Royals › Empress / Consort
Princess Dayi
Daughter of Yuwen Zhao, Prince of Zhao of Northern Zhou, first titled Princess Qianjin and married to Shabolue Khagan; retitled Princess Dayi under Sui, she wrote a poem on a screen in 589 and was killed in 597.
In a spring palace garden, a pavilion with round windows stands over a pond of goldfish; a peony-painted round fan, a zither and a lacquer box of pearl hairpins lie in the foreground, and one small figure in a long-sleeved gown stands at the far end of a covered walkway.
Also known as Princess Qianjin · Born Yuwen
Princess Dayi was born a Yuwen, daughter of Yuwen Zhao, Prince of Zhao of Northern Zhou. First titled Princess Qianjin, she married Shabolue Khagan of the Turks, and Emperor Wen of Sui gave her the surname Yang and the title Dayi. After Sui destroyed Chen in 589, he sent her a screen from the Chen ruler's palace; moved by the fall of her own house, she wrote a poem on it that begins 'Rise and fall are as dawn and dusk', preserved in the Gu Shi Yuan. In 597, when Ranggan sought a Sui bride, the emperor insisted she be killed first, and Ranggan had her put to death.
Life and times
Dates Birth year unknown; killed in 597 CE