Family Background and Marriage To Liu Xiu
Yin Lihua was born and grew up in Nanyang Commandery (roughly modern Nanyang, Henan) -- the same commandery that her eventual husband came from. While they were young, he was enamored with her beauty. According to Hou Han Shu, when Liu Xiu was visiting the capital Chang'an, he became impressed with the mayor of the capital (zhijinwu, 執金吾) and, already impressed by Yin's beauty, he made the remarks: "If I were to be an official, I want to be zhijinwu; if I were to marry, I want to marry Yin Lihua".
Yin's father died early, when she was six, and his name is not recorded. Her mother's family name was Deng (鄧). She had at least four brothers—Yin Xing (陰興), Yin Jiu (陰就), Yin Shi (陰識), and Yin Xin (陰訢). (Yin Xing and Yin Xin were born of the same mother as she; Yin Shi was born of her father's previous wife; it is not clear who was the mother of Yin Jiu.) According to Hou Han Shu, the Yins were descended from the famed Spring and Autumn Period Qi prime minister Guan Zhong.
In 23, while Liu Xiu was an official in the newly reestablished Han government of Emperor Gengshi, he was married to Yin Lihua. Later, when he was dispatched by Emperor Gengshi to the region north of the Yellow River, she returned home.
Read more about this topic: Empress Yin Lihua
Famous quotes containing the words family, background and/or marriage:
“Family lore can be a bore, but only when you are hearing it, never when you are relating it to the ones who will be carrying it on for you. A family without a storyteller or two has no way to make sense out of their past and no way to get a sense of themselves.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“We have seen that men are learning that work, productivity, and marriage may be very important parts of life, but they are not its whole cloth. The rest of the fabric is made of nurturing relationships, especially those with children—relationships which are intimate, trusting, humane, complex, and full of care.”
—Kyle D. Pruett (20th century)