Pan Yunu (; died 501) ， Pan Yu'er (), or Yu Nizi（俞妮子），was an imperial consort during 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 ...

dynasty

Southern Qi Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succeede ...

. She was 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 ...

Xiao Baojuan Xiao Baojuan (蕭寶卷) (483–501), né Xiao Mingxian (蕭明賢), commonly known by his posthumously demoted title of Marquess of DonghunThe term "Donghun" (東昏) does not denote a place, but a derogatory description of Xiao Baojuan. Historica ...

. During his reign, she carried the title ''Guifei'' (貴妃) -- a rank that was higher than the usual ranks for imperial concubines, and she was therefore also often referred to as Pan Guifei or Pan Fei (). Consort Pan was described to be exceedingly beautiful, and Xiao Baojuan much favored her. She was described to be so elegant in her walking that Xiao Baojuan made tiles of lotus patterns with gold and her walk on it, praising her walk as "each step there is a lotus." Her father Pan Baoqing (潘寶慶), a commoner, was referred to by Xiao Baojuan as ''Azhang'' (阿丈), roughly translatable as "honored uncle," and he often took his attendants to Pan Baoqing's house, assisting him in many household chores. Pan Baoqing took this opportunity to be corrupt, and he often falsely accused rich families of crimes, in order to have them executed and their properties seized and given to him, often killing the families' entire male lines. Xiao Baojuan was a violent ruler who executed officials whimsically, and this eventually drew a number of rebellions, the last of which, by the general

Xiao Yan Emperor Wu of Liang () (464 – 12 June 549), personal name Xiao Yan (蕭衍), courtesy name Shuda (叔達), childhood name Lian'er (練兒), was the founding emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty, during the Northern and Southern dynasties perio ...

, overthrew him, as he was assassinated within the capital

Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Chen dynasty (557–589 CE). Its walls ...

in 501 as Xiao Yan sieged it. Once Xiao Yan entered the capital, he had Xiao Baojuan posthumously demoted to the title of Marquess of Donghun. Initially, he wanted to take Consort Pan as his own concubine, but his general Wang Mao (王茂) advised against it, arguing that she should be considered responsible for Xiao Baojuan's destruction. Xiao Yan therefore ordered her executed by strangulation. Some believe that Pan Yunu started the Chinese tradition of

foot binding Foot binding, or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls in order to change their shape and size. Feet altered by footbinding were known as lotus feet, and the shoes made for these feet were kno ...

, but there is no evidence that she had ever bound her feet. Her story appears to be inspiration for the character of

Pan Jinlian Pan Jinlian () is a fictional character in the 17th-century Chinese novel ''Jin Ping Mei'' (''The Plum in the Golden Vase)'', and a minor character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. She is an arch ...

, a key character in the novels ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is s ...

'' and ''

Jin Ping Mei ''Jin Ping Mei'' () — translated into English as ''The Plum in the Golden Vase'' or ''The Golden Lotus'' — is a Chinese novel of manners composed in vernacular Chinese during the latter half of the 16th century during the late Ming dynasty ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pan Yunu, Consort Southern Qi people 501 deaths Chinese imperial consorts Year of birth unknown Executed Chinese women