Yang Yan (楊艷) (238 – August 25, 274),

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 ...

Qiongzhi (瓊芝), formally Empress Wuyuan (武元皇后, "the martial and discerning empress") 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

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 ...

. She was the first wife of Emperor Wu.

Early life and marriage to Sima Yan

Yang Yan was the daughter of Yang Wenzong (楊文宗), a marquess during the reign of

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

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

, and his wife Lady Zhao. Her mother died early, probably when she was still in infancy, and she was initially raised by her maternal uncle and aunt (who breastfed her). After she grew older, she was raised by her stepmother Lady Duan. By this time, her father, who is said to have also died early, was probably dead. When she was young, she was described as intelligent, studious and beautiful. A fortune teller once foretold that she would have an extraordinary honour, and it was said that when the Cao Wei regent

Sima Zhao Sima Zhao () (211 – 6 September 265), courtesy name Zishang, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Sima Zhao capably maintained control of Wei, which had been ...

heard this, he took her and married her to his son Sima Yan. She had three sons and three daughters with her husband. After Sima Zhao's death in 265, Sima Yan inherited his father's position and soon forced the Cao Wei emperor

Cao Huan Cao Huan () (245/246–302/303), courtesy name Jingming, was the fifth and last emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. On 4 February 266, he abdicated the throne in favour of Sima Yan (later Emperor Wu of the Jin dyn ...

to abdicate in favour of him. This action ended the state of Cao Wei and Sima Yan established the Jin dynasty (as Emperor Wu). In 266, he created Yang Yan as empress.

As empress

Empress Yang's oldest son, Sima Gui (司馬軌), died whilst a child, making her second son, Sima Zhong the legitimate heir, by traditional succession laws. However, Emperor Wu hesitated about selecting him as

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 ...

because he was

developmentally disabled Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

. Empress Yang was instrumental in persuading him to have her son designated crown prince anyway, arguing that tradition should not be abandoned easily. She was also instrumental in her son's selection of a wife, as Emperor Wu initially favoured

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, but Empress Yang, friendly with

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 ...

's wife Lady Yang, praised Jia's daughter

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 ...

greatly, leading to Jia Nanfeng's selection as crown princess. In 273, when Emperor Wu was seeking beautiful women to serve as his concubines, he initially put Empress Yang in charge of the selection process. She preferred those women with slender bodies and fair skin, but did not favour those with beautiful faces. She also left off the list a beauty named Bian, whom Emperor Wu favoured, stating that since the Bians have served as empresses for three generations of Cao Wei rulers (

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

's wife Princess Bian, Cao Mao's

and

) that it would be too degrading for her to be a concubine. This decision displeased Emperor Wu, so he took over the selection process. Despite this and her husband's obsession with accumulating concubines, they appeared to have had a genuine and continuing affection for each other. In 274, Empress Yang grew ill. She became concerned that whoever would be empress next (she was particularly concerned about Consort Hu Fen (胡芬), whom Emperor Wu greatly favoured) would not support her son. She therefore asked Emperor Wu to marry her cousin Yang Zhi. Emperor Wu, distressed over her illness, agreed. She died soon thereafter and was buried with honours due an empress in the tomb that her husband was eventually buried at when he died in 290. Concubine

Zuo Fen Zuo Fen (; c. 255–300) was a Chinese woman poet of the Western Jin dynasty. Life Zuo Fen was born in Linzi prefecture to a family of Confucian scholars. Her mother died young, but her father, Zuo Yong, became an imperial official in charge ...

wrote a long song of mourning in her honour. In 276, based on his promise to her, the emperor married Yang Zhi and created her empress.

Notes

Sources

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang Yan, Empress 238 births 274 deaths Jin dynasty (266–420) empresses 3rd-century Chinese women 3rd-century Chinese people