Empress Dowager Li Ezi

Who was Empress Dowager Li Ezi?

Empress Dowager Li Ezi, later Buddhist nun name Changbei, was an empress dowager of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou. She was the mother of Emperor Xuan.

Li Ezi was born in 536, around the Jiangling region, then ruled by Liang Dynasty. In 554, Northern Zhou's predecessor state Western Wei's general Yu Jin launched a major attack on Jiangling, then the capital of Liang's Emperor Yuan, capturing it and killing Emperor Yuan. While Western Wei then declared Emperor Yuan's nephew Xiao Cha Liang's emperor, to be a vassal of Western Wei, when Yu withdrew, he captured most of the population of Jiangling and the surrounding region back to the Western Wei capital Chang'an as spoils of war. Western Wei's paramount general Yuwen Tai awarded Li Ezi to his son Yuwen Yong, then the Duke of Fucheng, to be Yuwen Yun's concubine. She was seven years older than Yuwen Yong.

After Yuwen Tai's death in 556, his son Yuwen Jue took the throne from Emperor Gong of Western Wei in 557, ending Western Wei and establishing Northern Zhou as its Emperor Xiaomin. As the emperor's brother, Yuwen Yong continued to carry the title of duke, although he was promoted to the Duke of Lu by another brother, Emperor Ming, who succeeded Emperor Xiaomin after the powerful regent Yuwen Hu deposed and killed Emperor Xiaomin later in 557. In 559, Lady Li gave birth to Yuwen Yong's oldest son Yuwen Yun.