Yuan Humo, also known Tuoba Humo, (; died 616) 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

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 ...

(although during her husband Emperor Xiaomin (Yuwen Jue)'s reign, her title was actually "princess" since he used the alternative title "Heavenly Prince" (''

Tian Wang Heavenly King or Tian Wang () is a Chinese title for various religious deities and divine leaders throughout history, as well as an alternate form of the term ''Son of Heaven'', referring to the emperor. The Chinese term for Heavenly King consist ...

'')). Yuan Humo was the fifth daughter of

Emperor Wen of Western Wei Emperor Wen of Western Wei ((西)魏文帝) (507 – 28 March 551), personal name Yuan Baoju (元寶炬), was an emperor of Western Wei—a branch successor state to Northern Wei. In 534, Yuan Baoju, then the Prince of Nanyang, followed his cousi ...

, and she carried the title Princess Jin'an during the reigns of her father and her brothers

Emperor Fei of Western Wei Emperor Fei of Western Wei ((西)魏廢帝) (died May or June 554), personal name Yuan Qin (元欽), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Western Wei dynasty of China—a branch successor state of Northern Wei. He, even more so than his father Em ...

and

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 ...

. Sometime after Yuwen Jue, the son and heir of then-paramount general

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 ...

, was created the Duke of Lüeyang in 550, she married Yuwen Jue as his duchess. After Yuwen Tai died in 556, Yuwen Jue inherited his titles, under the guardianship of Yuwen Tai's nephew

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 ...

. In spring 557, Yuwen Hu forced Duchess Yuan's brother Emperor Gong to yield the throne to Yuwen Jue, ending Western Wei and establishing Northern Zhou. Emperor Xiaomin, then carrying the title of Heavenly Prince, created her as his princess. Later in 557, Emperor Xiaomin, unhappy about Yuwen Hu's hold on power, tried to have him killed. The news of the plot leaked, and Yuwen Hu deposed Emperor Xiaomin and replaced him with another son of Yuwen Tai, Emperor Ming. Soon, he had Yuwen Jue put to death. He also forced Princess Yuan to become 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. After another brother of Emperor Xiaomin, Emperor Wu killed Yuwen Hu in 572, he posthumously honored Emperor Xiaomin as emperor and honored her as empress, housing her at Chongyi Palace (崇義宮). She left the palace after Northern Zhou's throne was seized by

Emperor Wen of Sui The Emperor Wen of Sui (; 21 July 541 – 13 August 604), personal name Yang Jian (), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (), alias Narayana () deriving from Buddhist terms, was the founder and the first emperor of the Chinese Sui dynasty. The ''Book of ...

in 581 and lived in a private residence. She died in 616, during the reign of Emperor Wen's son

Emperor Yang of Sui Emperor Yang of Sui (隋煬帝, 569 – 11 April 618), personal name Yang Guang (), alternative name Ying (), Xianbei name Amo (), also known as Emperor Ming of Sui () during the brief reign of his grandson Yang Tong, was the second emperor of ...

Ancestry

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuan, Humo Northern Wei Buddhists Northern Zhou empresses Northern Zhou Buddhists 616 deaths Sui dynasty Buddhists 6th-century births Chinese princesses 6th-century Chinese women 7th-century Chinese women 6th-century Chinese people 7th-century Chinese people 6th-century Buddhist nuns 7th-century Buddhist nuns Chinese Buddhist nuns