Dugu Qieluo
| Dugu Qieluo | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress consort of the Sui Dynasty | |||||||||
| Tenure | 4 March 581 – 10 September 602 | ||||||||
| Born | 544 | ||||||||
| Died | 10 September 602 | ||||||||
| Spouse | Emperor Wen of Sui | ||||||||
| Issue |
Yang Lihua, Empress Tianyuan of Northern Zhou Yang Yong, Prince Fangling Yang Guang, Emperor Yang Yang Jun, Prince Xiao of Qin Yang Xiu, Prince of Shu Yang Awu, Princess Lanling Yang Liang, Prince of Han Princess Xiangguo Princess Guangping Princess Wanan, Duchess of Chen |
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| Father | General Dugu Xin | ||||||||
| Mother | Lady Cui | ||||||||
| Full name | |
|---|---|
| Dugu Qieluo 獨孤伽羅 | |
| Posthumous name | |
| Empress Wenxian 文獻皇后 |
Dugu Qieluo (Chinese: 獨孤伽羅; 544 – September 10, 602), formally Empress Wenxian (文獻皇后), was an empress of the Chinese Sui dynasty. She was the wife of Emperor Wen, who, on account of his love and respect for her, as well as an oath they made while they were young, did not have any concubines for at least most of their marriage and might not have had any concubines while she was alive, an extreme rarity among Chinese emperors. She was powerful and influential during her husband's reign, and she was heavily involved in his decision to divert the order of succession from their oldest son Yang Yong to the second son Yang Guang (later Emperor Yang), often blamed by traditional historians to be the reason for Sui's downfall.
Dugu Qieluo was born in 544, as the seventh daughter of the Western Wei general Dugu Xin (獨孤信), who was of Xianbei ethnicity (or Xianbeinized Xiongnu); his mother, Lady Cui (崔氏), was Han Chinese. In 557, shortly after Western Wei was succeeded by Northern Zhou, Dugu Xin, who was impressed with Yang Jian, the son of his subordinate general Yang Zhong (楊忠), married her to Yang Jian as his wife. She was 13, and he was 16. Shortly thereafter, Dugu Xin became implicated in a plot organized by the general Zhao Gui (趙貴) against the regent Yuwen Hu, and Yuwen Hu forced Dugu Xin to commit suicide. Yang Jian and Lady Dugu loved each other dearly, and it was when they were both young that he swore an oath that he would never let another woman have his children. They ended up having five sons and five daughters. In 568, after Yang Zhong's death, Yang Jian inherited the title of Duke of Sui, and Lady Dugu thereafter presumably carried the title of Duchess of Sui.
Duchess Dugu was one of the most honored women at the Northern Zhou court, as her sister was the wife of Emperor Ming, and her daughter Yang Lihua was the wife and empress of Emperor Xuan. Despite her honored status, however, she was said to be humble. On one occasion, when the erratic Emperor Xuan was angry with Empress Yang and ordered her to commit suicide, Duchess Dugu found out and went into the palace, earnestly begging Emperor Xuan's forgiveness. Emperor Xuan relented and spared Empress Yang.
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