Princess Dowager Yin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Princess Dowager Yin (尹太后, personal name unknown) was a princess dowager of the Chinese state Western Liáng. She was the mother of its second duke, Li Xin, but it is not clear whether she was the wife or concubine of the founding duke, Li Gao (Prince Wuzhao), who was posthumously honored by Li Xin as a prince, and therefore Lady Yin was honored as a princess dowager even though her husband never carried the princely title while alive.

Little is known about Lady Yin before or during her husband's reign. After her husband died in 417, she was honored as princess dowager. She was described as wise and full of composure, and she tried in vain to stop her son Li Xin from attacking rival Northern Liang in 420 -- an attack that was induced by a trap set by Northern Liang's prince Juqu Mengxun. Li Xin was defeated and killed by Juqu Mengxun, and Western Liang's capital Jiuquan (酒泉, in modern Jiuquan, Gansu) fell. Princess Dowager Yin was captured, but she maintained her dignity and did not plead with Juqu Mengxun for her life or mourn her son's death. Juqu Mengxun praised her and had his son Juqu Mujian marry her daughter Li Jingshou. After Juqu Mujian succeeded Juqu Mengxun in 433, Lady Li became princess, but in 437, Juqu Mujian was forced to divorce her and marry Northern Wei's Princess Wuwei, sister to Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu. Princess Li died soon thereafter, and after Princess Li's death, Princess Dowager Yin fled to Yiwu (伊吾, in modern Hami Prefecture, Xinjiang), where some of her grandsons had fled, and she lived out her years in Yiwu.