Yang Lihua
| Yang Lihua | |
|---|---|
| Princess Leping 樂平公主 (586–609) prev. Great Empress Tianyuan 天元大皇后 (578–579) |
|
| Born | 561 |
| Died | 609 (aged 47–48) |
| Spouse | Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou |
| Issue | Princess Yuwen Eying, Duchess of Guangzong |
| Father | Emperor Wen of Sui |
| Mother | Empress Dugu |
Yang Lihua (Chinese: 楊麗華; 561–609) was an empress of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou, and later a princess of Sui Dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou (Yuwen Yun), and her father was Emperor Wen of Sui (Yang Jian).
Yang Lihua was born in 561, as the oldest child of Yang Jian, then the heir apparent to Yang Zhong (楊忠) the Duke of Sui, and Yang Jian's wife Dugu Qieluo. In 568, her grandfather Yang Zhong died, and her father Yang Jian inherited the title of Duke of Sui. In fall 573, Emperor Wu took her as the wife to Yuwen Yun, then his crown prince, and she thereafter carried the title of crown princess. He was 14 and she was 12. In summer 578, Emperor Wu died, and Yuwen Yun took the throne (as Emperor Xuan). He created her empress. (She bore him no sons and one daughter, Yuwen Eying (宇文娥英), although Yuwen Eying's birth year is not clear.)
Emperor Xuan was excessive and erratic in his behavior, and less than a year after taking the throne, in spring 579, he formally passed the throne to his son Yuwen Chan (as Emperor Jing), born of his concubine Consort Zhu Manyue. He took an atypical title for a retired emperor -- "Emperor Tianyuan" (天元皇帝, Tianyuan Huangdi). She thereafter took the title of "Empress Tianyuan" (天元皇后, Tianyuan Huanghou). However, as part of his unusual behavior, he soon decided that he would create four empresses, so he created three of his concubines—Consort Zhu, Consort Chen Yueyi, and Consort Yuan Leshang—empress titles as well, but different from Empress Yang's to distinguish them. (Empress Zhu was Tianyuan Di Hou (天元帝后); Empress Chen was Tian Zhuo Huanghou (天左皇后); and Empress Yuan was Tian You Huanghou (天右皇后).) However, Empress Yang continued to be recognized as the most honored among his empresses. (He later added one more empress, Empress Yuchi Chifan.) In spring 580, he added Da (大, "great") to the empresses' titles, and therefore Empress Yang's title was changed to Tianyuan Da Huanghou (天元大皇后).
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