Consort Wang (personal name unknown), imperial consort rank ''Cairen'' () (died 846), posthumously honored ''Xianfei '' (),''

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 ...

'', vol. 77. 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 va ...

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 the favorite

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 ...

of Emperor Wuzong (Li Chan).

Early life

It is not known when the future Consort Wang was born, but it is known that she was 12 when she entered the palace and was given by Emperor Muzong to Li Chan, and as Emperor Muzong reigned from 820 to 824, that placed a timeframe as to her birth. She was from

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

, and was taken into the palace because of her talent in singing and dancing, and she was also said to be alert and intelligent. Li Chan was then the Prince of Ying under his father Emperor Muzong, and Emperor Muzong gave her to Li Chan. Toward the end of the reign of Li Chan's older brother Emperor Wenzong (r. 827–840), when Li Chan tried to maneuver to become Emperor Wenzong's heir, it was said that Consort Wang assisted him in the maneuvers.

Imperial consort

Because of Consort Wang's contributions, after Li Chan was able to succeed Emperor Wenzong in 840 (as Emperor Wuzong),''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 246. he gave her the imperial consort rank of ''Cairen'', the 16th highest rank for imperial consorts,''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 51. and favored her greatly. It was said that her body frame was similar to Emperor Wuzong's, and whenever Emperor Wuzong rode in the imperial garden, she would as well, and the onlookers were unable to tell which one was the emperor and which one was the consort. In 845, Emperor Wuzong wanted to create Consort Wang

empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

. The lead

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 ...

Li Deyu Li Deyu (; 787 – January 26, 850Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 174.), courtesy name Wenrao (), formally the Duke of Wei (), was a Chinese poet, politician, and writer during the Tang Dynasty, serv ...

, however, opposed on the grounds that Consort Wang was of low birth and did not have a son. Emperor Wuzong therefore did not do so.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 248. It was said that late in Emperor Wuzong's reign, he came to believe in

alchemists Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

who claimed to be able to achieve immorality for him, and he was taking pills they made, causing him to become progressively unhealthy. Consort Wang noticed this and counseled him against doing so, but he did not listen to her. When Emperor Wuzong subsequently became seriously ill, he asked Consort Wang what she would do if he died. She responded that she would like to follow him in death. He thus gave her a scarf. After Emperor Wuzong died in spring 846, she hanged herself with the scarf. It was said that while the other consorts had long been jealous of her because of the favor Emperor Wuzong had for her, they all were touched by her righteousness. Emperor Wuzong's uncle and successor

Emperor Xuānzong Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (July 27, 810 – September 7, 859) (reigned April 25, 846 – September 7, 859) was an emperor in the latter part of the Tang dynasty of China. Personally named Li Yi, later renamed Li Chen (), and known before his rei ...

, hearing this, was also saddened, and he posthumously honored her ''Xianfei'', the second highest rank for imperial consorts, and buried her in the perimeter of Emperor Wuzong's tomb.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 77. * ''

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. 248. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Consort 9th-century births 846 deaths Tang dynasty imperial consorts Suicides by hanging in China Suicides in the Tang dynasty People from Handan