Empress Yang Zhi
| This article is part of the War of the Eight Princes series. |
|
|---|---|
| Eight Princes | |
| Sima Liang | |
| Sima Wei | |
| Sima Lun | |
| Sima Jiong | |
| Sima Ai | |
| Sima Ying | |
| Sima Yong | |
| Sima Yue | |
| Other key figures | |
| Emperor Hui | |
| Emperor Huai | |
| Empress Yang Zhi | |
| Jia Nanfeng | |
| Yang Xianrong | |
| Sima Yu | |
| Yang Jun | |
| Wei Guan | |
| Zhang Hua |
Empress Yang Zhi (楊芷) (259–292), courtesy name Jilan (季蘭), nickname Nanyin (男胤), formally Empress Wudao (武悼皇后, literally "the martial and fearful empress") was an empress of Jin Dynasty (265–420). She was Emperor Wu's second wife and cousin to his first wife, Empress Yang Yan.
Not much is known about Yang Zhi's life before she married Emperor Wu. Before Empress Yang Yan died in 274, she was fearful that whoever became empress next would undermine her developmentally-disabled son Crown Prince Zhong's position as crown prince, and therefore she asked Emperor Wu to marry her cousin Yang Zhi after her death. Emperor Wu agreed and, in 276, married Yang Zhi and created her empress. Her father Yang Jun became a key official in the administration and became extremely arrogant.
The new Empress Yang herself was described as beautiful and virtuous and favored by her husband (who, however, also had upwards of 10,000 concubines). She bore him a son, Sima Hui (司馬恢), in 283, but Prince Hui died in 284. She did not bear him other children afterwards. After Emperor Wu conquered Eastern Wu in 280, he became largely obsessed with feasting and women, and tired of handling important matters of state. Empress Yang's father Yang Jun and her uncles Yang Yao (楊珧) and Yang Ji (楊濟) became those who made actual decisions and became very powerful.
Empress Yang was instrumental in keeping Crown Prince Zhong's wife Crown Princess Jia Nanfeng from being deposed, as Princess Jia was jealous and violent. After several of the crown prince's concubines became pregnant, Princess Jia personally had them killed. When Emperor Wu heard about this, he was angry and wanted to depose the crown princess, but Empress Yang persuaded him to remember the crown princess' father Jia Chong's contribution to the establishment of Jin. She also rebuked the crown princess to try to rein in her behavior—but the crown princess, not knowing that the empress had persuaded the emperor not to depose her, bore a grudge against the empress as a result.
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Wikipedia