Du Lingyang

Du Lingyang (Chinese: 杜陵陽; 321 – 7 April 341), formally Empress Chenggong (成恭皇后) was an empress of the Jin dynasty (266–420) of China. Her husband was Emperor Cheng of Jin.

Naming

Some historians believe that her name was simply Du Ling, and that imperial archivists mistakenly attached the character "yang" to her name later. They point out that while the name of a county with the character "ling" in its name was changed pursuant to naming taboo, many names of places with "yang" in their names were not changed. However, there can be other explanations for this.

Life

Du Lingyang was a daughter of Du Yi (杜乂), a mid-level official and the hereditary Marquis of Dangyang, a grandson of the general Du Yu, who contributed much to Emperor Wu of Jin's conquest of Eastern Wu. Du Yi died early, and Du Lingyang, who did not have any brothers, was raised by her mother Lady Pei Mu (裴穆).

Du Lingyang was famed for her beauty and virtues, and Emperor Cheng made her his empress on 17 March 336, when both of them were 15. He apparently favored her greatly, but she was childless. She died in April 341, 15 months before his death.

After her death, her name was tabooed (meaning that other important people or places should not share her name) to honour her, and thus the name of the county Lingyang (headquarter in modern Southern Lingyang town, Qingyang, Anhui) was changed to Guangyang. This is believed to be the first instance of a geographical name being changed due to a taboo of the name of an empress.

Notes

• Fang, Xuanling. Book of Jin (Jin Shu).