| Princess Yongtai 永泰公主 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tang court ladies from a mural in Li Xianhui's tomb. The actual murals have been replaced by replicas, as the originals are now kept in theShaanxi History Museum to better preserve them.[1][2] | |||||
| Born | 685 | ||||
| Died | October 9, 701(701-10-09) (aged 15–16) | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | Wu Yanji, Prince of Wei | ||||
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| Clan | House of Li | ||||
| Father | Emperor Zhongzong of Tang | ||||
| Mother | Empress Wei | ||||
Princess Yongtai (Chinese:永泰公主;Wade–Giles:Yung-t'ai), bornLi Xianhui (Chinese:李仙蕙;pinyin:Lǐ Xiānhuì); 685 – October 9, 701[3][4]),courtesy nameNonghui (穠輝), was a princess of theTang dynasty.
Li was the seventh daughter ofEmperor Zhongzong of Tang and the second daughter ofEmpress Wei. She married Wu Yanji (武延基), Prince of Wei, a grandnephew ofWu Zetian.[5]
The cause of Princess Yongtai's death is widely disputed. According toher brother's biography in both the Old and New Books of Tang, she, her husband and her brother were found to have criticised Wu Zetian's loversZhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong and were caned to death. In theZizhi Tongjian, the three were forced to commit suicide. In contrast, the epitaph from her tomb states that she died inchildbirth. After Wu Zetian's death, when her father again came to the throne, she and her brother were reburied in grand tombs in theQianling Mausoleum in 705.[6]
Li's tomb was discovered in 1960, and excavated from 1964. Among theQianling Mausoleum burials, Li's is the largest belonging to a woman.[7] It had been robbed in the past, probably soon after the burial, and items in precious materials taken, but the thieves had not bothered with the over 800pottery tomb figures, and the extensive frescoes were untouched. The robbers had left in a hurry, leaving silver items scattered around, and the corpse of one of their number. The tomb had a flattened pyramid rising 12 metres above ground, and a long sloping entrance tunnel lined with frescoes, leading to an ante-chamber and the tomb chamber itself, 12 metres below ground level with a high domed roof.[8] Most of the contents, including the frescoes, are now in theShaanxi History Museum.
The frescoes depicted thefour deities, ceremonial weaponry, daily life in the imperial court, andcelestial bodies. The tomb also provides an example ofTang dynasty architecture, with depictions of buildings andcaisson motifs.[9] The main subject of the frescoes is women, the majority of whom are shown without make-up and wearing no jewellery.[10] There are also several carved human figures, who seem to beladies-in-waiting.[11]
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![Stone sarcophagus of Princess Yongtai (side view, reproduction), Qianling Museum. Designed as a stone house with hip-and-gable roof, it is comparable to the sarcophagus of Li Jingxun, although much larger with a surface of 40 square meters.[12][13]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aStone_tomb_of_Princess_Yongtai%2c_Qianling_Museum.jpg)
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