https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/33493331/TANG-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=yOf the defectors and those who surrendered, the noblemen were often given princesses as wives 2˜ ˨, ˇńȼ¨x. 322 According to the biographies in the Wei shu and the Bei shi and the excavated funeral inscriptions, more than half of the Northern Wei princesses married Han Chinese men. Among the Han Chinese men, half of them were members of prominent clans in the south or royal members of southern courts who defected to the north, as well as their descendants in the north.323 Among these men, the prominent ones are as follows: Eastern Jin royal clansman Sima Chuzhi ǁǎ͛e (390-464) and his son Sima Yue ǁǎԶ and his grandson Sima Fei ǁǎ勳, both of whom were born in the north;324 Liu-Song prince Liu Chang and his sons Liu Chengxu and Liu Hui, both of whom were born in the north;325 Southern Qi official Wang Su and his nephew Wang Song Ɏڼ) 482-528) from the illustrious Langya Wang clan;326 Southern Qi prince Xiao Baoyin ר×ࠌ) 485-530), his son Xiao Lie ר ˽and his nephew Xiao Zan רӗ (502-531).327 Sima Chuzhi, Liu Chang, Wang Su, Xiao Baoyin and Xiao Zan had all been married in the south and were married again to Northern Wei princesses.328 At some point in their lives, most of them experienced a liangdi dilemma.
Generally speaking, a liangdi dilemma would not happen to a woman with such an elevated status as a princess, as a man could not possibly treat both women as his principal wives if one of them was a princess. Although there were many cases in which a man had two wives, and sometimes the situation seems to be accepted by society, if a married man was chosen to wed a princess, he had to formally divorce his wife. For example, Dou Xuan’s wife was divorced when Dou Xuan was chosen to marry an Eastern Han princess. Grand Princess of Wuwei ˾̽ ¨x, was first married to the Northern Liang Ɠɡ (397-439) ruler Juqu Mujian پֻࠈ) d. 447, r. 433-439).329 After Juqu Mujian died, she was remarried to a Northern Wei general Li Gai ̧Ϳ. Her second marriage resulted in the divorce of Li’s wife Lady Yu ¡ת. 330
Although princesses were normally exempted from the liangdi dilemma, they might have to confront it under one kind of special circumstances. That is, when the other legitimate wife was from a foreign state (yiguo ͋5) or a rival state (diguo Ϟ5). Such was the case for Wang Su and other married southern men who defected or surrendered to the northern courts. Was the divorce of their first wives still required under such circumstances? How were these cross-state bigamy cases regarded and handled by those who were directly involved? How were they perceived by the public? These questions are hard to answer as we rarely come across detailed historical records on these cases. The account of Wang Su and his two wives in the Luoyang qielan ji provides an unusual opportunity to catch a glimpse into this special liangdi situation. Not only that, but Wang Su’s case is also useful in contextualizing some of the observations on women in the north and the south and their relations with their spouses.
