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Empress Ashina

Empress Ashina (阿史那皇后) (551 – 30 May 582) was a Göktürk princess, who became an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty. She was the daughter of Göktürk's third khagan Muqan Qaghan, and her husband was Emperor Wu.

Ashina
Empress consort of Northern Zhou
Tenure20 April 568[1] – 21 June 578
PredecessorEmpress Dugu
SuccessorYang Lihua
Born551
DiedMay 30, 582(582-05-30) (aged 30–31)
Burial5 June, 582
Chenma (陈马), Xianyang
SpouseEmperor Wu of Northern Zhou
Posthumous name
Empress Wucheng (武成皇后)
Empress Wude (武德皇后, per epitaph)[2]
HouseAshina
FatherMuqan Qaghan
SealAshina's signature

Biography

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Ashina was born in 551, shortly before her grandfather Tumen (Bumin Qaghan), initially a vassal of Rouran, declared independence from Rouran and established a separate Göktürk state as its Illig Qaghan. Göktürk soon conquered most of Rouran, taking over as the main power over the steppes to the north of the Chinese states Western Wei and Eastern Wei (and their successor states, respectively Northern Zhou and Northern Qi). Because of this, Yuwen Tai, the paramount general of Western Wei, made repeated alliance overtures to Tujue, and initially, Ashina Qijin,[3] who took over the throne in 554 after the death of his brother, the Issik Qaghan, agreed to give a daughter to him in marriage, but soon revoked the agreement.

After Yuwen Tai's death in 556, his son Yuwen Jue seized the throne from Emperor Gong of Western Wei in spring 557, ending Western Wei and establishing Northern Zhou as its Emperor Xiaomin, and subsequently, after Emperor Xiaomin's younger brother Emperor Wu took the throne in 560, he resumed the marriage overture with Tujue, and Ashina Qijin agreed.

 
An Jia, a Sogdian merchant in China (518-579 CE) (right) welcomes a Turkic leader (left, long hair combed in the back), contemporarily with the rule of Princess Ashina. Panel from the Tomb of An Jia, 579 CE.[4][5]

In 565, Emperor Wu sent a delegation of 120 people led by his brother Yuwen Chun (宇文純) the Duke of Chen to Tujue to escort Ashina Qijin's daughter back to Northern Zhou, but Ashina Qijin again revoked his offer and instead considered an alliance with Northern Qi, detaining Yuwen Chun and the rest of the delegation. In or before 568, a major storm inflicted damage on Ashina Qijin's royal tent, and Ashina Qijin took this as a sign of divine disapproval on his revocation of the marriage offer, and so permitted Yuwen Chun to escort his daughter to Northern Zhou. In 568, when she arrived at the Northern Zhou capital Chang'an, Emperor Wu personally welcomed her and created her his empress.[3][6][7]

Empress Ashina was said to be beautiful and appropriate in her actions, and Emperor Wu honored her but was said to not favor her, until his niece Lady Dou (the daughter of his elder sister the Princess Xiangyang and the official Dou Yi (竇毅) the Duke of Shenwu), around 572, reminded him of Tujue's power and that he still had to face the rivals Northern Qi and Chen dynasty, and that he needed to show the empress greater favor to appease her home state. He agreed. However, they had no children together.

In 578, Emperor Wu died, and his son Yuwen Yun (by Consort Li Ezi) took the throne as Emperor Xuan. He honored both Empress Ashina and his mother Consort Li as empress dowagers. In 579, after Emperor Xuan had passed the throne to his son Emperor Jing and taken for himself the atypical title Tianyuan Shanghuang (天元上皇, a variation of Taishang Huang (retired emperor)), he honored her as "Empress Dowager Tianyuan" (天元皇太后 (Tianyuan Huang Taihou), later 天元上皇太后 (Tianyuan Shang Huang Taihou)). After he died in June 580, Emperor Jing honored her as grand empress dowager.

She survived Northern Zhou's usurpation by Emperor Xuan's father-in-law Yang Jian in March 581 (as Yang Jian established Sui dynasty as its Emperor Wen), and while Yang Jian killed most of Northern Zhou's imperial house, she was not harmed. She died on 30 May 582 and was buried with honors due an empress with her husband Emperor Wu on 5 June 582.[8][3]

Tomb

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Epitaph of Empress Ashina. Front: "Inscription of Empress Wude of Zhou Dynasty" "周武德皇后志铭"). Back: "In the 2nd year of the Kai'huang era of the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, on the 23rd day of the 4th month (corresponding to 30 May 582 in the Julian calendar), Lady Ashina, Empress Wudi of Zhou, posthumously Empress Wude, passed away and on the 29th of the same month received a joint burial in Xiaoling Mausoleum ".[9][10]

Her tomb was found in 1993 on Chenma village, Xianyang.[11] She was buried there with Emperor Wu, in a large subterranean slanting structure 68.4 meters in length, typical of imperial tombs of the period, but without a tumulus at Emperor Wu's request.[12] The tomb was raided numerous times by looters, but several artifacts, including her golden seal and several Xianbei-style statuettes, were recovered by Shenyang police. Empress Ashina's golden seal is the earliest known seal in existence, made in 579–580 with inscription "Empress Dowager Tianyuan" (天元皇太后) in large seal script.[13] The golden seal is now in the Xianyang Museum (咸阳博物院).[14]

An epitaph in the name of Princess Ashina was also recovered, as well as the epitaph of her husband Emperor Wu.[15]

 
Side plan of the Northern Zhou Xiaoling Mausoleum, where Emperor Wu was buried with Empress Ashina

Genetics

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The first genetic analysis on the Empress Ashina in 2023 by Xiaoming Yang et al. found nearly exclusively Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry (97,7%) next to minor West-Eurasian components (2,3%), and no Chinese ("Yellow River") admixture.[16] The small West-Eurasian component corresponded to a single admixture event (possibly Afanasievo-related) dating to around 1566 ± 396 years before Ashina's lifetime (ie dating to c. 1000 BC).[16] This supports the almost exclusive Northeast Asian origin of the Ashina tribe and the Göktürk Khanate.[17] The ancient Türkic royal family of the Göktürk Khaganate was found to share genetic affinities with post-Iron Age Tungusic and Mongolic pastoralists, while having heterogeneous relationships with various later Turkic-speaking groups, suggesting genetic heterogeneity and multiple sources of origin for the later populations of the Turkic Empire. According to the authors, these findings "once again validates a cultural diffusion model over a demic diffusion model for the spread of Turkic languages" and refutes "western Eurasian origin and multiple origin hypotheses" in favor of an East Asian origin for the Türks.[16]

Ancestry

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See also: Göktürk family tree

Empress Ashina descended directly from the first Khagans of the Ashina tribe, who formed the ruling dynasty of the Gökturks:

Great grandfather: Ashina Tuwu (Grand Yabgu)
Grandfather:
Bumin Qaghan (r.552)
First khagan of the Göktürks and founder of the First Turkic Khaganate
Great grandmother: unknown
Father:
Muqan Qaghan (r.553-572)
Third khagan of the Göktürks
Princess Changle(長樂公主) of Western Wei (Xianbei)
Empress Ashina (551-582)
Mother: name unknown, but seemingly non-Türkic (Diplomatic alliance).[18]

Notes

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  1. ^ ([天和三年]三月癸卯，皇后阿史那氏至自突厥。) Zhou Shu, vol.05
  2. ^ Yang, Xiaomin (2023). "Ancient Genome of Empress Ashina reveals the Northeast Asian origin of Göktürk Khanate". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 61 (6): Supplementary material S1. doi:10.1111/jse.12938. S2CID 255690237.
  3. ^ a b c Yang, Xiao-Min; Meng, Hai-Liang; Zhang, Jian-Lin; Yu, Yao; Allen, Edward; Xia, Zi-Yang; Zhu, Kong-Yang; Du, Pan-Xin; Ren, Xiao-Ying; Xiong, Jian-Xue; Lu, Xiao-Yu; Ding, Yi; Han, Sheng; Liu, Wei-Peng; Jin, Li (November 2023). "Ancient genome of Empress Ashina reveals the Northeast Asian origin of Göktürk Khanate". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 61 (6): 1056–1064. doi:10.1111/jse.12938. ISSN 1674-4918.
  4. ^ Baumer, Christoph (18 April 2018). History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-83860-868-2.
  5. ^ Yatsenko, Sergey A. (August 2009). "Early Turks: Male Costume in the Chinese Art". Transoxiana. 14.
  6. ^ Li, Xifan (2022-10-03). A General History of Chinese Art: Sui and Tang Dynasties. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-079095-5.
  7. ^ The Chinese Historical Review. Chinese Historians in the United States. 2005.
  8. ^ Ekrem, Nuraniye Hidayet (2018-10-30). "Göktürk Prensesi, Çin İmparatoriçesi Asena'nın (Aşina/Ashina) Mezar Taşı Yazıtı ve Altın Mührü" [Tomb of the Turkic Princess, Chinese Empress Ashina's Tombstone Inscription and Golden Seal]. Modern Türklük Araştırmaları Dergisi /Journal of Modern Turkish Studies (in Turkish). 15 (3): 392–418. doi:10.1501/MTAD.15.2018.3.26. S2CID 186547930.
  9. ^ Original text of the epitaph: “大隋开皇二年岁次壬寅四月甲戌朔二十三日甲未周武帝皇后阿史那氏祖谥曰武德皇后其月二十九日壬寅合葬于孝陵”
  10. ^ Yang, Xiaomin (2023). "Ancient Genome of Empress Ashina reveals the Northeast Asian origin of Göktürk Khanate". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 61 (6): Supplementary material S1. doi:10.1111/jse.12938. S2CID 255690237.
  11. ^ Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (2014-12-31). Chinese Architecture in an Age of Turmoil, 200-600. University of Hawaii Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-8248-3822-5.
  12. ^ Dien, Albert E. (1 January 2007). Six Dynasties Civilization. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-07404-8.
  13. ^ Imperial Mausoleum, (2016) Royal Treasure | Northern Zhou Dynasty Empress Dowager Seal, Imperial Mausoleum Culture Research Association (in Chinese)
  14. ^ 尚古说印 (in Chinese). Beijing Book Co. Inc. 1 April 2019. ISBN 978-7-5552-6618-1.
  15. ^ Yang, Xiaomin (2023). "Ancient Genome of Empress Ashina reveals the Northeast Asian origin of Göktürk Khanate". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 61 (6): Supplementary material S1. doi:10.1111/jse.12938. S2CID 255690237.
  16. ^ a b c Yang, Xiaomin; Meng, Hailiang; Zhang, Jianlin; Yu, Yao; Allen, Edward; Xia, Ziyang; Zhu, Kongyang; Du, Panxin; Ren, Xiaoying; Xiong, Jianxue; Lu, Xiaoyu; Ding, Yi; Han, Sheng; Liu, Weipeng; Jin, Li (2023-01-09). "Ancient Genome of Empress Ashina reveals the Northeast Asian origin of Göktürk Khanate". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 61 (6): 1056–1064. doi:10.1111/jse.12938. ISSN 1674-4918. S2CID 255690237.
  17. ^ Yang, Xiaomin (2023). "Ancient Genome of Empress Ashina reveals the Northeast Asian origin of Göktürk Khanate". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 61 (6): 1056–1064. doi:10.1111/jse.12938. S2CID 255690237. In the principal component analysis (PCA) (Figs. 1B, S3), the Ashina individual clustered with modern Tungusic and Mongolic speakers, ancient populations from Northeast Asia and eastern Mongolia Plateau, and especially with the Northeast Asian hunter‐gatherers previously referred to as "Ancient Northeast Asian" (ANA), that is, DevilsCave_N, Mongolia_N_North, Boisman_MN, AR_EN (Jeong et al., 2020; Ning et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2021), as well as post‐Iron Age Eastern Steppe nomadic people including Xianbei, Rouran, Khitan, and part of the Mongol population. The shared genetic similarity between Ashina and Northeast Eurasians, especially ANA, was also evident in outgroup‐f3 statistics (Fig. S5A).
  18. ^ Basan, Osman Aziz (24 June 2010). The Great Seljuqs: A History. Routledge. p. 289. ISBN 978-1-136-95392-7. "The problem with this seems to have been that Mukan Kagan's Türk wife was childless. Talopien was not of a Türk mother, being the offspring of a marriage of dynastic convenience."

References

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Chinese royalty
Preceded by Empress of Northern Zhou
568–578 		Succeeded by
Empress of China (Western)
568–578
Preceded by Empress of China (Northern/Central)
577–578
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