Yonggu Mausoleum

The Yonggu Mausoleum (Chinese: 永固陵) is the mausoleum of Empress Feng (442–490), formally Empress Wenming and the wife of Emperor Wencheng of the Northern Wei dynasty of Chinese history. The tomb is located on a mountain about 25 kilometers from the city of Datong, in Shanxi Province. When her husband died in 465, Empress Dowager Wenming became regent until her stepson, Emperor Xiaowen, attained his adulthood. While Emperor Xiaowen assumed the imperial powers upon adulthood, she remained highly influential until her death in 490.[1] Around this time, Buddhism became a state religion and Empress Dowager Wenming was responsible for the imperial shrines at Yungang Grottoes.[2] There is evidence that Empress Dowager Wenming masterminded the transformation of the government and the sinification movement.[3][4]

When the Empress died, she was buried with extraordinary honors. Emperor Xiaowen was distraught and could not eat or drink for five days.[1]

  1. ^ a b "Empress Feng: Bringing Han Traditions into Northern Wei Dynasty". All China's Women's Federation. 14 December 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  2. ^ "Monuments in the Desert: A Note on Economic and Social Roots of the Development of Buddhism along the Silk Road". www.silkroad.com. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  3. ^ Mou, Sherry J. (1999). Presence and Presentation: Women in the Chinese Literati Tradition. Westbury, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 37. ISBN 0-312-21054-X.
  4. ^ Wong, Dorothy C. (2004). Chinese Steles: Pre-Buddhism and Buddhist Use of a Symbolic Form. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-8248-2783-X.