Consort Niu, imperial consort rank ''Zhaorong'' (牛昭容, personal name unknown) was an imperial consort 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 ...

dynasty

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. She was a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

to Emperor Shunzong (Li Song). Nothing is known about Consort Niu's background, as there is no biography of her in the collections of empresses' and imperial consorts' biographies of the ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'' or the ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

''. It is not known when she became Li Song's concubine, but it appeared to be during the time that he was serving as

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

under his father Emperor Dezong. In 805, after Emperor Dezong's death, Li Song became emperor (as Emperor Shunzong). Li Song had, in late 804, suffered a debilitating

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

that rendered him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. It was said that, as a result, after he became emperor, he rarely met the officials and was often in the palace behind a screen, attended to by Consort Niu and the

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 ...

Li Zhongyan (李忠言).''

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. 236. By this point, Consort Niu was carrying the title of ''Zhaorong'', the sixth highest rank for imperial consorts. It was said that Consort Niu and Li Zhongyan formed a group of decision-makers, along with Emperor Shunzong's trusted officials

Wang Shuwen Wang Shuwen ( zh, 王叔文; born 753, died 806) was a Chinese economist and politician during the Tang dynasty. He was a close associate of Emperor Shunzong (Li Song) while Li Song was crown prince under his father, Emperor Dezong, and was pow ...

and

Wang Pi Wang Pi ( zh, 王伾; died 805?) was a Chinese calligrapher and politician of the Tang dynasty, who was a close associate of Emperor Shunzong (Li Song). He, along with his ally Wang Shuwen, was powerful during Emperor Shunzong's brief reign in 8 ...

and the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Wei Zhiyi Wei Zhiyi (韋執誼) was a Chinese historian and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor in 805, during the brief reign of Emperor Shunzong of Tang, Emperor Shunzong and then briefly into ...

, and they effectively made the decisions on Emperor Shunzong's behalf. They feared Emperor Shunzong's oldest son Li Chun the Prince of Guangling, purportedly because of Li Chun's decisiveness, and initially resisted the suggestions by a number of officials that Li Chun be created crown prince. By written proposal of the imperial scholar Zheng Yin, however, Li Chun was created crown prince anyway. Late in 805, by which time Wang Shuwen and Wang Pi had lost power, Emperor Shunzong yielded the throne to Li Chun (as Emperor Xianzong) and took the title of ''

Taishang Huang In Chinese history, a ''Taishang Huang'' or ''Taishang Huangdi'' is an honorific and institution of a retired emperor. The former emperor had, at least in name, abdicated in favor of someone else. Although no longer the reigning sovereign, ther ...

'' (retired emperor). He died in 806.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 237. Nothing further was recorded in history about Consort Niu, and it is not known whether she suffered any reprisals or when she died.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 236. {{DEFAULTSORT:Niu, Consort 8th-century births 9th-century deaths Tang dynasty imperial consorts