Northern Zhou
Initially, Northern Zhou only had a system that allows for five madames. However, during the reign of Emperor Xuan, five Empresses were created - unprecedented by Chinese standards:
- Yang Lihua, The Great Empress of Tianyuan (天元大皇后楊麗華)
- Zhu Manyue, The Great Empress of the Heaven (天大皇后朱滿月)
- Chen Yueyi, The Great Center Empress of the Heaven (天中大皇后陳月儀)
- Yuchi Chifan, The Great Left Empress of the Heaven (天左大皇后尉遲熾繁)
- Yuan Leshang, The Great Right Empress of the Heaven (天右大皇后元樂尚)
In addition, there were an innumerable number of consorts in the harem.
Read more about this topic: Ranks Of Imperial Consorts In China
Famous quotes containing the word northern:
“I have found that anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)