Empress Wang (王皇后, personal name unknown) (died 16 BC), formally Empress Xiaoxuan (孝宣皇后), semi-formally Empress Dowager Qiongcheng (邛成太后, to distinguish her from her daughter-in-law
Empress Wang Zhengjun
Wang Zhengjun (; 71 BC – 13 AD), officially Empress Xiaoyuan (孝元皇后), later and more commonly known as Grand Empress Dowager Wang, born in Yuancheng (modern Handan, Hebei), was an empress during the Western Han dynasty of China, who pla ...
, with the same family name, but otherwise unrelated to her) was an
empress
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
during
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
. She was the third wife of
Emperor Xuan.
Early life
Empress Wang's father Wang Fengguang (王奉光) was a hereditary acting marquess (關內侯) when he met Emperor Xuan while he was still a commoner, based on their common interest in
cockfighting
A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...
. According to legend, she was
betrothed
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
to several men in succession, but each time her fiancé died before marriage could occur. After Emperor Xuan became emperor, he took her as 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 ...
(as Consort Wang), but she was not one of his favourites.
Emperor Xuan's first wife,
Empress Xu Pingjun
Xu Pingjun () (89 BC – 71 BC), formally Empress Gong'ai (; literally, the Respectful and Lamentable Empress) and sometimes (but not at all times) Empress Xiaoxuan (), was an empress of the Chinese Western Han dynasty. She was the first wife of ...
was poisoned in 71 BC by the ambitious Xian (顯), the wife of the regent
Huo Guang
Huo Guang (; died 68 BC), courtesy name Zimeng (子孟), was a Chinese military general and politician who served as the dominant state official of the Western Han dynasty from 87 BCE until his death in 68 BCE. The younger half-brother of the r ...
, who wanted to make her daughter
Huo Chengjun
Huo Chengjun () (died 54 BC) was an empress of the Chinese Western Han dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Xuan. Her father was the statesman Huo Guang, who served as regent for Emperor Zhao and who remained exceedingly powerful during E ...
empress; an objective that she was successful in after Empress Xu's death. While Huo Chengjun was empress, she allegedly tried unsuccessfully several times to poison Empress Xu's son Crown Prince
Liu Shi, to make her potential future son the imperial heir.
Empress
After the Huo clan was destroyed and Empress Huo deposed in 66 BC, Emperor Xuan considered who amongst his consorts to create as his empress. At that time, he favoured Consorts Hua, Zhang, and Wei, each of whom had borne him children. He almost settled on Consort Zhang as his new empress. However, he became hesitant, remembering how Empress Huo had tried to murder the crown prince. He therefore resolved to create as his empress someone who was childless and kind. He decided on Consort Wang, and created her empress in 64 BC. He also created her father, Wang Fengguang, the Marquess of Qiongcheng (邛成侯). Emperor Xuan put Prince Shi in her care, and she cared for him well. Despite her position, she was never one of Emperor Xuan's favourites and she rarely saw him.
Empress Wang would have a role in Crown Prince Shi's eventual choice of a wife. In the mid-50s BC, Consort Sima, the favourite consort of Prince Shi died from an illness. Prince Shi was grief-stricken and became ill and depressed. Emperor Xuan was concerned, so he had Empress Wang select the most beautiful of the young ladies in waiting and had them sent to Prince Shi.
Wang Zhengjun
Wang Zhengjun (; 71 BC – 13 AD), officially Empress Xiaoyuan (孝元皇后), later and more commonly known as Grand Empress Dowager Wang, born in Yuancheng (modern Handan, Hebei), was an empress during the Western Han dynasty of China, who ...
was one of the ladies in waiting chosen. She, as the mother of his first-born son Liu Ao (later
Emperor Cheng), would eventually become his wife and empress.
Empress Wang was not known to have had significant political influence as an empress.
Empress dowager and grand empress dowager
![王皇后墓](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/%E7%8E%8B%E7%9A%87%E5%90%8E%E5%A2%93.png)
After her husband Emperor Xuan died in 49 BC and her stepson Prince Shi took the throne as Emperor Yuan, she held the title of
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 ...
. She would outlive him as well.
After Emperor Yuan died in 33 BC, his son, Crown Prince Ao, took the throne as Emperor Cheng. Empress Wang then held the title of grand empress dowager, and she became also semi-formally known as Empress Dowager Qiongcheng (based on her father's title) to be distinguished with her daughter-in-law. She did not appear to have much political influence during the reigns of either Emperor Yuan or Cheng, even though they appeared to genuinely love and respect her as a mother/grandmother.
She died in 16 BC and was buried with her husband, Emperor Xuan.
References
* ''
Book of Han
The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. I ...
'',
vol. 97, part 1.
* ''
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.
25,
27,
29,
31.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang (Xuan), Empress
16 BC deaths
Han dynasty empresses
1st-century BC Chinese women
Year of birth unknown
1st-century BC Chinese people
Han dynasty empresses dowager
Chinese grand empresses dowager