Consort Han, imperial consort rank ''Shufei'' (韓淑妃, personal name unknown) was the first wife of

Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923� ...

(Li Cunxu), the founding emperor of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...

state. Despite her status as his wife, he bypassed her and created a favored concubine, Empress Liu, empress after he claimed imperial title.

Background

It is not known when Lady Han was born, or what her family background was. It is also not known when she married Li Cunxu, but it appeared that it was before his becoming Prince of Jin, for it was said that she was his first-married wife and that a favorite concubine, Lady Hou, was taken in his victory over Later Liang forces and Lady Hou's then-husband, the Later Liang general Fu Daozhao (符道昭), was killed in battle''

New History of the Five Dynasties The ''Historical Records of the Five Dynasties'' (''Wudai Shiji'') is a Chinese history book on the Five Dynasties period (907–960), written by the Song dynasty official Ouyang Xiu in private. It was drafted during Ouyang's exile from 1036 to ...

'', vol. 14. — which occurred in 908, shortly after he inherited the title of Prince of Jin after his father

Li Keyong Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...

's death. In any case, she was considered his wife, while the next-two ranked concubines were Lady Yi and Lady Liu.

During Li Cunxu's reign as Prince of Jin

After Li Cunxu inherited the title of Prince of Jin from Li Keyong and shortly after captured Lady Hou, Lady Hou became a favorite concubine of his and often accompanied him on his campaigns. Lady Han, as his wife, was given the title of Lady of Wei (衛國夫人), but that title, while an honored one, was not greater than those given to Lady Yi (who was given the title of Lady of Yan) or Lady Liu (who was given the title of Lady of Wei (魏國夫人) — note different character than Lady Han's title), even though Lady Han continued to be recognized as Li Cunxu's rightful wife. Later, after Lady Liu gave birth to his oldest son

Li Jiji Li Jiji (李繼岌) (died May 28, 926''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 275.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), formally the Prince of Wei (魏王), nickname Hege (和哥), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten King ...

, Li Cunxu favored her more as he believed Li Jiji to be a lot like himself, and therefore, on campaigns, Lady Liu displaced Lady Hou as the one accompanying him.

During Li Cunxu's reign as Emperor Zhuangzong

In 923, Li Cunxu claimed the title of Emperor of Tang, establishing

as its Emperor Zhuangzong. Shortly after, he captured Daliang, the capital of his state's archrival Later Liang; Later Liang's final emperor Zhu Zhen committed suicide, ending that state.''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vol. 272. Shortly after, he wanted to create Lady Liu empress, but could not bring himself to do so, because Lady Han was his wife; also, his mother Empress Dowager Cao disliked Lady Liu, and his chief of staff

Guo Chongtao Guo Chongtao () (died February 20, 926''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 274.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Anshi (), formally the Duke of Zhao Commandery (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Chinese ...

also opposed elevating her over Lady Han. In 924, however, Guo, troubled over accusations that Emperor Zhuangzong's favorite

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

s and performers were making against him, changed his mind and began supporting Lady Liu, believing that an alliance with her would ensure the emperor's continuing trust. Emperor Zhuangzong, with Guo supporting his wishes, thus created Lady Liu empress.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 273. Both Lady Han and Lady Yi were angry over Empress Liu's elevation over them, so Emperor Zhuangzong tried to placate them by carrying out formal creation ceremonies creating them honorable imperial consort titles — with Lady Han created ''Shufei'' and Lady Yi created ''Defei'' (德妃).

After Emperor Zhuangzong's death

In 926, Emperor Zhuangzong was killed in a mutiny at the capital

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

. His adoptive brother

Li Siyuan Li Siyuan (李嗣源, later changed to Li Dan (李亶)) (10 October 867 – 15 December 933), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang (後唐明宗), was the second emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China, reignin ...

, who had earlier rebelled against him, quickly arrived at Luoyang and took the throne (as Emperor Mingzong). He continued to honor and supply Consorts Han and Yi. (Empress Liu, meanwhile, tried to flee to Jin's old capital

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

with Emperor Zhuangzong's younger brother Li Cunwo (李存渥) the Prince of Shen, but was chased down by Emperor Mingzong's emissaries and killed.)''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 275. Emperor Mingzong later ordered that Emperor Zhuangzong's imperial consorts be sent back to their homes, and Consorts Han and Yi took up residence at Taiyuan. When Emperor Mingzong's son-in-law

Shi Jingtang Shi Jingtang ( zh, 石敬瑭; 30 March 892 – 28 July 942''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 283.), also known by his temple name Gaozu (), was the founding emperor of imperial China's short-lived Later Jin during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms pe ...

rebelled against Emperor Mingzong's adoptive son and successor

Li Congke Li Congke () (11 February 885 – 11 January 937), also known in historiography as the Last Emperor of Later Tang (), Deposed Emperor of Later Tang (), Wang Congke () (particularly during the succeeding Later Jin dynasty, which did not recogni ...

in 936 and sought aid from the Khitan

Emperor Taizong of Liao Emperor Taizong of Liao (25 November 902 – 18 May 947), personal name Yaogu, sinicised name Yelü Deguang, courtesy name Dejin, was the second emperor of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China. Background Yelü Deguang was born in 902, befor ...

to the north,''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 280. Khitan forces arrived at Taiyuan and took Consorts Han and Yi north. Nothing further was recorded in history about what happened to them.

References

Citations

Sources

* '' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 49. * ''

'', vol. 14. * ''

'', vols. 270, 273, 275. , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Consort 9th-century births 10th-century deaths Jin (Later Tang precursor) people born during Tang Later Tang imperial consorts Liao dynasty people