Empress Wang (Dezong)
Empress Wang (王皇后, personal name unknown) (died December 6, 786
Background
Not much is known about the future Empress Wang's family, other than that her father Wang Yu (王遇) had once served as the director of the archival bureau (秘書監, MIshu Jian). She had at least one brother, Wang Guo (王果).[2]
As princely and imperial consort
The future Empress Wang became a consort, but not wife, to
Creation as empress and death
Consort Wang grew ill in 786 and, on December 3, Emperor Dezong made her empress. She died three days later, on December 6.[1][7] She was initially buried at a tomb separate from what would eventually become Emperor Dezong's tomb, but after his death in 805, she was moved to his tomb. She would become the last living Tang empress for over a century, until Empress He, the empress of Emperor Zhaozong, near the end of the dynasty (although several emperors' mothers would be honored as empresses dowager while they were living and posthumously honored as empresses after their deaths).[2]
Notes and references
- ^ a b "中 曆 日 序".
- ^ a b c Old Book of Tang, vol. 52 Archived 2008-09-21 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Both Empress Wang’s biographies in the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang indicated that she became a consort to Li Kuo while he was the Prince of Lu. See Old Book of Tang, vol. 52 and New Book of Tang, vol. 77 Archived 2009-02-02 at the Wayback Machine. However, as Li Kuo was only briefly the Prince of Lu, in 762, this would be incompatible for her having given birth to Li Song in 761. See Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 222.
- ^ Old Book of Tang, vol. 51 Archived 2008-10-18 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 228.
- ^ As the modern Chinese historian Bo Yang noted, there was a discrepancy between her rank here and the rank of the consort carrying the imperial seal, as her rank was Shufei and the consort carrying the imperial seal was described to be a Consort Wang but said to carry the greater rank of Guifei (貴妃). See Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 56 [786].
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 232.