Yang Xianrong, a native of Nancheng, Taishan (present-day Pingyi, Shandong), was born in an unknown family of officials and eunuchs, his grandfather Yang Jin was the right servant of Shangshu in the Western Jin Dynasty, and his father Yang Xuanzhi served as the right servant of Shangshu and Shizhong, and was awarded the title of Duke of Xingjin County. His maternal grandfather Sun Qi served as a general in the History of Yanzhou and che riding.
In the first year of the Western Jin Dynasty (300 AD), the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" entered the ninth year, the first empress of the Jin Hui Emperor Sima Zheng, Jia Nanfeng, was good at government and framed the crown prince, and Sima Yi's ninth son, Sima Lun the Prince of Zhao, launched a coup d'état, killing Empress Jia's henchmen, and soon killed Empress Jia with poisoned wine.
Two years later, in the first year of Tai'an (302), Sima Zhengzhi made Yang Xianrong the second empress, and Yang Xianrong "will enter the palace, and there will be fire in his clothes." "When I was preparing to enter the palace, there was an inexplicable fire in my clothes, and this strange thing happened on the eve of the wedding, as if it was destined for the sheep to sacrifice life to be sad and full of wind and rain.
In the later period of the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings", the sheep sacrifice experienced "five wastes and six stands".
Shortly after Yang Xianrong was made empress, Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu, and Sima Yong[yóng] the king of Hejian wrote to the emperor to kill the empress and the empress's father, Yang Xuanzhi.
Soon, in the name of revenge against Yang Xuanzhi, he raised an army and attacked Sima Qi [yì] the king of Changsha.
In the first year of Yongxing (304), Sima Qi's soldiers were defeated and killed, and on February 17, Sima Ying went to the table and forced emperor Sima Zheng to depose the sheep and sacrifice him as a Shuren and imprison him in Jin Yongcheng (east of Luoyang City).
On the third day of the first month of July, Sima Yue, the king of the Eastern Sea, rebelled against Sima Ying and encircled Emperor Hui of Jin on his northern expedition, during which he restored yang to the position of empress.
Soon, Sima Huan's subordinates Zhang Fang attacked Luoyang, forcing Emperor Hui of Jin to depose Yang Xianrong as a Shuren again, and then coerced Emperor Hui of Jin to Chang'an, where Emperor Hui of Jin restored Yang Xianrong's position as empress and lived in Dongtai.
In the second year of Yongxing (305), Zhang Fang once again forced Emperor Hui of Jin to depose Yang Xianrong, and in November of the same year, the Lijie general Zhou Quan declared himself a general of Pingxi, falsely claiming that he had a secret edict from the emperor to welcome Yang Xianrong to the throne.
Luoyang County ordered He Qiao to destroy Zhou Quan, and Yang Xianrong was once again deposed.
Sima Yong, the king of Hejian, issued an edict in the name of Emperor Hui of Jin, claiming that the sheep sacrifice had been supported many times by the adulterers, and ordered Shang Shu Tian Shu to go to Dongtai to give the dead sheep sacrifice.
The edicts granting the death of the empress were sent to Dongtai continuously, and Liu Tun [tūn], the lieutenant colonel liu tun (暾暾), the shangshu servant Xun Fan (荀藩), and Yin Zhoufu (尹周馥) of Henan, who were responsible for guarding the eastern platform, believed that the empress was innocent, so they jointly petitioned not to kill the empress.
Sima Huan was furious, so he sent his generals Chen Yan and Lü Lang to hunt down and kill Liu Tun, and Liu Tun fled. In the third year of Yongxing (306), Emperor Hui of Jin returned to Luoyang and once again made Yang An empress.
In November of the first year of Guangxi (307), Emperor Hui of Jin fell ill and died of a violent illness (it is said that Sima Yue was poisoned).
The emperor's brother Sima Zhao took the throne, because he was related to Empress Xiandi, Yang Xianrong was worried that he could not be made empress, so he sent Chen Yan and others to welcome Emperor Hui of Jin's nephew, Sima Qin the Prince of Qinghe, as emperor, and as a result, the matter was leaked, sima Qin was imprisoned, and a year later he was killed by Sima Yue, only fourteen years old.
Sima Chi was the twenty-fifth son of Emperor Sima Yan of Jin, the half-brother of Emperor Hui of Jin, and after Emperor Hui of Jin's only son Sima Song was murdered by Empress Jia's father, Jia Mi, and others, Emperor Hui of Jin had no choice but to choose his younger brother as crown prince, so he made Sima Chi the emperor's brother-in-law.
Sima Chi ascended the throne, known historically as Emperor Huai of Jin, and honored Emperor Yang Xianrong as Empress Hui, who lived in Hongxun Palace.
In the fifth year of Yongjia (311), the Rebellion of the Eight Kings ended and the Rebellion of Yongjia began again.
Former Zhao's army captured Luoyang, Sima Zhao, the Emperor of Jinhuai, was captured, and Yang Xianrong was taken as a concubine by the Jianwei general Liu Yaoqiang.
In the second year of Taixing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (319), Liu Yao proclaimed himself emperor, known as "Emperor Zhaowen" in history, changed the name of the country to "Zhao", and the history called "Former Zhao", and the following year liyang was sacrificed as empress.
Yang Xianrong's life was relatively stable after that, and she gave birth to three princes for Emperor Zhaowen (she had previously had a daughter princess Qinghe with Emperor Hui of Jin), namely Liu Xi, Liu Xian, and Liu Xian.
In the fifth year of the former Zhao Guangchu (322), Yang Xianrong died of illness, and the imperial court posthumously honored Empress Xianwen and buried her in Xianping Mausoleum.