Empress He (; died 22 January 906''

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. 265. 天祐二年十二月己酉 = 22 January 906.

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

Chinese-Western Calendar Converter
), formally Empress Xuanmu () as honored by

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 ...

, semi-formally known as Empress Jishan () (after the palace she resided in, Jishan Palace), was the wife of Emperor Zhaozong near the end of the

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 ...

of China, and the mother of two of his sons,

Li Yu, Prince of De Li Yu (李裕) (died March 17, 905), né Li You (李祐) (name changed 897), briefly Li Zhen (李縝) (from 900 to 901), formally the Prince of De (德王), was an imperial prince of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He was the oldest son of the ...

, and Emperor Ai. Her husband, herself, and her sons would all die at the hands of the warlord

Zhu Quanzhong Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (), personal name Zhu Quanzhong () (December 5, 852 – July 18, 912), né Zhu Wen (), name later changed to Zhu Huang (), nickname Zhu San (朱三, literally, "the third Zhu"), was a Chinese military general, mona ...

, who would eventually take over the Tang throne and establish his own Later Liang.

Background

It was not known when the future Empress He-Man was born. She was from Zi Prefecture (, in modern

Mianyang Mianyang (; formerly known as Mienchow) is the second largest prefecture-level city of Sichuan province in Southwest China. Located in north-central Sichuan covering an area of consisting of Jiangyou, a county-level city, five counties, and thre ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

), and her family was not prominent. She became a consort of Li Jie's while he was the Prince of Shou.''

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 ...

'', vol. 77. It was said that she was beautiful and wise, and therefore was favored by Li Jie. After Li Jie (who then changed his name to Li Min, and then to Li Ye) became emperor (as Emperor Zhaozong) in 888 after the death of his brother Emperor Xizong,''

'', vol. 257. he created Consort He an imperial consort with the rank of ''Shufei'' (), the second highest rank for imperial consorts below empress. She was the mother of his oldest son Li You (who was created the Prince of De) and ninth son Li Zuo (who was created the Prince of Hui). (Li You's birth date is unknown, while Li Zuo was born in 892.) In 897, while Emperor Zhaozong was at Hua Prefecture (, in modern

Weinan Weinan () is a prefecture-level city in the east central Shaanxi province, China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provincial capital Xi'an, and borders the provinces of Shan ...

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 ...

) after having fled the imperial capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

in 896 in response to an attack by the warlord

Li Maozhen Li Maozhen (; 856 – May 17, 924), born Song Wentong (), courtesy name Zhengchen (), formally Prince Zhongjing of Qin (), was the only ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi (901–924). He had become a powerful wa ...

the 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 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 ...

), he created Li You

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 ...

(and changed Li You's name to Li Yu), and then created Consort He empress.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 261. (She was the first living empress in a century since Emperor Zhaozong's great-great-great-grandmother Empress Wang, the wife of Emperor Dezong, was briefly empress for three days before her death in 786, even though there had been emperors' mothers who were honored

empresses 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 ...

while they were alive after their sons became emperors and/or been honored empresses posthumously.)

As empress

Emperor Zhaozong returned to Chang'an in 898 after making peace with Li Maozhen. In 900, there was an incident where Emperor Zhaozong, after getting drunk, killed a few

eunuchs A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been 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 2nd millennium ...

— which led to immediate violent reaction by the powerful eunuch

Liu Jishu / ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic text ...

, one of the two commanders of the eunuch-controlled

Shence Armies The Shence Army () was a Tang dynasty (618–907) army unit established in 754 CE by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and based in Chang'an, forming the core of the imperial guards responsible for protecting the emperor. The command of the Shence Army ...

, who took the Shence Army soldiers into the palace to force him to abdicate and pass the throne to Li Yu. Emperor Zhaozong initially tried to resist Liu's order for him to abdicate, but Empress He, sensing the severity of the situation, convinced him to submit to Liu's order. Liu proclaimed Li Yu emperor (and changed his name to Li Zhen) while having Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He given the titles of

retired emperor Retired Emperor, Grand Emperor, or Emperor Emeritus is a title occasionally used by the monarchical regimes in the Sinosphere for former emperors who had (at least in name) abdicated voluntarily to another member of the same clan, usually their s ...

(''Taishang Huang'') and retired empress (''Taishang Huanghou'') respectively, but actually had Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, and most of their household, put under house arrest at Shaoyang Pavilion (). Less than two months later, when a group of Shence Army officers loyal to Emperor Zhaozong, led by Sun Dezhao (), Dong Yanbi (), and Zhou Chenghui (), killed Liu and his fellow Shence Army commander Wang Zhongxian (), it was at Empress He's advice that Emperor Zhaozong first verified that Liu and Wang were dead before exiting Shaoyang Pavilion to resume the throne. He changed Li Zhen's name back to Li Yu but removed the title of Crown Prince from him, making him again the Prince of De.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 262. Emperor Zhaozong, however, subsequently resisted advice from the Tang dynasty chancellor,

Cui Yin Cui Yin (崔胤) (854'' New Book of Tang'', vol. 223, part 2.-February 1, 904''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 264. Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Chuixiu (垂休), nickname Zilang (緇郎), formally the Duke of Wei (� ...

to wrest control of the Shence Armies from the eunuchs and put them under the command of the chancellors; instead, he commissioned the eunuchs

Han Quanhui Han Quanhui (韓全誨) (died February 6, 903''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 263.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter) was a eunuch late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. The struggles by the eunuchs, led by him, against the chancellor ...

and Zhang Yanhong () as the new commanders of the Shence Armies. This eventually led to the deepening of the enmity between Cui and the eunuchs. The chief eunuchs entered into an alliance with Li Maozhen, while Cui entered into an alliance with

the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (, headquartered in modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

). When Cui summoned Zhu to Chang'an to try to use Zhu to wrest control of the Shence Armies from the eunuchs, the eunuchs kidnapped Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, taking them to Fengxiang Circuit's capital Fengxiang Municipality. Zhu subsequently attacked Fengxiang Municipality and put it under siege.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 263. By 903, Fengxiang was out of food and under dire straits. Li Maozhen sued for peace with Zhu, agreeing to give him the emperor. However, to try to maintain a relationship with Emperor Zhaozong, before he released the emperor, he requested that Emperor Zhaozong marry Empress He's daughter Princess Pingyuan to his son Song Kan (), and have Li Mi (), the Prince of Jing, marry the daughter of the chancellor

Su Jian Su Jian (蘇檢) (died March 6, 903''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 264.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Shengyong (聖用),''New Book of Tang'', vol. 7/ref> was an official of the History of China, Chinese Tang Dynasty ...

, to whom Li Maozhen was aligned. Emperor Zhaozong, eager to be out of Li Maozhen's grasp, agreed to both marriage proposals despite Empress He's misgivings. Li Maozhen subsequently transferred the emperor and his household to Zhu, who took them back to Chang'an. (Subsequently, at Emperor Zhaozong's request, Zhu wrote Li Maozhen, demanding that he return Princess Pingyuan; Li Maozhen, whose military strength was greatly weakened, did not dare to resist, and returned Princess Pingyuan to the emperor.)''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 264. Cui subsequently realized that Zhu was leaving soldiers at Chang'an to control the emperor, and he feared the consequences. With the Shence Armies having been disbanded, he tried to reorganize the imperial army to resist Zhu. Zhu, in response, forced Emperor Zhaozong to order Cui's removal; he then put Cui to death. He then, believing that Li Maozhen and Li Maozhen's adoptive son

Li Jihui Li Jihui () (died 914), né Yang Chongben () (and usually referred to by that name in historical sources), was a Chinese politician and warlord in the late Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and early Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi, who ...

the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (, headquartered in modern

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

) might again attack Chang'an and seize control of the emperor, decided to destroy the city himself and forcibly move the capital to

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 ...

, which was firmly under his control. Emperor Zhaozong was forced to agree. However, during the journey to Luoyang, Emperor Zhaozong tried to slow down the trip with the reason that Empress He had just given birth and could not travel fast — so that he could try to send out secret emissaries to other major warlords Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (, headquartered in modern

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

Li Keyong Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...

the military governor of Hedong Circuit (, 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 ...

), and

Yang Xingmi Yang Xingmi (; 852''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms''vol. 1 – December 24, 905Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 265.), né Yang Xingmin (楊行愍, name changed 886), courtesy name Huayuan ...

the military governor of Huainan Circuit (, headquartered in modern

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

) — to no avail, as Zhu forced him to progress quicker to Luoyang. (Empress He probably had a daughter at this time, as Li Yu and Li Zuo were the only sons that she was recorded to have.) Meanwhile, after the imperial household's arrival in Luoyang, Zhu, despite his having the imperial household under secure control, was disliking the fact that Li Yu was growing up and appearing handsome, worrying that he would become a focus of resistance. (Before Cui's death, he had suggested to Cui that Li Yu, as having improperly taken the throne earlier (albeit under duress) should be put to death; Cui relayed his proposal to Emperor Zhaozong, and when Emperor Zhaozong, who was shocked by the proposal, questioned Zhu, Zhu disavowed having suggested that to Cui.) Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, under the stress of not knowing what Zhu would do next, spent their days drinking and weeping. After Zhu made his staff member Jiang Xuanhui () the director of palace communications in order to have the emperor under his surveillance, Emperor Zhaozong in fact stated to Jiang, on one occasion, "The Prince of De is a beloved son of ours. Why does Quanzhong firmly want him dead?" When Jiang relayed these remarks to Zhu, Zhu became more apprehensive of the emperor, as well as the fact that at this time, the warlords who were resisting him (including Li Maozhen, Li Jihui, Li Keyong, Wang Jian, Yang,

Zhao Kuangning Zhao Kuangning (趙匡凝), courtesy name Guangyi (光儀), formally the Prince of Chu (楚王), was a warlord late in the Chinese Tang Dynasty, who ruled Zhongyi Circuit (忠義, headquartered in modern Xiangyang, Hubei) as its military governor ( ...

the military governor of Zhongyi Circuit (, headquartered in modern

Xiangyang Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

), and

Liu Rengong Liu Rengong () (died 914) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) from 895 (when his one-time lord Li Keyong conquered Lulong and left him in charge of it) to 907 ...

the military governor of Lulong Circuit (, headquartered in 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 ...

)) were all ostensibly claiming that they wanted to restore the emperor's powers and return him to Chang'an. With Emperor Zhaozong being an adult and difficult to control, Zhu decided to get rid of the emperor and replace him with someone younger. In the autumn of 904, he sent his adoptive son Zhu Yougong () and the officer Shi Shucong () with soldiers to the palace. They killed Emperor Zhaozong and the imperial consorts Pei Zhenyi () and Li Jianrong (); Empress He was spared only after she begged for her life from Jiang. Zhu declared Li Zuo Crown Prince, and then emperor (as Emperor Ai, with his name changed to Li Zhu). Empress He was honored with 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 ...

As empress dowager

Shortly after Emperor Zhaozong's death, Zhu Quanzhong also had Jiang Xuanhui invite Li Yu, as well as eight other sons of Emperor Zhaozong's, to a feast. At the feast, under Zhu's orders, Jiang had the nine princes killed by strangulation. Zhu was soon planning to take over the throne himself, and he had Jiang and the chancellor

Liu Can Liu Can (died 318), courtesy name Shiguang, Posthumous name (as given by Jin Zhun) Emperor Yin of Han (Zhao), was an emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han Zhao dynasty of China, who reigned briefly in 318 before being killed by his trusted father-in-la ...

plan the transition. Jiang advocated slowing down the process to try to get the people of the empire to gradually accept the coming transition from Tang to a new dynasty, and this displeased Zhu. Meanwhile, Empress Dowager He was having her

ladies in waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

Aqiu () and Aqian () passing messages between her and Jiang, begging him to have her life and that of the young emperor spared when the transition would occur. This led to Wang Yin () and Zhao Yinheng falsely accusing Jiang being in a conspiracy with the empress dowager to restore Tang imperial power. In late 905, Zhu had Jiang and Liu put to death and replaced Jiang with Wang and Zhao. Wang and Zhao then accused Empress Dowager He of having carried on an affair with Jiang. Zhu secretly ordered them put the empress dowager to death by strangulation, with Aqiu and Aqian beaten to death, and had Emperor Ai issue an edict claiming that she was having affair with Jiang and committed suicide to offer apology, posthumously demoting her to commoner status. Besides this, Emperor Ai suspended business for three days to show his mourning for her. In 933,

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, reignin ...

posthumously restored Empress He as Empress Xuanmu.''Old History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 44

Titles

*During the reign of

Emperor Yizong of Tang Emperor Yizong of Tang (December 28, 833 – August 15, 873), né Li Wen, later changed to Li Cui (), was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 859 to 873. Yizong was the eldest son of Emperor Xuanzong. After Emperor Xuanzo ...

(r. 859 – 873) **Lady He (何氏) **Concubine of Prince Shou (寿王侍妾) *During the reign of

Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (March 31, 867 – September 22, 904), né Li Jie, name later changed to Li Min and again to Li Ye, was the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 888 to 904 (although he was briefly deposed ...

(r. 888 – 900) **Pure Consort (淑妃, from 888) **Empress Consort (皇后, from 898) *During the reign of

Emperor Ai of Tang Emperor Ai of Tang (27 October 89226 March 908), also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan of Tang (), born Li Zuo, later known as Li Chu (), was the last emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned—as but a puppet ruler—from 904 to 907. Emper ...

(r. ) 904 – 907) **Empress Dowager (皇太后, from 904) **Commoner (庶人, from 905) *During the reign of

(r. 936 – 933) **''Empress Xuamu'' (宣穆皇后, from 933)

Issue

As Prince Shou's concubine: * Li Yu, Prince De (德王李𥙿; d. 905) *Princess Pingyuan (平原公主) As Pure Consort: * Li Zhu, Emperor Ai of Tang (27 October 892 – 26 March 908)

Notes and references

* ''

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 Kingdo ...

'', vol. 52. * ''

'', vol. 77. * ''

'', vols.

261 __NOTOC__ Year 261 ( CCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Taurus (or, less frequently, year 1014 ''A ...

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. , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:He, Empress 9th-century births 906 deaths Year of birth unknown Tang dynasty empresses People from Mianyang Executed Tang dynasty people People executed by the Tang dynasty 10th-century executions Executed people from Sichuan Tang dynasty empresses dowager 9th-century Chinese women 9th-century Chinese people 10th-century Chinese women 10th-century Chinese people