The Temple of Myriad Virtuous Nuns was established in the second year of the Daxiang era under Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou dynasty. With its spacious courtyards, after Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, founded his new dynasty, he designated this temple as the ancestral shrine for the imperial Yuwen clan of the Zhou. All women of the Yuwen family who took monastic vows were granted official ordination certificates and settled here. In the second year of the Sui Kaihuang era, over a thousand concubines from Emperor Xuan’s harem were tonsured and ordained here in a single ceremony.
Emperor Xuan had once simultaneously enfeoffed five empresses. Apart from his principal wife, Empress Tianyuan Yang Lihua—the eldest daughter of the new dynasty’s emperor, who was later granted the title Princess Leping and allowed to establish her own residence—the other four empresses, Zhu Manyue (Empress Tianda), Chen Yueyi (Empress Tianzhong), Yuchi Chifan (Empress Tianzuo), and Yuan Leshang (Empress Tianyou), all became nuns under the Sui. Even Yang Lihua, disillusioned after her father usurped the throne from her husband’s family, often stayed at this temple. A beloved granddaughter of hers died at the age of nine and was also buried here, with a pagoda erected to pray for her blessings.
Sima Lingji’s insistence on taking vows at the Temple of Myriad Virtuous Nuns was undoubtedly her way of concluding her earthly trials as the last empress of Northern Zhou. Su Lingyu had heard that the Zhou imperial consorts in the nunnery, isolated from the world for too long, were often ill-prepared for the upheavals of dynastic change. Upon her arrival, Sima Lingji was appointed guest prefect by the abbess, and she gladly embraced the labor as a means of karmic purification. The news that "the empress of Northern Zhou’s Emperor Jing still resides in the Temple of Myriad Virtuous Nuns" gradually spread, attracting curious pilgrims who came to gawk and make offerings. This also brought prosperity to the temple’s nuns, creating mutual benefit. Thus, Sima Lingji continued in her role.
And now, the former Sui Empress Xiao had come to reside in this nunnery. Was she, too, following the example of the Zhou Yuwen imperial widows...?
As this thought crossed her mind, figures appeared at the teahouse entrance—Yang Min accompanied an elderly nun in black robes.
Chai Yingluo and Wei Shufen stepped forward to greet them. The elderly nun was petite, frail, and thin, her head bowed as she pressed her palms together:
"Ji Nan greets the esteemed patrons. This humble nun is aged and infirm, long confined to a sickbed. It is inconvenient to receive guests, yet I have repeatedly troubled you to visit. I beg your forgiveness."
From her tone, this diminutive elderly nun was none other than the renowned former Sui Empress Xiao.
Though Wei Shufen had guessed as much, she was still inwardly startled. She studied the nun closely—her shaved head covered by a monastic cap, her face weathered, her hands and features deeply lined. Though traces of her youthful beauty could still faintly be discerned, she was now undeniably a wizened old woman. In age, she was close to Sima Lingji, yet she appeared at least a decade older, no doubt due to the hardships she had endured over the years.
Since the fourteenth year of the Daye era, when Empress Xiao witnessed her husband Yang Guang’s assassination in Jiangdu, she had wandered with her only surviving grandson, the posthumously born Yang Min, passing through the hands of Yuwen Huaji, Dou Jiande, the Tujue’s Jieli Khan and his brother, until the fourth year of Zhenguan, when Kang Su-mi and his men sold them to the Tang army. Grandmother and grandson were then escorted back to Chang’an, having drifted between the north and south of the Yangtze and across the steppes for over a decade. Fortunately, the current imperial court treated her with respect. On several occasions during inner court ceremonies, Empress Zhangsun had shown her special favor. For this reason, if she chose to put on airs and refuse visitors, even a Tang imperial prince like Li Yuangui could do nothing about it.
Had Chai Yingluo not coincidentally encountered Yang Min leaving the Temple of Myriad Virtuous Nuns and deduced that Empress Xiao had taken vows here—taken vows?Wei Shufen quickly glanced at Empress Xiao's bare, shaven head, only covered by a nun's cap, and suddenly remembered Li Yuangui mentioning that when he sneaked into Empress Xiao's chamber at night, he had found a wig in her clothing chest—at the time, she had assumed it was merely an elderly woman's precaution against thinning hair, a false bun to wear hairpins and avoid impropriety. But now it seemed Empress Xiao had long since shaved her head and taken monastic vows, and the wig was for disguising herself when going out.
Chai Yingluo supported Empress Xiao—now calling herself by the dharma name "Ji Nan"—as she entered the room and sat down. After a round of polite inquiries about her health and checking her pulse, Chai also asked, "When did the venerable one take the tonsure, and why was it kept secret?"
"This humble nun has long devoted herself to the Way, abstaining from meat and fish since returning to the court in the fourth year of Zhenguan," Ji Nan replied calmly. "I had already expressed this intention to Empress Zhangsun in person, begging Her Majesty to allow me to renounce the world and spend my remaining years in peace. The Empress, in her compassion, did not explicitly forbid it but said my grandson was still young, and the household affairs might be too much for him to manage alone. She suggested this old nun continue to make appearances to maintain decorum, especially for the sake of the abdicated rulers of the previous dynasty and foreign envoys, to demonstrate the Tang court's benevolence toward the remnants of the past. How could this humble nun dare disobey an Imperial decree? Thus, I have kept it quiet, practicing in secret."
Her words implied that Empress Zhangsun had forbidden her, the former empress dowager and grandmother of two current imperial princes, from publicly becoming a nun to avoid accusations of the new dynasty being harsh and ungrateful. Yet, judging by her shaved head and black robes, the only difference from a formally ordained nun was the lack of an official Ordination Certificate... Clearly, she had long resided in the Temple of Myriad Virtuous Nuns, rarely returning to her grandson's home in Buzheng Ward.
Understanding the situation, Chai Yingluo refrained from further questions and said, "Yingluo has come by the order of the Son of Heaven and the Empress to seek the venerable one's counsel on matters of the previous dynasty. For intruding unannounced, I beg your forgiveness."
Ji Nan's eyelids lifted slightly as she cast a shrewd glance at Chai, revealing a trace of sharpness that allowed Wei Shufen to reconcile the frail old nun with the image of the "former empress dowager." Chai Yingluo still addressed her as "venerable one" rather than "Dharma Master" or "Great Master," adhering to Empress Zhangsun's will by not acknowledging Empress Xiao's legitimacy as a nun. The subtlety of this was not lost on Empress Xiao, who had spent her life in the palace.
Since Chai Yingluo had come to a Buddhist temple, it would have been inappropriate to arrive in Daoist robes, as if to provoke a confrontation. Like Wei Shufen, she wore a skirt and a veiled hat, and she could not refer to herself as "this humble Daoist." Instead, she used her childhood name and continued:
"Yingluo dares not take too much of your time. As you may have heard, the Great Tang is currently at war with Tuyuhun. A key figure in this is Murong Shun, the former Crown Prince of Tuyuhun, who was ordered by the Sui court to marry a woman from the Yang imperial clan, titled 'Dehua Princess,' with whom he had a son. Later, during the Jiangdu palace coup, the family was separated. Now, under Imperial command, we are searching for Dehua Princess and her son. After so many years, the records are lost, so we must ask you: which family's daughter was the Dehua Princess of that time? And what became of her and Murong Shun's son?"
Ji Nan sat cross-legged on a cushion, her eyes lowered as if in deep meditation. No one else in the room dared make a sound, holding their breath as they waited for her answer. Even Wei Shufen grew impatient before the old nun finally let out a long sigh."Dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dew, like lightning—all phenomena are illusory. Why must you persist in chasing after events from twenty years ago? That woman sent in marriage was not born of the imperial family. Uprooted and transplanted, her fate was already as fragile as grass and trees. Meeting with great calamity, she passed away in this mortal realm, her virtuous karma fulfilled, shedding her old skin to be reborn in the next life. We nuns all gathered reverently, chanting her merits..."
This was still the same response she had given Li Yuangui in her previous letters—hinting that the Dehua Princess was dead, yet refusing to state it outright. Chai Yingluo unceremoniously interrupted the old nun's recitation:
"Forgive my impertinence, Venerable Mother. Whether the Dehua Princess is alive or dead is not the issue for now. I only wish to know her origins—whose daughter was she truly? And where is the son she bore?"
Ji Nan fell silent, studying her for a long moment, as if moved by the resolute expression on her face. Slowly, she replied:
"Since that is the case, this old nun shall not deceive you. The Dehua Princess... she was naturally a daughter of the Yang family, a descendant of the former Sui imperial house... the daughter of a prince."
#####This chapter's annotations, based on recent archaeological discoveries related to Empress Xiao's tomb, compile historical facts and debunked myths about her. For the annotated content, please visit the author's Weibo. Search for the ID "Tang Dynasty Guide Forest Deer" on Sina Weibo. Discussions are welcome. ????
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