Princess Changning

Princess Changning (Chinese: 長寧公主; pinyin: Chángníng gōngzhǔ; 680 – after 728) was a Chinese princess, the daughter of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and Empress Wei.^{1 2 3}

She married Yang Shenjiao⁴ of Hongnong, Duke Guan (弘農 楊慎交; 675–724), and had issue (two sons and one daughter); she then married Su Yanbo (蘇彥伯; 687–745) in 728.

After Emperor Zhongzong was restored to the throne, she was elevated to the title of Princess Changning and was granted her own household guards. She was known as her father's favourite daughter, and held significant influence within the court. In the second year of the Shenlong era (706), she was permitted to establish her own official headquarters and appoint subordinate officials. Relying on the favor that her mother, Empress Wei, enjoyed, she joined Princess Anle, Princess Yicheng, and Empress Wei’s sisters—the Lady of Chengguo and the Lady of Chongguo—in participating in the corrupt practice of the “slanted-sealed appointments” (xiefeng guan), in which official posts were improperly granted or sold outside the normal bureaucratic procedures.

Together with her sister, Princess Anle, she became widely known for extravagance and ostentatious displays of wealth, the two sisters constantly competing with one another in lavish spending and luxury; they enslaved common people, confiscated public property, and even took male lovers into their service. In 710, a series of dramatic events unfolded in rapid succession: the sudden and suspicious death of her father, Emperor Zhongzong; the bloody coup against her mother, sister, and their faction; and the enthronement of her uncle, Emperor Ruizong. Princess Changning, who had generally avoided entangling herself in factional political struggles, managed to escape death. Nevertheless, she lost much of the vast wealth she had accumulated through corruption, under imperial patronage and with exemption from the law, and was thereafter compelled to continue her life with far greater caution.