Empress Xin (辛皇后, personal name unknown) (died after 18 April 761Volume 222 of ''

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 ...

'' recorded that Shi Siming was killed on the ''jiawu'' day of the 3rd month of the 2nd year of the Shangyuan era of Tang Suzong's reign. This date corresponds to 18 Apr 761 on the Gregorian calendar.) was an

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), ...

and wife of

Shi Siming Shi Siming () (19th day of the 1st month, 703? – 18 April 761), or Shi Sugan (), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician during the Tang Dynasty who followed his childhood friend An Lushan in rebelling against Tang, and who lat ...

, a general 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 ...

dynasty

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 ...

who became an emperor of the rebel

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indepe ...

state during

Anshi Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general offi ...

. The future Empress Xin was said to be the daughter of gentry. When Shi Siming was young and still poor and of local station, she insisted on marrying him, and eventually got her wish. She had at least one son with him, Shi Chaoqing (史朝清), but his oldest son

Shi Chaoyi Shi Chaoyi (史朝義) (died before 17 February 763Volume 222 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Shi's head reached Chang'an on the ''jiachen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Guangde'' era of Tang Daizong's reign. This date corres ...

was not her son. After Shi Siming, who had served under Yan's founder

An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month 19 February 703 – 29 January 757) was a general in the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion. An Lushan was of Sogdian and Göktürk origin,Yang, Zhijiu, "An Lushan ...

, killed An Lushan's son and successor

An Qingxu An Qingxu (安慶緒) (730s – 10 April 759), né An Renzhi (安仁執), was a son of An Lushan, a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who rebelled and took the imperial title, and then established his own state of Yan. An Qingxu served as the ...

in 759, he declared himself emperor of Yan and created her empress. He was said to have favored both her and her son Shi Chaoqing, and might have created Shi Chaoqing

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 wif ...

.The sources conflict with each other as to whether Shi Chaoqing was, indeed, created crown prince. Shi Siming's biographies in the ''Book of Tang'' and the ''

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 ...

'' indicated that he was only considering it, but the ''Jimen Jiluan'', an account of the Anshi Rebellion written by the Tang Dynasty historian Ping Zhimei (平致美) no longer extant but often cited by other

indicated that Shi Siming did create Shi Chaoqing crown prince. Compare ''Book of Tang'', vol. 200, part 1, and ''New Book of Tang''
vol. 225, part 1
, with ''Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 53 61 citing ''Jimen Jiluan''. When he attacked the Tang eastern capital

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 ...

with Shi Chaoyi, he left her at his base Fanyang (范陽, modern

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

), with Shi Chaoqing in charge. On 18 April 761, Shi Chaoyi, in fear that Shi Siming would kill him, had his father killed first. Shi Chaoyi then sent messengers, in Shi Siming's name, to Fanyang to kill Shi Chaoqing, and Empress Xin was also killed.

Notes and references

* ''

''
vol. 225, part 1
* ''

'', vols.

221 __NOTOC__ Year 221 (Roman numerals, CCXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratus and Vitellius (or, less frequently, ...

222 __NOTOC__ Year 222 ( CCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antoninus and Severus (or, less frequently, ye ...

. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Xin, Empress Yan (An–Shi) empresses 761 deaths Year of birth unknown