A Millennium-Long Lineage

@XimenDama: Regardless of the version of the history textbook, the Northern Wei sinicization duo of Emperor Xiaowen and Empress Dowager Feng always manage to occupy at least half a page. Being able to leave so many words in the precious space of a textbook speaks volumes about the importance of these two. Empress Dowager Feng's great-uncle was Feng Ba, the emperor of Northern Yan. This guy had an incredible achievement: "Ba had over a hundred sons," fathering 100 sons... But having so many children was completely useless, because after he died, all these sons were wiped out by his brother Feng Hong.

After Feng Hong took the throne, Later Yan was soon gone, and he had to flee to Goguryeo. As a result, this guy still threw his weight around in Goguryeo, putting on emperor airs, which annoyed the King of Goguryeo so much that he had him executed...

Before Feng Hong met his doom, he offered his daughter Lady Feng to Tuoba Tao as a concubine. Tuoba Tao treated Lady Feng quite well, granting her the title of Zhaoyi, second only to the Empress. After Feng Hong ascended the throne, he deposed his original wife Lady Wang, demoted his eldest son Feng Chong born to Lady Wang, and appointed his favored Lady Murong as Empress. Lady Wang's sons—Feng Chong, Feng Lang, and Feng Mi—feared persecution from their stepmother and successively defected to Northern Wei. Initially, Northern Wei treated them well, but later they were convicted due to military failures. Feng Lang was executed, and his entire family was confiscated into the court as slaves, including his young daughter, the little Lady Feng.

Because her aunt was a Zhaoyi, the little Lady Feng received protection in the palace. Under her aunt's arrangement, the little Lady Feng married her aunt's husband's grandson, namely the imperial grandson Tuoba Jun (a generational mismatch). After Tuoba Jun ascended the throne, the little Lady Feng became Empress and successively raised Tuoba Jun's son, Emperor Xianwen (Tuoba Hong), and grandson, Emperor Xiaowen, becoming one of the most important women in Chinese history, known in history as Empress Dowager Feng.

Unlike his brother Feng Lang, Feng Hong's other son Feng Ye defected to the Southern Dynasties, where he married and had children. He had a son Feng Zhao, grandson Feng Rong, and great-grandson Feng Bao. Feng Bao married a female tribal leader of Lingnan, who is the famous Lady Xian of South China. If you go to Hainan today, you can often see memorial buildings dedicated to this heroine who safeguarded national unity.

Feng Bao and Lady Xian had a son Feng Pu, grandson Feng Ang, great-grandson Feng Zhidai, and great-great-grandson Feng Junheng. In the second year of Changshou under Empress Wu Zetian, the ruthless official Wan Guojun went to Guangzhou and falsely accused the exiles in Lingnan of rebellion, carrying out mass slaughter. Feng Junheng, then the Prefect of Panzhou, was framed with charges of "harboring resentment, shielding clansmen, and plotting rebellion." He was stripped of his official rank, his property was confiscated, and he was executed shortly after. His young son, Feng Yuanyi, as a family member of a convicted criminal, was castrated and sent into the palace to serve.

Li Qianli, the Lingnan Pacification Commissioner sent by Wu Zetian, saw that Feng Yuanyi was clever and agile, so he offered him along with another child to Wu Zetian. To cater to Wu Zetian's devotion to Buddhism, he named the two children "Lishi" and "Jingang" respectively.

Wu Zetian indeed liked this Lishi very much. "Praising his cleverness and early wisdom, she ordered him to serve by her side," keeping him close to attend to her. But Lishi was, after all, a child, and soon he was whipped for a minor mistake and expelled from the palace. The eunuch Gao Yanfu perhaps pitied him, perhaps was planning for his own old age, or perhaps thought the child was smart and could be a good investment; regardless, he adopted him as his foster son and changed his surname.

This is the highly familiar "Gao Lishi."

This means Empress Dowager Feng, Lady Xian, and Gao Lishi were all one family... all originating from the imperial Feng clan of Northern Yan~~ Who could have imagined that the fallen royal family of the short-lived Northern Yan would secretly survive and stage the greatest comeback. The reforms of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the stability of Lingnan, and the palace politics of the High Tang were all family affairs of their relatives...

This is truly a millennium-long lineage...