20 Facts About Dugu Qieluo

Dugu Qieluo or Dugu Jialuo, formally Empress Wenxian, was an empress of the Sui dynasty of China.

Dugu Qieluo 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, an extreme rarity among Chinese emperors.

Dugu Qieluo was heavily involved in his decision to divert the order of succession from their oldest son Yang Yong to the second son, Yang Guang.

Dugu Qieluo was born in 544, as the seventh daughter of the Western Wei general Dugu Xin, who was of Xianbei ethnicity.

Shortly thereafter, Dugu Xin became implicated in a plot organized by the general Zhao Gui against the regent Yuwen Hu, and Yuwen Hu forced him to commit suicide.

Yang Jian and Lady Dugu Qieluo 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.

Duchess Dugu Qieluo 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 of Emperor Xuan.

On one occasion, when the erratic Emperor Xuan was angry with Empress Yang and ordered her to commit suicide, Duchess Dugu Qieluo found out and went into the palace, earnestly begging Emperor Xuan's forgiveness.

Dugu Qieluo named Duchess Dugu Empress and their oldest son, Yang Yong, Crown Prince, while granting their other children, including Northern Zhou's Empress Yang, royal titles.

Empress Dugu Qieluo was said to be studious, and she and Emperor Wen often conferred with each other the important matters of state and rewards and punishments.

Dugu Qieluo respected the official Gao Jiong, as his father, Gao Bin, served on her father's staff and was a trusted advisor for him.

In 598, Empress Dugu Qieluo and her younger brother, Dugu Qieluo Tuo, born of different mothers, were embroiled in a mysterious scandal.

When Empress Dugu Qieluo found out, she had Lady Yuchi killed.

When Empress Dugu Qieluo heard that Gao Jiong, whom she had respected previously, refer to her as "a woman," she became secretly resentful of him.

Empress Dugu Qieluo pointed out that, in effect, he was not truthful, and Emperor Wen began to distance himself from Gao.

Further, in 598, when Gao, under Emperor Wen's duress, was forced to accompany Yang Liang, the Prince of Han, in a campaign against Goguryeo, a campaign that he opposed, the campaign ended in failure, and Empress Dugu Qieluo blamed him for the failure, particularly after Yang Liang, angry that Gao was not following his orders, complained to her.

Therefore, Empress Dugu Qieluo suggested that Emperor Wen remove Gao and he was accused of crimes, removed from his office and reduced to commoner rank.

Meanwhile, Yang Guang was continuing to provoke Empress Dugu Qieluo, falsely stating that he feared that Yang Yong would eventually put him to death.

Yang Guang further entered into an alliance with Yang Su, with whom Yang Yong had a poor relationship, and Empress Dugu Qieluo told Yang Su to encourage Emperor Wen to depose Yang Yong.

In fall 602, Empress Dugu Qieluo died, and Emperor Wen was greatly saddened, although he was comforted by Wang Shao, who submitted a petition in which he tried to use prophecies to show that Empress Dugu Qieluo was, in fact, a Bodhisattva.