Princess Dowager Yin (尹太后, personal name unknown) was a princess dowager 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 ...

state Western Liáng. She was the mother of its second duke, Li Xin and the second wife of its founder

Li Gao Li Gao or Li Hao (; 351–417), courtesy name Xuansheng (), nickname Changsheng (), formally Prince Wuzhao of (Western) Liang (), was the founding duke of the Han Chinese state Western Liang. (While he claimed only the title of duke during his r ...

(Prince Wuzhao), who was posthumously honored by Li Xin as a prince, and therefore Lady Yin was honored as a princess dowager even though her husband never carried the princely title while alive.

Background

The family of future Princess Dowager Yin was originally from

Tianshui Tianshui is the second-largest cities in Gansu, city in Gansu list of Chinese provinces, Province, China. The city is located in the southeast of the province, along the upper reaches of the Wei River and at the boundary of the Loess Plateau and ...

. She was said to be studious, capable of speaking, ambitious, and virtuous in her young age. She initially married one Ma Yuanzheng (馬元正), whose family was from

Fufeng Fufeng County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Baoji, in the west-central part of Shaanxi Province, China. The county lies in the fertile Guanzhong Plain on the north bank of the Wei River between Xi'an, to ...

(扶風, roughly modern

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

). (It was likely, though, by the time that she married Ma, both of their families had settled in the

Hexi Corridor The Hexi Corridor (, Xiao'erjing: حْسِ ظِوْلاْ, IPA: ), also known as the Gansu Corridor, is an important historical region located in the modern western Gansu province of China. It refers to a narrow stretch of traversable and relativ ...

.) After Ma died, she married

as his second wife, and it was said that because this was her second marriage, she spent three years not speaking. She raised his first wife's children as if they were her own, and it was said that she had much contributions in Li Gao's career and founding of Western Liang in 400. Therefore, a common saying at the time was, "Li and Yin rule

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...

."''

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 ...

'', vol. 96. However, there is no historical record as to whether she carried any titles during Li Gao's reign.

As princess dowager

After her husband died in 417, Lady Yin was honored as princess dowager.''

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 ...

'', vol. 118. She was described as wise and full of composure, and she tried in vain to stop her son Li Xin from attacking rival

Northern Liang The Northern Liang (; 397–439) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was ruled by the Juqu family of Lushuihu origin (a branch of the Xiongnu). Although Duan Ye of Han ethnicity was initially enthroned as the Northern Liang ...

in 420—an attack that was induced by a trap set by Northern Liang's prince

Juqu Mengxun Juqu Mengxun (; 368–433) was a king of the Xiongnu-led Chinese Northern Liang dynasty, and the first from the Juqu clan. His cousin Juqu Nancheng (沮渠男成) and he initially supported Duan Ye as prince of Northern Liang in 397 after rebelli ...

. She pointed out that a small country such as theirs should first strive to become strong and they would not be able to defeat as strong a state as that of Juqu Mengxun. Li Xin was defeated and killed by Juqu Mengxun, and Western Liang's capital Jiuquan (酒泉, in modern

Jiuquan Jiuquan, formerly known as Suzhou, is a prefecture-level city in the northwesternmost part of Gansu Province in the People's Republic of China. It is more than wide from east to west, occupying , although its built-up area is mostly located in ...

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

) fell. Princess Dowager Yin was captured, but she maintained her dignity and did not plead with Juqu Mengxun for her life or mourn her son's death. Juqu Mengxun praised her and had his son

Juqu Mujian Juqu Mujian (; before 420 – 447), named Juqu Maoqian (沮渠茂虔) in some sources, formally Prince Ai of Hexi (河西哀王), was a king of the Xiongnu-led Northern Liang dynasty of China—with most Chinese historians considering him the last ...

marry her daughter Li Jingshou. After Juqu Mujian succeeded Juqu Mengxun in 433, Lady Li became princess, but in 437, Juqu Mujian was forced to divorce her and marry

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 ...

Princess Wuwei Princess Tuoba also known by her Dynasty of Northern Wei (386 to 534/535) title Princess Wuwei (武威公主), was the daughter of Emperor Mingyuan of Northern Wei and who later was a princess of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Northern Liang. Her hu ...

, sister to Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu. Princess Li died soon thereafter, and after Princess Li's death, Princess Dowager Yin had been sent to live in

. Before the commander of the garrison there, she feigned disinterest in going to Yiwu (伊吾, in modern

Hami Prefecture Hami (Kumul) is a prefecture-level city in Eastern Xinjiang, China. It is well known as the home of sweet Hami melons. In early 2016, the former Hami county-level city was merged with Hami Prefecture to form the Hami prefecture-level city with t ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

), where some of her grandsons had fled. When the guard around her relaxed, she secretly fled and she lived out her years in Yiwu,''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 123. dying at the age of 74.

Notes

References

* * ''

'', vols. 87, 96. * ''

'', vols.

118 118 may refer to: *118 (number) *AD 118 *118 BC *118 (TV series) *118 (film) *118 (Tees) Corps Engineer Regiment *118 (Tees) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers See also *11/8 (disambiguation) *Oganesson Oganesson is a synthetic chemical element wi ...

119 119 may refer to: * 119 (number), a natural number * 119 (emergency telephone number) * AD 119, a year in the 2nd century AD * 119 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 119 (album), 2012 * 119 (NCT song) *119 (Show Me the Money song) * 119 (film), a ...

123 123 may refer to: * The first three positive Arabic numerals * 123 (number), the natural number following 122 and preceding 124 * AD 123, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century AD * 123 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar En ...

. * ''

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 ...

'', vol. 99. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yin, Princess Dowager 4th-century births 5th-century deaths Western Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms) people Northern Liang people Sixteen Kingdoms nobility 4th-century Chinese women 5th-century Chinese women 4th-century Chinese people 5th-century Chinese people