Tang Xianling is the mausoleum of Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu. In May of the ninth year of Tang Zhenguan, Li Yuan died and was buried in October, and Tang Taizong Li Shimin built a mausoleum according to the specifications of the original mausoleum of emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The mausoleum is facing north and south, the sealed soil is a mausoleum, the cemetery is rammed city heng, there is a gate on each wall on all four sides, and a pair of stone tigers are placed outside the door. The mausoleum funerary area is located in the northeast of the cemetery, and there are 67 existing sealed soils, except for the Xiangyi Li Shenfu in Sanyuan County, the rest are in the territory of Fuping County, Weinan City.
In fact, in this mausoleum, not only Li Yuan but also his original wife.
Although Li Yuan was the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, his son Li Shimin was so dazzling that Li Yuan's sense of historical existence was far inferior to that of his son Li Shimin. Friends who like history tend to pay attention to the wives and concubines of ancient emperors, and we all know that the original wife of the emperor is usually crowned empress. So, who is Li Yuan's Yuanpei lady? Is she also a queen?
Friends who know the history of Tang will definitely say: Li Yuan's empress is Dou. In fact, this answer is not entirely accurate, because Dou's title of empress was obtained after her death, and she did not receive this honor during her lifetime. Through historical materials, we can learn such information that Dou was born in the Northern Zhou imperial family, and her uncle was Yuwen Yong, the Emperor of Northern Zhou. In the early years, Northern Zhou intermarried with the Turks, and married a Turkic woman for the sake of diplomacy Yuwen Yong.
However, the emperor was very dissatisfied with this political marriage, and even planned to divorce his wife.
For this matter, at that time, Dou Shi, who was still a young child, once said to his uncle: "The world is not yet stable, turks are a heart disease of the country, and I hope that my uncle can consider the overall situation, treat and appease the empress." As long as they can establish diplomatic relations with the Turks, then they can use their strength to deal with Northern Qi and Southern Chen. Yuwen Yong listened to his niece's advice, treated the empress kindly, and allied himself with the Turks.
After Yang Jian usurped Zhou, the Dou clan, who was a royal family, burst into tears and cried, "It's just a pity that I am not a boy and cannot solve problems for my uncle." Dou Yi saw that although his daughter was young, she had such a vision, so he said to his wife, Princess Xiangcheng: "Our daughter is not only outstanding in appearance, but also brilliant, and she must not be married to a common man, and we should find a good family for her." ”
Therefore, Dou Yi drew two peacocks on the outside door screen, and whenever a famous disciple came to ask for relatives, Dou Yi asked this person to shoot the peacock on the door with a bow and arrow, saying: "Only those who shoot the peacock's eyes are eligible to become the dou family's dragon-riding son-in-law." Later, dozens of noble disciples came to ask for relatives, and as a result, only Li Yuan shot the peacock eye with a bow and arrow, and he naturally became the son-in-law of the Dou family.
This story is also the origin of the allusion "Bird Screen Selection".
After Li Yuan married Dou, the husband and wife complemented each other perfectly, and Dou always played the role of "Xiannei Helper". Dou lived in the palace since childhood, so he knew a lot about politics and was familiar with historical materials, so he often gave help to his husband. The husband and wife are newly married, and the couple often dances in the room to ink. Dou's favorite thing is to imitate Li Yuan's handwriting, and it is difficult for outsiders to distinguish between true and false. Dou gave birth to four sons and a daughter for Li Yuan, and we are familiar with Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, Li Yuanba, Li Yuanji, and Princess Pingyang, whose birth mother is Dou.
During the Daye years, Li Yuan was appointed as the Taishou of Fufeng, and someone gave him several BMWs. Dou Said to her husband, "I heard that Your Majesty likes BMW, and you know that." I felt that these horses could be offered as tributes to His Majesty and should not be left at home. If you leave these horses at home, sooner or later there will be trouble, I hope you will think about it carefully. "Isn't Li Yuan a horse lover?" Although he understood that what his wife said was reasonable, he was unwilling to endure the pain of cutting love. As a result, these horses did indeed cause misfortune to Li Yuan, and Li Yuan was punished for this crime.
Li Yuan recalled his wife's words and immediately put these horses into the palace, which saved his future and life, and was promoted to general. It is said that the mother-in-law relationship is the most difficult interpersonal relationship in China, but this problem is not a problem in front of Dou. Because Li Yuan's father died earlier, the Li family's family affairs were completely taken care of by Li Yuan's mother, Du Gushi. DuGushi worked hard all his life, and in his later years he fell ill in bed, and his daughter-in-law Dou Shi waited for several years like a day, serving around Dugu's side and never expressing dissatisfaction.
After DuGu's serious illness, several concubines of the Dou clan felt that the Dugu clan was difficult to serve, and everyone came up with a lot of reasons to prevaricate and did not want to fulfill filial piety, only the Dou clan still accompanied the mother-in-law. During the month when Dugu's illness was serious, Dou's clothes were not untied. After recovering, the Dugu clan praised his daughter-in-law Dou Clan and loved her very much.
From these stories, we can see that Dou Shi is a model of a virtuous wife, fully qualified as a mother, so why did she not have the opportunity to take the empress throne?
First of all, we know that to become empress, you must go through a set of traditional rituals, and it is clear that Dou shi failed to go through these procedural canonization ceremonies.
Secondly, during Dou's lifetime, he did not have the opportunity to exercise the power of the empress. Most importantly, dou had already died before Li Yuan ascended the throne and became emperor. Before Dou's death, Li Yuan hadn't even sat on the dragon chair for a day, so how could Dou have the opportunity to become an empress?
However, Li Yuan never forgot the Dou clan, and after ascending the throne, he immediately posthumously crowned the deceased Dou clan as empress, but he regretted it in his heart. Moreover, Li Yuan, out of affection for her, later, did not establish an empress. Until Li Yuan's death, the Dou clan was buried together in the Xianling Tomb.
So, who was the first empress of the Tang Dynasty?
Strictly speaking, it should be the eldest grandson empress. She lost her father at the age of eight and was raised by her uncle, Gao Shilian. At the age of thirteen, he married Li Shimin, the second son of Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang. In the first year of Wu De,the first year, he was crowned as the concubine of the King of Qin (Li Shimin). In the last years of Wu De's reign, he devoted himself to Li Yuan and sought the support of the harem. When xuanwu gate changed, he personally comforted the soldiers. After the matter was settled, she was crowned as a princess. Emperor Taizong of Tang ascended the throne, was crowned empress, and gave birth to three sons and four daughters.
It can be said that although Dou Was Li Yuan's original wife, she had never been an empress for a day in her life.
Resources:
[New Book of Tang", "Old Book of Tang", "Zizhi Tongjian", "Tang Xianling"]