Zhu Manyue (Chinese :朱滿月; 547–586), later known by her Buddhist name Fajing (法淨), was a concubine of Emperor Xuan (Yuwen Yun) of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. She was the mother of Emperor Jing (Yuwen Chan). [1]
Zhu Manyue was said to be from the Wu region, now southern Jiangsu. Because someone from her family, probably her father, was accused of crimes, she was forced to be a servant and assigned to the palace of Yuwen Yun, who was then crown prince under his father Emperor Wu. She was in charge of the clothes of Yuwen Yun, 12 years younger than her. On one occasion, he summoned her to have sexual relations with him; in July or August 573, she gave birth to his first son, Yuwen Yan (宇文衍), whose name was later changed to Yuwen Chan.
In 578 Emperor Wu died, and Yuwen Yun took the throne. He created Yuwen Chan crown prince, and after Emperor Xuan passed the throne to Yuwen Chan and became retired emperor in spring 579 (with the atypical title of "Emperor Tianyuan" (天元皇帝, Tianyuan Huangdi), he, in another unusual move, decided to create three (and later one more) additional empresses in addition to his wife, Yang Lihua, and Consort Zhu, on account of her being the mother of Emperor Jing, received the title of Empress Tianyuan (Tianyuan Di Hou, 天元帝后, a slightly less honored title than Empress Yang's Tianyuan Huanghou (天元皇后)), later changed to Tian Huanghou (天皇后), and then further changed in 580 to Tian Da Huanghou (天大皇后). It was said that she was not favored by him on account of her being much older and also of lowly birth [2] .
Emperor Xuan died in 580, and Empress Yang's father Yang Jian became regent. Three of Emperor Xuan's empresses, other than Empresses Yang and Zhu, became Buddhist nuns, but Empress Zhu did not at this point, and was honored as empress dowager (along with Empress Yang) but with the secondary title of Di Taihou (帝太后), lower than Empress Dowager Yang's title of Huang Taihou (皇太后). In 581, Yang Jian seized the throne from Emperor Jing, ending the Northern Zhou dynasty and establishing the Sui dynasty. The Emperor Jing and other members of the imperial Yuwen clan were soon slaughtered. Empress Dowager Zhu became a Buddhist nun and took the name Fajing. She died in 586 and was buried only with ceremonies due a Buddhist nun, west of the capital Chang'an.
Emperor Wen of Sui, personal name Yang Jian (楊堅), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (普六茹堅), was the founding emperor of the Chinese Sui dynasty. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state. He is regarded as one of the most important emperors in Chinese history, reunifying China proper in 589 after centuries of division since the independence of the Cheng-Han and Han-Zhao dynasties from the Western Jin dynasty in 304. During his reign, the construction of the Grand Canal began.
Zhou, known in historiography as the Northern Zhou, was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and was eventually overthrown by the Sui dynasty.
Emperor Ming of Western Liang, personal name Xiao Kui (蕭巋), courtesy name Renyuan (仁遠), was an emperor of the Chinese Western Liang dynasty. He, like his father Emperor Xuan and his son Emperor Jing, controlled little territory and relied heavily on military support from the Northern Zhou dynasty and its successor state, the Sui dynasty.
Emperor Wen of Western Wei ( 魏文帝), personal name Yuan Baoju (元寶炬), was the first emperor of the Western Wei dynasty of China. In 534, Yuan Baoju, then the Prince of Nanyang, followed his cousin Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei in fleeing from the capital Luoyang to Chang'an, after a fallout between Emperor Xiaowu and the paramount general Gao Huan. However, Emperor Xiaowu's relationship to the general that he then depended on, Yuwen Tai, soon deteriorated as well, and around the new year 535, Yuwen Tai poisoned Emperor Xiaowu to death, making Yuan Baoju emperor. As Gao Huan had, late in 534, made Yuan Shanjian —the son of Emperor Wen's cousin Yuan Dan (元亶)—emperor, thus establishing the Eastern Wei, Emperor Wen is therefore regarded as Western Wei's founding emperor, formalizing the division of the Northern Wei dynasty. Emperor Wen's relationship with Yuwen Tai appeared cordial, but he was unable to exercise much real power.
Emperor Xuan of Western Liang, personal name Xiao Cha (蕭詧), courtesy name Lisun (理孫), was the founding emperor of the Western Liang dynasty of China. He took the throne of the Liang dynasty with support from the Western Wei dynasty after Western Wei forces had defeated and killed his uncle Emperor Yuan in January 555. However, scholars consider his regime, known as the Western Liang or Later Liang in historiography, to be separate from the Liang dynasty proper.
Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou ( 周武帝), personal name Yuwen Yong (宇文邕), Xianbei name Miluotu (禰羅突), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. As was the case of the reigns of his brothers Emperor Xiaomin and Emperor Ming, the early part of his reign was dominated by his cousin Yuwen Hu, but in April 572 he ambushed Yuwen Hu and seized power personally. He thereafter ruled ably and built up the power of his military, destroying the rivaling Northern Qi dynasty in 577 and annexing its territory. His death the next year, however, ended his ambitions of uniting China, and under the reign of his erratic son Emperor Xuan, Northern Zhou itself soon deteriorated and was usurped by Yang Jian, who founded the Sui dynasty, in 581.
Empress Ashina (阿史那皇后) was a Göktürk princess, who became an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty. She was the daughter of Göktürk's third khagan Muqan Qaghan, and her husband was Emperor Wu.
Empress Hu was an empress consort and empress dowager of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Wucheng. She was the empress dowager during the reign of her son Gao Wei. Hu was known to be debauched and promiscuous, having multiple love affairs even with eunuchs. Even after the Northern Qi was overthrown by the Northern Zhou, she continued to have affairs with the new emperors until she died in the Sui dynasty.
Yuchi Jiong (尉遲迥), courtesy name Bojuluo (薄居羅), was a general of the Xianbei-led Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties of China. He first came to prominence while his uncle Yuwen Tai served as the paramount general of Western Wei, and subsequently served Northern Zhou after the Yuwen clan established the state after Yuwen Tai's death. In 580, believing that the regent Yang Jian had designs on the throne, Yuchi rose against Yang but was soon defeated. He committed suicide.
Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou (北周宣帝), personal name Yuwen Yun (宇文贇), courtesy name Qianbo (乾伯), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty of China. He was known in history as an erratic and wasteful ruler, whose actions greatly weakened the Northern Zhou regime. As part of that erratic behavior, he passed the throne to his son Emperor Jing in April 579, less than a year after taking the throne, and subsequently entitled not only his wife Yang Lihua empress, but four additional concubines as empresses. After his death in June 580, the government was taken over by his father-in-law Yang Jian, who soon deposed his son Emperor Jing, ending the Northern Zhou and establishing the Sui dynasty.
Li Ezi, later Buddhist nun name Changbei (常悲), was an empress dowager of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty. She was the mother of Emperor Xuan.
Yang Lihua was an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty, and later a princess of Sui dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou, and her father was Yang Jian who later usurped the Northern Zhou throne to become the Emperor Wen of Sui.
Chen Yueyi, later Buddhist nun name Huaguang (華光), was a concubine of Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou dynasty of China.
Yuan Leshang, later Buddhist nun name Huasheng (華勝), was a concubine of the Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou dynasty of China.
Yuchi Chifan or Yuchi Fanchi, later Buddhist nun name Huashou (華首), was a concubine of the Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou dynasty of China.
Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou ( 周靜帝), personally name né Yuwen Yan (宇文衍), later Yuwen Chan (宇文闡), was the last emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty. He became emperor at the age of six, after his father Emperor Xuan formally passed the throne to him, but Emperor Xuan retained the imperial powers. After Emperor Xuan's death in 580, the official Yang Jian, the father of Emperor Xuan's wife Yang Lihua, seized power as regent. Yang soon defeated the general Yuchi Jiong, who tried to resist him, and in 581 had the young Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing the Sui dynasty. Yang soon had the young emperor, as well as other members of Northern Zhou's imperial Yuwen clan, put to death.
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Empress Chengxiaozhao, of the Zhang clan, was a Chinese empress consort of the Ming dynasty, married to the fourth Ming ruler, the Hongxi Emperor. He only ruled for one year, so she then served as Empress dowager after the accession of her son the Xuande Emperor. She later served as the Regent of China during the minority of the reign of her grandson, Emperor Yingzong of Ming, from 1435 until 1442.

Queen Dugu is a 2019 Chinese web series starring Joe Chen and Chen Xiao. It is based on the life of Dugu Jialuo and her husband Yang Jian, the founder of the Sui dynasty. It started airing online via iQiyi, Youku and Tencent on February 11, 2019.