Consort Yao

Who was Consort Yao?

Consort Yao, who was initially Princess Xiping of the Chinese/Qiang state Later Qin, posthumously honored Empress Zhaoai, was the wife of Emperor Mingyuan of the Chinese/Xianbei state Northern Wei.

Princess Xiping was the daughter of Yao Xing. It is not known when exactly her marriage to the emperor of Northern Wei was negotiated, but they married in 415. When she arrived at the Northern Wei capital Pingcheng, Emperor Mingyuan welcomed her with a great ceremony due an empress. However, Northern Wei customs dictated that only a candidate who was able to complete a golden statue with her own hands could become an empress, and Princess Xiping was unable to do so. She was therefore only created an imperial consort, not an empress, although within the palace she was treated as Emperor Mingyuan's wife and an empress. Later, Emperor Mingyuan offered to create her an empress, but she declined.