and replaced him with Consort Zhang's son, Chen Yuan. He also considered deposing Empress Shen and replacing her with Consort Chang, but had not had a chance to carry this out before Sui dynasty forces captured the capital Jiankang in 589, seizing him and ending the Chen dynasty, unifying China. Consort Zhang was executed by the Sui general, Gao Jiong, but Chen Shubao was spared and taken to the Sui capital, Chang'an, to be treated as an honored guest of Emperor Wen of Sui. Empress Shen followed Chen Shubao to Chang'an. She wrote deeply mournful texts to commemorate him when he died in 604. Earlier that year, Emperor Wen had died as well and was succeeded by his son, Emperor Yang of Sui, who, during his reign, undertook 11 journeys through various parts of the empire and often had Empress Shen accompany his train. She was with his train in Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) in 618, when he was killed in a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji. After Emperor Yang's death, Empress Shen crossed the Yangtze south to Pi-ling city (毗陵, modern Changzhou in Jiangsu province), where she became a Buddhist nun with the name Guanyin ("Avalokiteśvara") in 618. Guanyin died early in the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang (626–649), but the exact year is not known. Ancestry References |- Chen dynasty empresses Chen dynasty Buddhists Sui dynasty Buddhists Tang dynasty Buddhists 6th-century births 7th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Sui dynasty writers Chinese Buddhist nuns 7th-century Buddhist nuns