Dugu sisters

The Dugu sisters were part-Xianbei, part-Han sisters of the Dugu clan who lived in the Western Wei (535–557), Northern Zhou (557–581) and Sui (581–618) dynasties of China. All were daughters of the Western Wei general Dugu Xin. The eldest sister became a Northern Zhou Empress, the seventh sister became a Sui dynasty Empress, and the fourth sister was posthumously honored as an Empress of the Tang dynasty (618–907). The seventh sister Dugu Qieluo, in particular, was one of the most influential women in ancient China history, owing to her closeness to her husband, the Emperor Wen of Sui, throughout their 45-year monogamous marriage.

Some authors wrote that the three sisters "married emperors"[1] or "married into imperial families".[2] However, at the time of their marriages, none of their husbands were members of an imperial family (yet): each of the three sisters became an Empress or a posthumous Empress after a dynastic change. Out of the three dynasty changes, only the first—the usurpation of the Western Wei throne by the Yuwens—is considered a long time coming, in which the Dugus played no role. In both Yang Jian's[3] and Li Yuan's (Emperor Gaozu of Tang) rise to power, family ties to the ruling house (through the sisters and Dugu Qieluo's daughter Yang Lihua) were important.[4]

Family tree
Family of Dugu sisters
Yuan BaojuYuwen TaiDugu Xin
Yuan KuoYuan QinEmpress YuwenYuwen YongYuwen Yu1. Empress Dugu7. Empress DuguYang Jiana Dugu brother
Empress YuanYuwen JuePrincess XiangyangLi Bing4. Duchess DuguXiao Kui
Yuwen YunDuchess DouLi YuanEmpress YangYang GuangEmpress XiaoXiao CongXiao YuDuchess Dugu

Basic information
SisterPersonal nameMotherHusbandPosthumous nameBirth yearMarriage yearDeath dateIssue
1stUnknownLady Guo (郭氏)Yuwen YuEmpress Mingjing (明敬皇后) of (Northern) Zhou(537–544)(550–556)14 May 558Probably 0–4
4thUnknown?Li Bing (李昞)Empress Yuanzhen (元貞皇后) of Tang(537–544)(550–557)(581–618)Probably 2–5
7thDugu QieluoLady Cui (崔氏)Yang JianEmpress Wenxian (文獻皇后) of Sui54455710 September 60210

No physical descriptions of them survived but their father was said to be very handsome.[5] Dugu Xin was an ethnic (sinicized[3]) Xianbei but both his wives Lady Guo and Lady Cui appear to be Han Chinese. The Dugus were all literate (in Classical Chinese), cultivated, and pious Buddhists.[3]

The 2018 Chinese TV series The Legend of Dugu stars Hu Bingqing as Dugu Jialuo (i.e. Dugu Qieluo), Ady An as the eldest sister Dugu Banruo, and Li Yixiao as the middle sister Dugu Mantuo.

See also

References
  1. Abramson, Marc S. (2008). Ethnic Identity in Tang China. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 152. ISBN 0-8122-4052-9.
  2. Lewis, Mark Edward (2009). China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-674-03306-1.
  3. Wright, Arthur F. (1979). "The Sui dynasty (581-617)". In Twitchett, Denis; Fairbank, John K. (eds.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3, Sui and T'ang China, 589–906, Part 1. Cambridge University Press. pp. 57–58, 63–66. ISBN 978-0-521-21446-9.
  4. Wechsler, Howard J. (1979). "The founding of the T'ang dynasty: Kao-tsu (reign 618-26)". In Twitchett, Dennis (ed.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3: Sui and T'ang China, 589–906 AD, Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 151–152. ISBN 978-0-521-21446-9.
  5. Bei Shi, ch. 61.
  • Li Dashi; Li Yanshou (659). Bei Shi (北史) [History of the Northern Dynasties] (in Chinese).
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