HISTORY 3501C Alien Dynasties: Ethnicity and Women

1
HISTORY 3501C Alien DynastiesEthnicity and
Women

• Background
• Readings
• Barfield, Thomas, The Perilous Frontier, Ch. 1,
  Introduction, pp. 1-8 16-28
• OR
• Sinor, Denis, Cambridge History of Early Asia,
  Ch. 2, pp19-40
• OR
• Pulleyblank, Edwin G., Central Asia and
  Non-Chinese Peoples of Ancient China, Part IV,
  411-466.

2
Background

• The Study of History
• The Writing of History
• Ethnicity
• Ethnic Groups in Early China
• Central Asia The Geography of Central Asia
• The Peoples of Central Asia
• Alien Dynasties in China
• Alien Rule in China
• Contrasting Han and non-Han Practices
• Empire Building
• Succession
• Marriage
• Imperial women and Levirate

3
The Study of History

• The study of history is based on
• Archaeology Skeletons and artifacts found in
  archaeological diggings such as writings on
  bronze vessels and oracle bones.
• Records Compilations, made by historians, of
  records previously available on bamboo and/or
  silk but have since rotted or burned in wars in
  ancient times.
• Languages spoken by different groups.
• DNA (The Genographic Project, launched in April
  2005, a five-year US40 million genetic
  anthropology study to map historical human
  migration patterns by collecting and analyzing
  DNA samples from over 100,000 persons across five
  continents).
• Field researchers collects DNA samples from
  indigenous populations (???)but the project also
  allows for public participation.
• For US100 (in 2005) anyone can order a
  self-testing kit and send a mouth scraping
  (saliva swab) to National Geographic for testing.
• Already, evidence from genetics and archaeology
  places the origin of modern humans (Homo sapiens)
  in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago.
• (https//www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/i
  ndex.html)

4
The Study of History (2)

• Map shows first migratory routes taken by humans,
  based on surveys of different types of the male Y
  chromosome. "Adam" represents the common ancestor
  from which all Y chromosomes descended.

5
The Writing of History

• An official history of a dynasty in China was
  written under the watchful eye of the new
  dynasty.
• The finished text represents an abbreviated
  edition of records of the previous dynasty
  written under the rule of a subsequent dynasty.
• The finished work had to be approved by the
  Court.
• Since the new dynasty had to justify their
  takeover, the last ruling emperors of the
  previous dynasty is always featured as immoral.
• The histories were written by persons in working
  committees over a long period of time.
• These committees coordinated the documents to be
  used and decided on what to use and what to
  eliminate.
• The text, when published, bears the name of the
  head of the last editing committee.
• Historians did not falsify documents but they
  could not be completely objective as many of the
  powerful persons they were writing about were
  still living and may even be their relatives.

6
The Writing of History (2)

• When we study pre-modern Chinese history, we are
  prisoners of historical records and must work
  from an incomplete record as many records have
  been destroyed during the wars over the past
  2,000 years.
• What we learn about Central Asians are from the
  histories written by their enemies the Chinese,
  the Greeks, and the Romans as the nomads had no
  writing and so left no history of themselves,.
• The Chinese wrote extensively about the nomads in
  every dynastic history.
• These settled communities were only interested in
  the barbarians who threatened them and so wrote
  little of other nomadic groups.
• Historians are primarily interested in matters of
  government and principles of good government so
  records were limited to these aspects.
• Chinese historians were Confucians who believed
  that history should provide lessons of
  instruction and so materials were chosen to show
  examples of good practices and bad practices.
• Therefore, when women were mentioned they were
  referred to either as models of virtue or as
  causes of disaster.
• The public are then only familiar with
  controversial figures such as Empresses Lü of the
  Han, Wu of the Tang, and Cixi of the Qing.
• In this course, you will be introduced to great
  female regents who played important roles in
  Chinese histories.

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The Writing of History (3) Women

• Imperial women can be studied using the following
  types of materials
• Biographies of women in dynastic histories
• Biographies of the emperors they were married to
• Biographies of their children in dynastic
  histories
• Biographies of their relatives in dynastic
  histories
• Biographies of significant individuals mentioned
  in the womens biographies
• Significant events in their lives
• Their eulogies/epitaphs written by well known
  persons
• In memorials to the emperors
• In Edicts from the emperors
• In dictionaries about imperials women
• In writings and epitaphs about their relatives
  Waiqi Zhuan
• In writings about them such as Houfei zhuan
  beware of value judgments books without
  footnotes

8
Ethnicity

• Two basic understandings of ethnicity can be
  distinguished in Western social sciences
• 1. ethnic identity in group membership is based
  on shared cultural traditions such as language
  and collective memory of common ancestry,
  religion and other values
• 2. circumstantial ethnicity where ethnic
  identity and group solidarity come from
  social circumstances relevant to its collective
  interests, particularly to its socioeconomic
  position and political influence in the larger
  society.
• 1. An ethnic group is a distinct group of
  population with its own culture.
• It is also a social group.
• The members feel themselves, or are thought by
  others to be, bound together by common ties of
  race and culture.
• Individuals share aspects, such as social,
  political, cultural, religious, ethnic for
  their identity.

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Ethnicity (2)

• 2. Circumstantial ethnicity
• The emergence of ethnic identity and group
  solidarity are seen as the outcome of individual
  or collective choices.
• An individuals alliance to any of these groups
  can change.
• Some of these groups may also vanish in the time.
• Boundaries between groups are fluid and
  changeable.
• Nomadic groups would gather together under a
  charismatic leader and be considered as Xiongnu,
  Xianbei, Mongols, Manchus depending on the
  ethnic identity of the majority of the group and
  the ethnic identity of the leader.
• Example Ethnic groups in US are
  African-American, Hispanic, Asians, etc.
• Each group or sub-group has its own language,
  food, culture and values Asian Americans can be
  further divided into Chinese, Japanese, Koreans,
  Indians, etc.

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Ethnic Groups in Early China

• The Chinese themselves were made up of
  sinicized/sinified ethnic groups -
• Shang Dynasty ? or Yin Dynasty ? 1766-1121 BC
  (644 years) is the first historic Chinese
  dynasty but the people are thought to have spoken
  a different language and may not have been of Han
  origin.
• The Zhou came out of Rong ? territories and so
  may not be Chinese the two most prestigious
  names of the Zhou were Ji ? and Qiang ? and they
  were also names of the Rong (Ji was the name of
  the royal house of Zhou and Qiang was the clan
  from whom the Zhou royal house got its brides).
• Mencius referred to King Wen as a Western
  Barbarian (??)?
• The Yangzi valley and eastern Sichuan belonged to
  the Man ? barbarians and Chu ? (originally Man)
  became a sinicized state in the Spring and Autumn
  chunqiu ?? Period.
• The Chinese (Han) were also surrounded by peoples
  with whom they were in conflict and who were seen
  by the Chinese as inferior and whom the Chinese
  called barbarians.
• To the north there were

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Ethnic Groups in Early China (2)

• The proto-Mongol (Eastern Hu ??) and possibly
  other Hu groups who were farther west known to
  the Chinese only from the 4th century BC.
• The proto-Turkish tribes such as the Dingling
  ??,of southern Siberia were known only from Han
  times.
• The Di ? of Shansi could also have been Altaic
  or Tibeto-Burman.
• proto-beginning, original
• Altaic Turkic, Mongolian and Manchu-Tungus
  (Tangus is a group of 10 to 17 languages spoken
  by people scattered across a region that
  stretches from northern China to the northern
  boundary of Russia).

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Ethnic Groups in Early China (3)

• At the beginning of the 2nd Century BC, the oases
  of northern and eastern Sinjiang were occupied by
  nomads, the Yuezhi ?? and Wusun ?? were
  Indo-European language speakers.
• .The Yuezhi ?? was a major nomadic power at the
  beginning of the 2nd Century BC but after they
  were defeated by the Xiongnu, part of their
  tribe, the Greater Yuezhi, moved west and
  occupied Sogdiana (present Uzbekistan) and into
  Bactria (northern Afganistan) and formed the
  Kushan empire.
• The Dingling were Turkic speakers and appeared
  periodically in Han sources as a people to the
  north of the Xiongnu, in the region of Lake
  Baikal in southern Siberia.

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Ethnic Groups in Early China (4)

• The Xiongnu ?? came into contact with the Chinese
  only in 3rd Century BC and became a great power
  at the time of the Han under a leader named Mao
  Dun.
• He was given a Han princess as a wife by the
  founding emperor of the Han dynasty.
• After the death of the emperor, Mao Dun asked for
  the hand of the widow Empress Lü saying that in
  doing so the two empires can be joined together.
• The Dingling entered north China in the Later Han
  as part of the Southern Xiongnu and preserved
  some degree of separate identity there under this
  name as late as the 5th Century.
• The Dingling might be the ancestors of groups
  such as the Hui (Uyghurs) and the Kyrgyz of
  Krygyzstan.
• They reappeared from the 4th Century on as the
  Gaoche (High Carts ??) referring to their
  wagons with very large wheels.
• The Turks suddenly appeared in the middle of the
  6th Century when they replaced the Rouran as
  masters of Mongolia and established their empire
  in the Eurasian steppes.

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Central Asia/Central Asia The Geography
15
Geography the Tundra

• The Tundra is an Arctic wasteland with plants
  that are mostly moss, dwarf shrubs, and berry
  carrying bushes.
• Its climate is bitterly cold with the
  temperatures during the long winter at -100F the
  summers are short and cool with average July
  temperature less than 60F.
• Strong arctic winds often sweep across the
  unprotected landscapes.
• The soil is often frozen and there is deep snow
  cover in many areas.
• It is close to the Arctic and this contributes to
  a high frequency of clouds and fogs over the
  land.
• The reindeer is the dominant animal.

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Geography Forest Zone

• The coniferous evergreen forests form the
  most extensive tree cover.
• This area has a sub-arctic climate with long
  winters average January temperatures ranging
  from -40F in the north to 14F in the south.
• Brief, cool summers, with a fairly uniform July
  average temperature of about 65F.
• The southern part are mixed forest as in
  northeastern Manchuria.
• In addition to reindeers there are many kinds of
  large animals, including elk, deer, bear and lynx
  as well as tigers in the southern parts of
  Siberia and Manchuria.

17
Geography Steppe Zones

• The typical landscape consists of meadow steppes
  a broad belt of grasslands from north of the
  Black Sea to the plains of Manchuria.
• The western steppe include the Ukraine, the
  northern Caucuses and southern Urals and the
  Kirgiz steppe.
• The eastern steppes includes the extensive
  grasslands in the eastern and central areas of
  Mongolia and the Manchurian prairies.
• The winters are cold and dry and the summers are
  moderately warm.
• Dry air masses come into the steppe lands during
  the prolonged winter and bring average January
  temperature to -10F and 10F.
• The most severe winters are in Mongolia because
  of its interior location and mountain borders
  January temperature at Urumuchi, of -17F and at
  Harbin it drops down to -4F. For both areas, the
  average number of sub-freezing months is 5.
• Summers are warm with a July temperature between
  65-75F.

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Geography Desert Zone

• The Gobi merges into the Ala Shan Desert, north
  of the Gansu Corridor and the Ordos Desert,
  located in the bend of the Yellow River north of
  the Great Wall.
• The western part of the Ala Shan is known as the
  Little Gobi.
• The Ordos is vast and largely bare of vegetation.
• There are major corridors of movement through
  them and have been used intensively.
• The winters are short and only about one or two
  months in the southern areas where the average
  temperatures are below freezing.
• Summers are hot with a mean July temperature over
  85F.
• In the south the temperatures sometimes rise as
  high as 120F.

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The Peoples of Central Asia

• The Migratory cycle of Central Asian nomads had
  four seasonal components due to the climate of
  the region.
• The winter was the harshest season and the
  location of the winter camp was critical as it
  had to provide shelter from the wind and
  sufficient pasture for the animals.
• In the spring, they moved into the grasslands
  where the spring rains have helped the grass grow
  and the melted snow provided drinking water.
• They moved to the summer pastures when the spring
  grass dried and the pools of water evaporated
  there they would find a second spring.
• The summer camp would be abandoned at the onset
  of cold weather when the nomads returned to their
  winter quarters.

20
The Peoples of Central Asia (2)

• It is possible to study the long-term relations
  between China and its northern neighbors because
  there is always a detailed chapter on the foreign
  peoples along Chinas northern frontiers.
• The record is biased by the negative attitudes
  about these people held by Confucian scholars who
  compiled the histories.
• The histories of foreign dynasties in China
  provide even more information since the rulers
  originated in the frontier areas.
• The history often present the nomads as
  subservient to China and say that they pay
  tribute, present homage, or send hostages.
• China would send rich return gifts which were
  often payments of large bribes to the nomads in
  order to appease them.

21
Alien Dynasties in China

• For about half of recorded history, China had
  been ruled either in part or wholly by peoples of
  non-Han origin.
• Conquests by non-Chinese nomadic groups can be
  divided into
• The nomads conquered China as a whole, or
• The nomads took only North China, leaving the
  South under Han rule.
• All nomadic empires before the Mongols were only
  able to conquer the north.
• Only the Mongols (Yuan) and the Manchus (Qing)
  were able to conquer all of China.
• Yan dynasties (Xianbei) (285-437)
• Sixteen States era (316-399)
• 3 different Xiongnu kingdoms
• 5 different Xianbei kingdoms
• 5 different Jie/Di/Qiang dynasties
• 1 Korean (adopted by Xianbei and considered Han)
  (2 Han)

22
Alien Dynasties in China (2)

• Northern Dynasties (Xianbei) (399-581)
• Northern Wei
• Northern Qi
• Northern Zhou
• Sui (Xianbei) (581-617)
• Tang (Mixed) (618-906)
• Liao (Qidan) (907-1125)
• Xi Xia (Tanguts) (c.982-1227)
• Five Dynasties Era
• Later Tang (Turk)     (923-936)
• Later Jin (Turk)        (936-948)
• Later Han (Turk)        (946-950)
• 2 others were Han
• Jin (Jurchen) (1115-1234)
• Yuan (Mongol) (1260-1368)
• Qing (Manchu) (1644-1911)

23
Alien Dynasties in China (3)

• There were three basic types of foreign
  dynasties
• Steppe nomads
• Conservative Manchurian frontier states from the
  northeast
• Aggressive Manchurian frontier states founded by
  the leaders of wild tribes, who came either from
  the forest or the steppe.
• Steppe nomads -- Sixteen Kingdoms Period
• Were situated on Chinas northern frontier,
• Used their tribal military organization to become
  rulers of large parts of north China.
• Fought with the Chinese warlords and formed the
  first foreign dynasties in China.
• Fought against each other.
• Unable to provide stable administration
• Had difficulty in resolving the conflicts of
  being both tribal and Chinese-style rulers these
  problems led to their swift collapse.

24
Alien Dynasties in China (4) Conservative
Manchurian frontier states

• Conservative Manchurian frontier states from the
  northeast -- Northern and Southern Dynasties
  Period
• Began their history as small kingdoms combining
  steppe nomads, forest tribes and Chinese rural
  and urban dwellers.
• The Manchurian states moved into China after the
  collapse of the steppe dynasties.
• Had dual administrations, one branch staffed by
  tribesmen, in charge of tribal affairs and war
  while the other branch, staffed by Chinese
  bureaucrats, handled civil affairs.
• Administration under the control of the emperor
  who used Chinese rule to weaken tribal autonomy
  and tribal military organizations to prevent
  rebellion (this type of management took decades
  to develop and could only occur in areas away
  from the major battle zones).

25
Alien Dynasties in China (5) Aggressive
Manchurian frontier states

• Aggressive Manchurian frontier states -- Yuan and
  Qing
• These were founded by those who came either from
  the forest or the steppe.
• Originally they were frontier clients of the
  conservative Manchurian states.
• They took advantage of the weaknesses of the
  conservative Manchurian states to displace them
  and begin an aggressive policy of expansion to
  bring all of north China under their rule.
• They used both the dual organization and
  incorporated most of the old ruling class into
  the new political order.

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Alien Rule in China

• The alien dynasties
• Employed Han officials for government services
  but resisted sinicization.
• Retained control by dual administration but
  appointments of high positions went to tribal
  relatives or allies.
• Developed their own writing systems bilingual
  and multi-cultural.
• Adopted Chinese practices but Chinese
  civilization also changed over time as they
  absorbed foreign elements and so the concept of
  Chineseness is broadened.
• Chinese historians have all seen these non-Han
  rulers as legitimate Sons of Heaven.
• Most of the officials believed in two important
  elements in the legitimacy of a dynasty
• Being virtuous
• Ruling China as a unified empire
• The quality of their governance is judged from a
  pragmatic point of view with little reference to
  the ethnic factor.
• Their ethnic identities are not highlighted nor
  are they hidden.

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Alien Rule in China (4)

• While the Chinese accepted foreign rule, there
  were power struggles between the Chinese and the
  tribal leaders and racial hatred was a problem
  for the emperor.
• As the emperor felt more secure he usually
  preferred to adopt the Chinese system of
  government as it allowed him to
• Centralize power,
• Control succession, and
• Gain the acceptance of the majority of his
  subjects who are Chinese.
• This, most often, would lead to rebellion of the
  tribal leaders who see the erosion of their
  powers.
• The successful non-Han emperor tried to rule his
  multi-cultural people differently -- being
  sensitive to their tribal traditions.
• The most successful non-Han rule was the Qing
  dynasty who was identified as the ruler of five
  peoples Manchus, Mongols, Tibetans, Uyghurs and
  Chinese.
• These five languages were accepted as the
  official languages of the Qing.

28
Contrasting Han and Non-Han Empire Building

• Non-Han
• Conquests
• Sixteen Kingdoms Period
• Northern Wei
• Yuan
• Qing
• Marriage Alliances
• Northern Qi

• Han
• Rebellions
• Han and Ming
• Usurpations
• Xin during the Han
• Jin during the Three Kingdoms Period
• Southern Dynasties

29
Empire Building through Marriage Alliances

• Empire Building through Marriage Alliances-- an
  example, the Northern Qi
• Gao Huans first wife, Lou, had given him the
  initial money to get started.
• Lady Erzhu gave him claim to the Erzhu forces and
  territories.
• Lady Li gave him some access to the Chinese
  official class.
• Lady Cheng gave him contacts with clans who had
  held important posts during ED Lings rule.
• Lady Feng gave him access to the Feng clan which
  had dominated the Northern Wei rule for many
  years.
• Lady Yu gave knowledge of the rites for
  ceremonial occasions.
• Lady Mu gave him access to the Northern Wei
  elites.
• The princess of Rouran allied him with her people.

30
Contrasting Han and Non-Han Practices Succession

• Chinese model is lineal succession.
• Primogeniture the eldest son of the empress or
  if she has no son then the eldest son would
  succeed.
• The senior widow and her relatives managed the
  court during the rule of an underage emperor.
• The maternal relatives achieved power and could
  control the court for several reigns.

• The non-Han model was election of best qualified
  candidate for the leadership.
• Leaders were selected on the basis of maturity,
  military power and competence, thus removing the
  need for regents.
• Fraternal succession was preferred as it would
  mean that mature leaders are in charge.
• Consort families participated in government as
  heads of tribal sub-units.

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Succession Problems Northern Qi

• Gao Huan had at least 15 sons six were the
  offspring of the main consort, Empress Dowager
  Lou.
• After his death, in 547, his eldest son, Gao
  Cheng (Wenxiangdi r. 547-550) controlled the
  puppet Eastern Wei regime.
• Gao Cheng was able to hold the loyalty of most of
  the Eastern Wei leadership and expand the domains
  of the empire.
• Gao Cheng was probably assassinated by his
  brother Gao Yang (Wenxuandi r.550-9) who arrived
  to take control and executed the assassins.
• Gao Yang may have been behind the murder of his
  brother as two of his closest advisors had fled
  Gao Chengs murder scene instead of protecting
  him.

32
Succession Problems Northern Qi (2)

• In 550, Gao Yang dictated the abdication of the
  last Eastern Wei emperor and formally ascended
  the throne as the first Northern Qi emperor.
• He executed two of his older and more influential
  half-brothers.
• Before dying, Gao Yang asked his brother not to
  kill his son and heir should the brother want to
  seize the throne.
• When Gao Yang died, his son, Feidi ??, ascended
  the throne.
• The grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Lou,
  preferred that her next eldest son, the future
  Xiaozhao, ascend the throne rather than her
  grandson.
• Feidi, reigned for less than one year before he
  was deposed by his grandmother.
• Emperor Xiaozhao promised his mother that he
  would not murder the young deposed Feidi
  however, ill omens were interpreted as indicating
  that the deposed emperor would re-ascend the
  throne if he was not killed so Xiaozhao had him
  strangled in 560.

33
Succession Problems Northern Qi (3)

• In late 560 Xiaozhao made his son Bainian his
  heir and it upset his brother, Gao Zhan, who had
  expected to succeed him.
• In 561, Xiaozhao was critically injured after
  falling from a horse and asked his brother Gao
  Zhan to spare the life of his son and consort but
  on ascending the throne as Wuchengdi (r.561-5-9),
  Gao Zhan ordered the death of Bainian.
• As emperor, Wuchengdi retired in 565 in order to
  ensure that his son and heir would become
  emperor.
• He took the title of Retired emperor but retained
  power.
• He arranged for the marriage of his son to the
  daughter of the most powerful general and hope
  that the two arrangements would make it difficult
  to topple his son.
• After Wuchengdi died, Houzhu reigned for 7 years
  until the Northern Qi was defeated by the
  Northern Zhou.
• With the exception of Gao Cheng who had inherited
  power from his father at the beginning of the
  dynasty, Houzhus succession was the only
  successful primogeniture succession in the
  history of the dynasty.

34
Contrasting Han and Non-Han Practices Marriage

• The Chinese practiced serial monogamy with
  concubinage.
• Women were given a dowry which was inherited by
  her children after her death.
• Family property was divided after the death of
  the senior patriarch.
• The senior widow and her relatives managed the
  court during the rule of an underage emperor.
• Power at the Chinese court moved between the
  emperor, the senior widow, members of the
  bureaucracy and the eunuchs.
• When the maternal relatives occupied senior
  positions in the bureaucracy, members of the
  bureaucracy had less power.
• When the emperor wanted allies against the
  maternal relatives he would turn to the eunuchs.

• The non-Han marriage was
• A polygynous arrangement where all wives or a
  group of senior wives had equal status
• A widow can be taken in by another male in the
  family through the leviratemarriage to a
  brother, uncle, nephew, or son of the late
  husband (not her own biological son).
• Cross generational marriages were practiced.
• Intermarriage with the paternal line was
  permitted after a given number of generations.
• Women were integrated into the husbands family
  so that they sometimes received a personal share
  of the husbands inheritance apart from that
  given to the male offspring.
• Since a woman was integrated into the husbands
  family, it was difficult for her relatives to
  achieve power.

35
Marriage Northern Wei

• The Tuoba ??, a clan of Xianbei ?? ethnicity,
  united Northern China after the Sixteen Kingdoms
  Period under the Northern Wei Dynasty.
• They adopted the Chinese principle of
  primogeniture but not succession by a son of the
  empress.
• They used different methods to prevent the
  maternal relatives from achieving power.
• Naming/ not naming an empress.
• Naming empresses from royal families of recently
  conquered non-Han states.
• Requiring the mother of the heir to commit
  suicide.
• Separating the womans biological and political
  roles.

36
Marriage Northern Wei (2)

• Not naming an empress
• The naming of an empress was considered to be
  politically dangerous and not necessary and so
  often no empress was named.

37
Marriage Northern Wei (3)

• Naming empresses from royal families of recently
  conquered non-Han states.
• Should empresses be named it would be on an
  irregular basis and the women were childless.
• The empresses did not act as titular or foster
  mothers to eldest sons.
• If at all possible, women from the royal families
  of recently conquered non-Chinese states were
  named empresses.
• The naming of such an empress was used to capture
  the loyalty of recently conquered peoples their
  appointments hastened the integration of subject
  populations into the Northern Wei empire.
• They were symbolic figures representing the
  integration of their peoples into the Tuoba
  empire.
• Requiring the mother of the heir to commit
  suicide.
• Mothers of eldest sons were never named empress
  in their lifetimes and the mother of the heir
  might be made to commit suicide after the son was
  named as heir to the throne.
• Separating the womans biological and political
  roles.
• Eldest sons were taken from their natural mothers
  and assigned to the care of a concubine with few
  influential relatives at court.

38
Marriage Northern Wei (4)

• Despite the law on suicide of the mother of the
  heir and ensuring that the heir was brought up by
  foster mothers with no powerful relatives, there
  was danger that the foster mother would be an
  influence on the future emperor.
• Example
• Gaozongs foster mother, Chang ?, was a captive
  concubine with few relatives of influence at
  court and was appointed as foster mother.
• Lady Yu, Gaozongs natural mother, was a member
  of Rouran aristocracy which was the only northern
  threat to Tuoba security so she was kept away
  from her son during his formative years.
• Lady Chang, arranged for Gaozong to marry another
  captive woman from the Northern Yan, Lady Feng.
• As Empress Dowager, Lady Feng ruled as regent for
  Xianzu.
• After she was forced to retire she was named the
  foster mother of Xianzus 2-year old heir, the
  future Gaozu.
• Gaozu was only 9 when he succeeded to the throne
  and ED Feng ruled for three or four years as
  regent.
• But, she has had nine years of psychological
  control over the young emperor so
  psychologically, if not legally, her position at
  the court was very secure.

39
Marriage Northern Wei (5)

• Throughout Gaozus life, Feng tutored, counseled
  and physically punished him.
• Fengs brother was her only close relative and
  she shared the traditional positions for
  relatives at court between him and members of the
  Chang clan.
• She kept Gaozus own maternal relatives from
  power his mother, Lady Li, had been
  posthumously named empress.
• She filled the key positions in Gaozus harem
  with her brothers daughters and brought his sons
  into the palace as companions for Gaozu.
• Her nephews were later married to Tuoba
  princesses.
• She forced Gaozu to order the suicide of the
  mother of his heir whom she then fostered.
• Even after Fengs death he was unable to escape
  her influence
• His harem was filled with her nieces.
• His ministers had been chosen by her.
• His eldest son had been brought up by her.

40
Imperial Women and Levirate (???)

• The nomadic custom of levirate was practiced and
  wives of one ruler would be passed to his
  successor
• Examples of Imperial women of the Northern Qi
• One of Gao Huans wives had two husbands before
  she married him.
• At least two of his wives remarried after his
  death.
• 50 of the wives and concubines of Northern Qi
  rulers with biographies who lived long enough to
  remarry did so.
• 75 of women with biographies as empresses
  remarried.
• 1/3 of the women who remarried became wives of
  the incoming ruler -- usually a brother of the
  late husband.
• 13 of the concubines remarried a Gao family
  member.

41
Next Week

• The Xiongnu Federation
• Barfield, Thomas, The Xiongnu Confederacy
  Organization and Foreign Policy, Journal of
  Asian Studies, Vol 41, No. 1, Nov, 1981, pp
  45-61.
• OR
• Sinor, Denis, Central Asia, a Syllabus, The
  Xiongnu, Ch. 11
• OR
• Sinor, Denis, Cambridge History of Early Asia, ,
  Ch 5 pp 118-149.