Empress Chen Yueyi (565?-650?), later Buddhist nun name Huaguang (華光), was a concubine of Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou

Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou

Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou , personal name Yuwen Yun , courtesy name Qianbo , was an emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou. He was known in history as an erratic and wasteful ruler, whose actions greatly weakened the Northern Zhou regime...

, an emperor

Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...

 of the Chinese

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

/Xianbei

Xianbei

The Xianbei were a significant Mongolic nomadic people residing in Manchuria, Inner Mongolia and eastern Mongolia. The title “Khan” was first used among the Xianbei.-Origins:...

 dynasty Northern Zhou

Northern Zhou

The Northern Zhou Dynasty followed the Western Wei, and ruled northern China from 557 to 581. It was overthrown by the Sui Dynasty.Northern Zhou's basis of power was established by Yuwen Tai, who was paramount general of Western Wei, following the split of Northern Wei into Western Wei and...

.

Chen Yueyi's father was Chen Shanti (陳山提), and she was his eighth daughter. Chen Shanti was initially a servant of the Northern Wei

Northern Wei

The Northern Wei Dynasty , also known as the Tuoba Wei , Later Wei , or Yuan Wei , was a dynasty which ruled northern China from 386 to 534 . It has been described as "part of an era of political turbulence and intense social and cultural change"...

 general Erzhu Zhao

Erzhu Zhao

Erzhu Zhao , courtesy name Wanren , was a general of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei. He was ethnically Xiongnu and a nephew of the paramount general Erzhu Rong. After Erzhu Rong was killed by Emperor Xiaozhuang, Erzhu Zhao came to prominence by defeating, capturing, and killing Emperor...

, and after Erzhu's defeat by Gao Huan

Gao Huan

Gao Huan , nickname Heliuhun , formally Prince Xianwu of Qi , later further formally honored by Northern Qi initially as Emperor Xianwu , then as Emperor Shenwu with the temple name Gaozu , was the paramount general of the...

 became a servant to Gao. He served as a general in several administrations of Northern Qi

Northern Qi

The Northern Qi Dynasty was one of the Northern dynasties of Chinese history and ruled northern China from 550 to 577.-History:The Chinese state of Northern Qi was the successor state of the Chinese/Xianbei state of Eastern Wei and was founded by Emperor Wenxuan...

, founded by Gao's son Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi

Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi

Emperor Wenxuan of Qi , personal name Gao Yang , courtesy name Zijin , was the first emperor of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. He was the second son of Eastern Wei's paramount general Gao Huan, and the death of his brother and Gao Huan's designated successor Gao Cheng in 549 became the regent...

, eventually achieving the title of Prince of Xieyang. After Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou

Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou

Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou , personal name Yuwen Yong , nickname Miluotu , was an emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou. 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 572 he...

 destroyed Northern Qi in 577, Chen Shanti became a Northern Zhou general and carried the title of Duke of Xiyang. In 579, Chen Yueyi was selected to be an imperial consort for Emperor Xuan, with the title of Defei (德妃). A month later, Emperor Xuan passed the throne to his son Emperor Jing

Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou

Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou , personally name né Yuwen Yan , later Yuwen Chan , was the last emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou. 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...

 and took an atypical title for a retired emperor, "Emperor Tianyuan" (天元皇帝, Tianyuan Huangdi). He subsequently decided that in addition to his wife Empress Yang Lihua

Empress Yang Lihua

Empress Yang Lihua was an empress of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou, and later a princess of Sui Dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou , and her father was Emperor Wen of Sui ....

, he would create three more empresses, and Consort Chen was selected as one -- with the title of Empress Tianzuo (天左皇后, Tianzuo Huanghou), subsequently changed in spring 580 to Tianzuo Da Huanghou (天左大皇后). Subsequently, as he wanted to create one more empress, he changed her title to Tianzhong Da Huanghou (天中大皇后) so that her Tianzuo Da Huanghou title could be given to Empress Weichi Chifan. Among the empresses, she was said to be closest to Empress Yuan Leshang

Empress Yuan Leshang

Empress Yuan Leshang , later Buddhist nun name Huasheng , was a concubine of Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou, an emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou....

, as they entered the palace at the same time and were the same age, and they were also both favored by Emperor Xuan.

Emperor Xuan died in summer 580, and Empress Yang's father Yang Jian

Emperor Wen of Sui

Emperor Wen of Sui — personal name Yang Jian , Xianbei name Puliuru Jian , nickname Naluoyan — was the founder and first emperor of China's Sui Dynasty . He was a hard-working administrator and a micromanager. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state...

 became regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

. Empress Chen became a Buddhist nun with the name of Huaguang, and she outlived Yang Jian's subsequent Sui Dynasty

Sui Dynasty

The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

. According to both the Book of Zhou

Book of Zhou

The Book of Zhou was the official history of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou, and it ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by the Tang Dynasty historian Linghu Defen and was completed in 636...

and History of Northern Dynasties

History of Northern Dynasties

The History of Northern Dynasties is one of the official Chinese historical works in the Twenty-Four Histories canon. It contain 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Zhou, Northern Qi, and Sui Dynasty...

, she was still alive as of the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang

Emperor Taizong of Tang

Emperor Taizong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Shìmín , was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649...

(626-649), but nothing further was recorded in either of those two official histories about her.