Empress Dugu Qieluo

Who was Empress Dugu Qieluo?

Empress Dugu Qieluo, formally Empress Wenxian, was an empress of the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty. She 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 and might not have had any concubines while she was alive, an extreme rarity among Chinese emperors. She was powerful and influential during her husband's reign, and she was heavily involved in his decision to divert the order of succession from their oldest son Yang Yong to the second son Yang Guang, often blamed by traditional historians to be the reason for Sui's downfall.