Empress Dowager Huang (, personal name unknown), referred to semi-formally as Empress Dowager Longqi () after her son

Wang Yanjun Wang Yanjun () (died November 17, 935), known as Wang Lin (王鏻 or 王璘) from 933 to 935, formally Emperor Huizong of Min (), used the name of Xuanxi () while briefly being a Taoist monk, was the third ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and ...

's ''Longqi''

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

, was an

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere. The title was also g ...

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 ...

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 ...

state

Min Min or MIN may refer to: Places * Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China ** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian * Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China * Min River (Fujian) * Min River (Sichuan) * Mineola (Am ...

. She was the primary

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 ...

Wang Shenzhi Wang Shenzhi (; 862 – December 30, 925), courtesy name Xintong () or Xiangqing (), formally Prince Zhongyi of Min () and later further posthumously honored as Emperor Taizu of Min (), was the founder of Min Kingdom on the southeast coastal pro ...

(Prince Zhongyi), who was commonly regarded as the founder of the Min state, and the mother of Wang Yanjun (also known as Wang Lin, Emperor Huizong), the first Min ruler to claim the title of emperor.

Background

It is not known when the future Empress Dowager Huang was born, but it was known that she was from Quan Prefecture (泉州, in modern Choân-chiu,

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

). Her father Huang Nayu () was a cousin of Huang Tao (), who had served as the secretary to a military governor (''

Jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate", ...

'') of Weiwu Circuit (), the territory of which later formed the state of Min.''

Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang Dynasty and before the reunification of China ...

'' ()
vol. 94
(As Wang Shenzhi's older brother and predecessor Wang Chao was the first military governor of Weiwu and Wang Shenzhi was the second, Huang Tao's service was likely under Wang Chao.)'' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 134. When Huang Nayu himself served under Wang Shenzhi, Wang Shenzhi took Lady Huang as his primary

; she was the mother of his second son

. Wang Shenzhi, who carried the title of Prince of Min at that time, died in 925 and was succeeded initially by his oldest son

Wang Yanhan Wang Yanhan ( zh, 王延翰) (died January 14, 927), courtesy name Ziyi (), was a ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Min. He ruled briefly after the death of his father Wang Shenzhi (Prince Zhongyi) without a regal ...

. Wang Yanhan claimed the title of King of Min in 926, but was killed later that year in a joint revolt by Wang Yanjun and Wang Shenzhi's adoptive son

Wang Yanbing Wang Yanbing () (died 931), né Zhou Yanchen (), formally Prince Weisu of Wuping (), was an adoptive son of Wang Shenzhi (commonly considered the founding ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Min). After Wang Shenzhi's ...

. Wang Yanjun took over the governance of the territory, initially only claiming the title of acting military governor of Weiwu.

Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang 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, reigni ...

(r. 926-933) commissioned him as full military governor in 927 and created him the Prince of Langye, and then as the Prince of Min in 928.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 276. As some point, Emperor Mingzong also created Lady Huang the Lady of Lu. In gratitude, Wang Yanjun submitted a tribute of platinum.

As empress dowager and grand empress dowager

In 933, Wang Yanjun claimed the title of Emperor of Min and changed his name to Wang Lin. Later that year, he honored Lady Huang as

.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 278. (As his

was ''Longqi'', she became known in historical sources as "Empress Dowager Longqi.") In 934, when Jian Prefecture (建州, in modern

Nanping Nanping (), historically known as Yanping (), is a third-tier prefecture-level city in northwestern Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. It borders Ningde to the east, Sanming to the south, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi to ...

) was under siege by Jiang Yanhui (), a general of Min's northwestern neighbor Wu, Wang Lin initially commissioned his general Zhang Yanrou () and his brother Wang Yanzong () to lead an army to relieve the siege on Jian Prefecture. However, the soldiers mutinied on the way to Jian Prefecture and clamored for Wang Lin to send his much-despised chief of staff

Xue Wenjie Xue Wenjie (薛文傑) (died 934) was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Min. He was a close associate of Min's emperor Wang Lin (Emperor Huizong), by flattering the emperor and finding creative, if cruel, me ...

to them for their disposal. Wang Lin initially took no action, but both Empress Dowager Huang and Wang Lin's oldest son

Wang Jipeng Wang Jipeng () (died August 29, 939), used the name Wang Chang () from 935 to 939, formally Emperor Kangzong of Min (), was an emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Min. He inherited the throne after his father Wa ...

advocated for Xue to be delivered to the soldiers. When Wang Lin made no overt opposition to their advocacy, Wang Jipeng seized Xue outside the palace gates and delivered him to the soldiers, who put him to death and cannibalized his body. They then continued the march to Jian Prefecture. With Min forces and forces from Min's northern ally

Wuyue Wuyue (; ), 907–978, was an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Haiyan Qian clan (海盐钱氏), whose family name remains widespread in t ...

converging on Jian Prefecture, Jiang withdrew. At one point, Wang Lin visited the Huang clan home and ancestral shrine in Quan Prefecture; the ground, the fields, and the trees were covered with silk for his visit. When Huang Kejia (), the son of one of Empress Dowager Huang's cousins, informed him that, because the home was built close to the sea, it felt as cold as winter even during the fall, he decreed that clay be given to the Huang clan so that they could reinforce the bricks with it to better insulate the home. In 935, Wang Jipeng assassinated Wang Lin and Wang Lin's wife Empress Chen Jinfeng, and then took over the throne (as Emperor Kangzong), claiming to be doing so under Empress Dowager Huang's orders.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 279. In 936, Wang Jipeng (who had by that point changed his name to Wang Chang) honored her as grand empress dowager.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 280. That was the last historical reference to her, and it is not known when she died.

Notes and references

*''

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 ...

'', vols. 278, 279,

280 __NOTOC__ Year 280 ( CCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Messalla and Gratus (or, less frequently, year 1033 '' ...

. *''

'' ()
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Huang, Empress Dowager People from Quanzhou Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms empresses dowager Min Kingdom people 9th-century births 10th-century deaths