Empress Dou (Wen)
Dou Yifang | |
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Empress Xiao Wen | |
Family name: Dou 竇 Given name: Yifang 猗房 | |
Posthumous name | |
Empress Xiao Wen (孝文皇后) |
Empress Dou Yifang (
Early life
Empress Dou was born into a family in
On one occasion, Emperor Hui's mother
That mistake by the eunuch turned out to be a fortunate one for Lady Dou, however. She became a favourite of
As empress to Emperor Wen
After Prince Heng became emperor in the aftermaths of the
One of the first things that she carried out was a search for her brothers. Finding Zhangjun was not difficult. Finding Guangguo turned out to be difficult—and Guangguo had to find her himself, in one of the touching stories of Chinese antiquity. Shortly after Empress Dou was summoned as a lady in waiting, when he was only four or five years old, Guangguo himself was kidnapped and sold into
- When my sister was about to be summoned west to Chang'an, we said our farewells at the imperial messenger station. She bathed me and fed me one last time before she left.
Empress Dou immediately held him and cried, and all of her ladies in waiting and eunuchs, seeing the touching scene, also cried. She then gave her brothers much wealth and built them mansions in Chang'an. At the suggestion of the officials who had overthrown the Lü clans and were fearful of a repeat, the Dou brothers were given companions of humility and virtue to try to influence them positively, and they became humble and virtuous themselves.
Either early in her husband's reign as emperor, or while he was still the Prince of Dai, Empress Dou became a strict adherent to
As empress dowager
After Emperor Wen died in July 157 BC, Crown Prince Qi succeeded to the throne as
Whether Empress Dowager Dou favoured Emperor Jing's policies of reducing principality sizes—which eventually led to the Rebellion of the Seven States in 154 BC—is unknown. During that rebellion, however, her heart was wrenched when the Principality of Liang was under heavy attack by the rebelling princes. She wanted Zhou Yafu, the commander of the imperial forces, to relieve Liang as soon as possible, but Zhou correctly concluded that the better strategy was to bypass Liang and cut off the rebels' supply lines first. Zhou's strategy would lead to victory, but would also earn him the enmity of Prince Wu and Empress Dowager Dou. She was probably pleased when Zhou, then under arrest under false charges of treason, committed suicide in 143 BC.
Empress Dowager Dou's concerns for Prince Wu would be tested again in 148 BC. Prince Wu, whose contribution in repelling the rebels during the Rebellion of the Seven States had earned him the privilege of using many imperial styles, wanted to be crown prince. This was favored by Empress Dowager Dou as well, but opposed by officials, who believed such a move would bring instability to dynastic succession. When Prince Wu sought permission to build a highway directly from his capital Suiyang (睢陽, in modern Shangqiu, Henan) to Chang'an, the same officials, fearing that the highway might be used for military purposes if Liang rebelled, opposed it. Prince Wu had these officials assassinated. Emperor Jing was extremely angry and sent many investigators to Liang to track down the conspirators, whom Prince Wu eventually surrendered. However, Emperor Jing was greatly displeased. Prince Wu, in order to show contrition to regain his brother's favor, thought of a plan and carried it out. On his next official visit to the capital, when he got to the Hangu Pass, he eluded his train as well as the imperial train that had been sent to welcome him, and instead took a side road to Chang'an, to the house of his sister Liu Piao. (When the imperial train could not locate Prince Wu, both Emperor Jing and Empress Dowager Dou was greatly distressed, and she accused him of killing Prince Wu.) Prince Wu then appeared before the imperial palace, half-naked, and bearing a cutting board on his back, in a manner of a criminal ready to be slaughtered. Both Emperor Jing and Empress Dowager Dou was greatly touched, and Emperor Jing pardoned him on the spot. However, he would no longer consider him a potential heir. When Prince Wu died in 144 BC, Empress Dowager Dou greatly mourned him, and could not be consoled easily until Emperor Jing created all five of Prince Wu's sons princes themselves.
When Empress Dowager Dou's grandson Liu Rong, the Prince of Linjiang (and former crown prince), was imprisoned in 148 BC for intruding onto the grounds of Emperor Wen's temple when building walls to his palace, it is unknown whether Empress Dowager Dou tried to intercede on his behalf. However, after he was ultimately forced to commit suicide, she was greatly saddened, and she eventually ordered, against Emperor Jing's wishes, that the official who forced Prince Rong to commit suicide, Zhi Du (郅都), be executed on a minor offence.
As grand empress dowager
When Emperor Jing died in 141 BC, Empress Dowager Dou became grand empress dowager over his son and her grandson,
Impact on Chinese history
Empress Dou was one of the earliest politically dominating female figures in Chinese history. Unlike her stepmother-in-law
Media
- She is portrayed by Ruby Lin in the 2010 Chinese television series Beauty's Rival in Palace.
- She is portrayed by Sally Chen in the 2014 Chinese television series The Virtuous Queen of Han.
Notes
- Book of Han, vol. 97, part 1.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.
References
- ^ dinghai day of the 5th month of the 6th year of the Jian'yuan era, per Emperor Wu's biography in Book of Han
- ISBN 978-0-253-02069-7.