Empress Kong (孔皇后, personal name unknown) (died 934), formally Empress Ai (哀皇后, "the lamentable empress"), was an empress 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 ...
state
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 ...
. Her husband was its third emperor
Li Conghou
Li Conghou () (914–934), posthumous name Emperor Min of Later Tang (), childhood name Pusanu (菩薩奴, "slave of a Bodhisattva"), was an emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China, ruling between 933 and 934. He was overthrown by his adopted ...
(Emperor Min).
Background
It is not known when the future Empress Kong was born. Her father was
Kong Xun Kong Xun () (884''New History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 43.-April 4, 931''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 277.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), known early in his life as Zhao Yinheng (), also having used surnames of Li () and Zhu ...
, who had served as an official of Later Tang's predecessor (and rival)
Later Liang prior to serving Later Tang.
['']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. 43.
By 928, Kong Xun was serving as a chief of staff for Later Tang's second emperor
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 ...
, and he was a close associate of fellow chief of staff
An Chonghui
An Chonghui (d. June 25, 931?''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 277. Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter) (, fl. 10th century) was the chief of staff (''Shumishi'') and chief advisor to Li Siyuan (Emperor Mingzong) (r. 926–933) of the Chi ...
, who was then the most powerful figure at court. At one point, Li Siyuan had wanted to take An's daughter as wife for one of his sons. Kong dissuaded An, arguing that given how honored and how close to the emperor he was, it was inappropriate to further create a marital relationship, so An declined. However, thereafter, there were those who told An that Kong was good at alienating people. When Kong heard this, apparently wanting to create a relationship with the imperial household independent of his relationship with An, he ingratiated Li Siyuan's favorite concubine
Consort Wang and sought that his daughter be married to an imperial prince. Consort Wang thus suggested to Li Siyuan that Kong's daughter be married to his son
Li Conghou
Li Conghou () (914–934), posthumous name Emperor Min of Later Tang (), childhood name Pusanu (菩薩奴, "slave of a Bodhisattva"), was an emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China, ruling between 933 and 934. He was overthrown by his adopted ...
. Li Siyuan agreed. When An heard this, he became incensed, and he had Kong ejected from the court (then at
Daliang) to serve as the defender of
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 ...
. However, this did not stop the marriage, and the wedding took place around the new year 929. It was because of the wedding's taking place that Kong was able to go to Daliang to attend the wedding. Once at Daliang, he again tried to ingratiate Consort Wang and her associates, hoping to stay at Daliang. Due to An's stern opposition, however, he was returned to Luoyang.
['']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. 276.
Princess Kong was said to be wise in her actions, and she bore four sons for Li Conghou.
[''New History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 15.]
As empress
Li Siyuan died in late 933, and Li Conghou became emperor.
[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 278.] According to the ''
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 ...
'', he created Princess Kong empress, but a formal creation ceremony was not held at that time.
[
At that time, the court scene was controlled by Li Conghou's chiefs of staff ]Zhu Hongzhao Zhu Hongzhao () (died May 14, 934''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 279.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter) was a general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Tang. He was a close associate of its second empero ...
and Feng Yun. They suspected the powers held by Li Conghou's older adoptive brother 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 ...
the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji
() is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi.
Geography
The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a population of 3,321,853 accordin ...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
) and brother-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 ...
the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern 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. ...
, Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
). Li Congke's oldest son Li Chongji (李重吉) was then a commander of the imperial guards, and they did not want him to hold such a command. They therefore sent him out of the capital to serve as military prefect of Bo Prefecture (亳州, in modern Bozhou
Bozhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Huaibei to the northeast, Bengbu to the southeast, Huainan to the south, Fuyang to the southwest, and Henan to the north. Its population was 4,996,844 at the ...
, Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
). In addition, they forced Li Congke's daughter Li Huiming (李惠明), who had become a Buddhist nun
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
at then-capital Luoyang, to live in the palace, believing that this would give them greater control on her father. As a result, Li Congke became fearful.[
In spring 934, not wanting Shi to remain at Hedong for long, Zhu and Feng transferred Shi, Li Congke, and ]Fan Yanguang
Fan Yanguang () (died September 30, 940),''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 282. courtesy name Zihuan () (per the '' History of the Five Dynasties'')'' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 97. or Zigui () (per the ''New History of the Five Dynasties'') ...
the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...
, Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
) to new assignments. Believing that this was intended to target him, Li Congke rebelled. During his rebellion, Li Chongji and Li Huiming were executed. Li Congke's rebellion was successful, and he quickly reached Luoyang's vicinity. Li Conghou fled, hoping to gain Shi's support, but was soon put under effective house arrest by Shi, who pledged allegiance to Li Congke.[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 279.] At that time, Empress Kong was ill, and her children were young, and therefore none of them was able to accompany him.[ Li Congke thereafter took the throne, and had Li Conghou killed. After that, Li Congke sent a messenger to Empress Kong, stating, "Now, where is Li Chongji?" He then put her and her sons to death.][ After Shi subsequently overthrew Li Congke in 936 and established his own ]Later Jin Later Jin may refer to two states in imperial China:
* Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), one of the Five Dynasties
* Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor to the Qing dynasty
See also
* Jin (disambiguation)
Jin ...
, he posthumously gave Empress Kong her posthumous name
A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...
of ''Ai'' ("lamentable").[
]
Notes and references
* '' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 49.
* ''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. 15.
* ''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
__NOTOC__
Year 279 ( CCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Paternus (or, less frequently, year 1032 ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kong, Empress
934 deaths
People executed by Later Tang
Executed Later Tang people
Later Tang empresses
Year of birth unknown