Guo Huai (, 237–296),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Yuhuang () or Yuanshao (, according to her entombed stele), was a niece of the general

Guo Huai Guo Huai (died 23 February 255), courtesy name Boji, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei (or Wei) during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao ...

(郭淮; note that their Chinese names differ even if their romanized names do not), the second wife of

Jia Chong Jia Chong (217–19 May 282), courtesy name Gonglü, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Three Kingdoms period and early Jin dynasty of China. He started his career as an advisor to Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, the regents of the ...

, the mother of

Jia Nanfeng Jia Nanfeng (257 – 13 May 300), nicknamed Shi (峕), was a Chinese empress consort. She was the daughter of Jia Chong and first wife of Emperor Hui of the Jin dynasty and also the granddaughter of Jia Kui. She is commonly seen as a villaino ...

, and the mother-in-law of

Emperor Hui of Jin Emperor Hui of Jin (; 260 - January 8, 307), personal name Sima Zhong (司馬衷), courtesy name Zhengdu (正度), was the second emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420). Emperor Hui was a developmentally disabled ruler, and throughout his reign, t ...

. During her life, she also went by Lady of Guangcheng () and Lady of Yicheng (). After her death, she received the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...

Xuan (). Her life was marked by severe cruelty, jealousy, and dishonesty, although these accounts may have been colored by the bias of ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang X ...

'' historians.

Biography

Marriage troubles

Guo Huai's father Guo Pei () was the governor of

Chengyang Commandery Chengyang Kingdom ( zh, 城陽國) was a kingdom of China's Han and Jin dynasties, located in present-day southeastern Shandong. Chengyang was originally a commandery in the Qi Kingdom of early Han dynasty. The territory was granted to Prince ...

and a younger brother of the

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

general

. She became

's second wife in 257 after his first wife, Li Wan (), was banished to the Korean border as a result of her father Li Feng's downfall and execution in 254. Jia Chong already had two daughters with Li Wan, including Jia Quan (). In 266, after he overthrew Cao Wei and established the

Jin dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...

Sima Yan Emperor Wu of Jin (; 236 – 16 May 290), personal name Sima Yan (), courtesy name Anshi (安世), was the grandson of Sima Yi, nephew of Sima Shi and son of Sima Zhao. He became the first emperor of the Jin dynasty after forcing Cao Huan, ...

(Emperor Wu of Jin) decreed a general amnesty. Li Wan was allowed to return to the national 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 ...

. Jia Chong's mother and his adult daughters (Jia Quan was by then a princess married to

Sima You Sima You (246 – 27 April 283), courtesy name Dayou, was an imperial prince of the Western Jin dynasty of China. He was the second son of Sima Zhao, a regent of the Cao Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period, and Zhao's wife Wang Yuanji. ...

) all wanted him to divorce Guo Huai and welcome Li Wan back, but Guo Huai allegedly threw a fit and claimed to have a part in his contributions to the dynasty. Eventually the emperor intervened and personally permitted Jia Chong to have a left-hand wife and a right-hand wife.Mather, p. 372. (Jia Chong had been a loyal supporter of Sima Yan in his rise to power.) However, Jia Chong declined (because he feared Guo Huai's tantrums, so historians claim) and only built a villa for Li Wan outside of Luoyang and had no communication with her. Another account related how Guo Huai decided to pay Li Wan a visit in spite of Jia Chong's opposition. Dressed in her full regalia and taking a large retinue of attendants and slaves, she went outside of the city and strutted into Li Wan's residence. However, when Li Wan rose to greet her, Guo Huai was so awed by her charisma that she supposedly found her knees giving way and she knelt. When she returned, Jia Chong said something to the effect of "Told you!". After that, whenever Jia Chong went out, she sent someone to follow him to make sure he did not visit Li Wan.

Killing of wet nurses

Guo Huai bore Jia Chong two daughters,

and Jia Wu (), as well as two sons, supposedly victims of her own doing. Whether the following account is real or not cannot be ascertained. One day, when her first son Jia Limin () was still a toddler, Jia Chong returned home and caressed his son, who was being carried by his wet nurse. Guo Huai saw this and misinterpreted it as her husband having an affair with the wet nurse, so she whipped the wet nurse, killing her. Jia Limin was so distressed by his wet nurse's death that he fell sick and died. Guo Huai bore Jia Chong another (unnamed) son later, but the entire tragedy repeated itself when Guo Huai suspected her son's wet nurse of having an affair with her husband. Jia Chong had no son left to succeed him when he died in 282, and eventually Guo Huai changed the name of their grandson Han Mi (Jia Wu's son) to Jia Mi.

Marrying off daughter by bribing

In 271, Jia Chong desperately wanted to avoid a military assignment, so he decided to have one of his daughters to marry the developmentally disabled

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 ...

Sima Zhong Emperor Hui of Jin (; 260 - January 8, 307), personal name Sima Zhong (司馬衷), courtesy name Zhengdu (正度), was the second emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420). Emperor Hui was a developmental disability, developmentally disabled ruler, a ...

. The emperor initially rejected the idea, as he preferred

Wei Guan Wei Guan (220 – 25 July 291Although the exact day of Wei Guan's death was not recorded, Sima Zhong's biography in ''Book of Jin'' recorded that he was killed together with Sima Liang, who died on 25 July 291. 永平元年)六月，贾后矫 ...

's daughter, who was mild-tempered, beautiful, tall, and fair-skinned, as opposed to the Jia sisters, who were not only jealous like their mother, but also ugly, short, and dark-skinned. However, because Guo Huai was on friendly terms with

Empress Yang Yan Yang Yan (楊艷) (238 – August 25, 274), courtesy name Qiongzhi (瓊芝), formally Empress Wuyuan (武元皇后, "the martial and discerning empress") was an empress of the Jin dynasty (266–420). She was the first wife of Emperor Wu of Ji ...

, she bribed the empress and her associates so that all greatly praised the Jia sisters. Eventually, Emperor Wu agreed, and Jia Nanfeng became Sima Zhong's wife in 272. When Sima Zhong became the emperor in 290, he made Jia Nanfeng the empress, and Guo Huai became the Lady of Guangcheng and enjoyed great power. It was said that whenever Guo Huai passed by, the minister

Shi Chong Shi Chong () (249–300), courtesy name Jilun (季倫), was a Chinese politician of the Western Jin Dynasty. He was a son of situ Shi Bao (石苞). He was known for his luxurious lifestyle. Biography Shi Chong was the sixth son of situ Shi Ba ...

would stop and prostrate himself before her.Mather, p. 578.

Final years

As years went by, Empress Jia was increasingly taking advantage of her husband's mental disability and practically dominated the government. Worried, Guo Huai's nephew Pei Wei had convinced Guo Huai to advise her daughter to treat the crown prince

Sima Yu Sima or SIMA may refer to: People * Sima (Chinese surname) * Sima (given name), a Persian feminine name in use in Iran and Turkey * Sima (surname) Places * Sima, Comoros, on the island of Anjouan, near Madagascar * Sima de los Huesos, a caver ...

well. Sima Yu's mother Xie Jiu (), an imperial concubine, was considered by many to be a good replacement for the uncontrollable empress. Also sensing the danger, Guo Huai wanted Empress Jia to adopt Sima Yu as her own son, and she further advocated for the marriage between him and Jia Wu's daughter, but that was opposed by both her daughters and did not realize. After Guo Huai became terminally ill, her title changed to Lady of Yicheng which was suggested by a diviner. On her deathbed, she repeated her warning to Jia Nanfeng regarding Sima Yu. She was buried by the empress according to a ritual that far exceeded her position. The people were indignant but no one dared to speak out. (Eventually Jia Nanfeng had Sima Yu assassinated and in turn got herself killed, along with Jia Wu and Jia Mi, in a coup.)

Entombed stele

Guo Huai's entombed stone

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

was discovered in 1930 in

Pingle, Henan Pingle () is a town in Mengjin County, Luoyang, Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally mean ...

, northeast of Luoyang. Unlike her depiction by historians, the commemorative text on her tomb stele gives a flattering account and praises her intelligence, reverence, and frugality, among many other virtues. She was also described as a "unifier of lineages and one concerned with ritual propriety".

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guo Huai 237 births 296 deaths 3rd-century Chinese women 3rd-century Chinese people Jin dynasty (266–420) people