emperor Wucheng kept Empress Yuan under close guard, and she was not even able to communicate with her father. After one incident, when she was found to possess letters from her father and brother somehow despite her guarded status, her father, Yuan Man, was removed from his office but was not killed. In 577, Northern Qi fell to rival

Northern Zhou 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 and ...

. She, along with other members of the Gao clan, were moved to the Northern Zhou capital of

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

, and she took up residence in the Northern Zhou palace following the subsequent slaughter of members of the Gao clan by

Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou ((北)周武帝) (543 – 21 June 578), personal name Yuwen Yong (宇文邕), Xianbei name Miluotu (禰羅突), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. As was the case of the reigns of his broth ...

. After Yang Jian became the

of Northern Zhou in 580, he allowed her to return to Northern Qi's former territory. Nothing further is known about her activities or the date of her death.

References

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