Empress Dowager Wang (王太后, personal name unknown) (died February 22, 845), formally Empress Gongxi (恭僖皇后, "the respectful and careful empress"), known during her lifetime at times as Empress Dowager Baoli (寶曆太后) then as Empress Dowager Yi'an (義安太后), 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 al ...

of the Chinese dynasty

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

. She was the mother of Emperor Jingzong and 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 ...

of Emperor Muzong.

Background

It is not known when the future Empress Dowager Wang was born, but it is known that her family was from Yue Prefecture (越州, in modern

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitants ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

). Her family was a family of officials, and her father Wang Shaoqing (王紹卿) served as a county magistrate.''

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 Kin ...

'', vol. 52.'' New Book of Tang'', vol. 77.

As princely and imperial consort

When the future Empress Dowager Wang was young, she entered the

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 wife ...

's palace and became a consort to then-imperial prince Li Heng, and she bore his oldest son

Li Zhan Emperor Jingzong of Tang (July 22, 809 – January 9, 827), personal name Li Zhan, was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China. He reigned from 824 to 827. Emperor Jingzong was the eldest son of emperor Emperor Muzong of Tang, Emperor Muzong ...

in 809. After Li Heng became emperor in 820 (as Emperor Muzong), she was created an imperial consort rank — although the rank has been lost to history — but was not created empress. In 822, after Emperor Muzong suffered a stroke that rendered him unable to walk, Li Zhan was created crown prince, at the urging of the key officials Li Fengji and Pei Du.

As empress dowager

In the spring of 824, Emperor Muzong died and was succeeded by Li Zhan (as Emperor JIngzong). Emperor Muzong's mother Empress Dowager Guo was honored grand empress dowager, while Consort Wang was honored

. In summer 824, when a disturbance led by two commoners, Su Xuanming (蘇玄明) and Zhang Shao (張韶), caused Emperor Jingzong to flee the palace briefly and flee to the Shence Army (神策軍) camps, he was concerned about the safety of the two empresses dowager and had the soldiers escort them to the Shence Army camps as well. Only after the disturbance was suppressed did he (and presumably they) return to the palace.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 243. In 826, Emperor Jingzong was assassinated, purportedly by his polo players, led by Su Zuoming (蘇佐明). The

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castration, 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 2n ...

Liu Keming (劉克明) initially supported Emperor Muzong's younger brother Li Wu the Prince of Jiàng to succeed Emperor Jingzong, but soon the eunuch army commanders Wang Shoucheng, Yang Chenghe (楊承和), Wei Congjian (魏從簡), and Liang Shouqian (梁守謙) killed Liu and Li Wu, supporting Emperor Jingzong's younger brother Li Han the Prince of Jiāng (note different tone) instead (as Emperor Wenzong). Emperor Wenzong honored his own mother Consort Xiao empress dowager and honored Empress Dowager Wang "Empress Dowager Baoli" ("Baoli" (寶曆) being Emperor Jingzong's era name). There were thus three empresses dowager in the palace at the time (along with Grand Empress Dowager Guo). It was said that Emperor Wenzong was filially pious and honored the three empresses dowager properly. Whenever he received valuable food items, he would first submit them to the ancestral temples, then the empresses dowager, before receiving them himself. In 831, 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 ...

s suggested that there was a confusion between the titles of Grand Empress Dowager Guo and Empress Dowager Wang, and suggested that "Empress Dowager Baoli" was an inappropriate title. They pointed out that in the past, the empresses dowagers were referred to by the names of their palace, and suggested that Empress Dowager Wang be referred to as "Empress Dowager Yi'an" because she resided at Yi'an Hall (義安殿). Emperor Wenzong agreed. She died in 845, by which time another younger brother of Emperor Jingzong's, Emperor Wuzong, was emperor.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 248. She was buried in the eastern gardens at Emperor Muzong's tomb Guangling (光陵).

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 52. * '' New Book of Tang'', 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 dynas ...

'', vols.

243 __NOTOC__ Year 243 ( CCXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Arrianus and Papus (or, less frequently, year 996 ''Ab ...

, 248. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Empress Dowager 8th-century births 845 deaths Tang dynasty empresses dowager