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), ...

Xie Daoqing (謝道清; 1210 – 1283) was a Chinese Empress consort of the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, married to

Emperor Lizong of Song Emperor Lizong of Song (26 January 1205 – 16 November 1264), personal name Zhao Yun, was the 14th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the fifth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He reigned from 1224 to 1264. His original name was ...

. She was the regent of Southern Song China for

Emperor Duzong Emperor Duzong of Song (2 May 1240 – 12 August 1274), personal name Zhao Qi, was the 15th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the sixth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He was a nephew of his predecessor, Emperor Lizong, and reign ...

in 1264, and for

Emperor Gong of Song Emperor Gong of Song (2 November 1271 – 1323), personal name Zhao Xian, was the 16th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the seventh emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. The sixth son of his predecessor, Emperor Duzong, Zhao Xian ca ...

in 1274–1276.

Life

Xie Daoqing came from a family of court officials: she was the daughter of Xie Qubo, Prince of Wei, and granddaughter of: Xie Xinfu, Prince Huizhen of Lü. She was selected as the spouse and empress of

by the

Empress Yang (Song dynasty) Empress Gongsheng (30 June 1162 – 18 January 1233), surnamed Yang, was a Chinese Empress consort of the Song dynasty, married to Emperor Ningzong of Song. She served as the co-regent of Emperor Lizong and ultimately like an Empress Regnant th ...

. She had no surviving son, and her spouse was succeeded by his nephew,

, in 1264. She briefly acted as regent in that year.

Regent

In 1274, Emperor Duzong died. His four-year-old son Zhao Xian was enthroned as Emperor Gong of Song with the assistance of chancellor

Jia Sidao Jia Sidao (August 25, 1213 – October 1275), courtesy name Shixian, was a Chinese politician. He was a chancellor of the late Song dynasty of China, the younger brother of a concubine of Emperor Lizong, who subsequently had a relationship of s ...

. The following year, Gong became regent under the regency of his adoptive grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Xie (謝太皇太后) and, nominally, his mother Empress Dowager Quan (全太后). In this period, the army of the Mongol Empire had already taken control of the northern and south western areas of China, crossed the Yangtze River acquiring key strategic locations on the way including control of Xiangyang City (part of modern Xiangfan, Hubei), and were heading towards the Song capital at Lin'an (modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). Grand Empress Dowager Xie pursued a dual solution: on the one hand ordering the people to rally behind their emperor and save the country, and on the other suing for peace with the advancing Mongols. In early 1275, Jia Sidao led an army of 30,000 Song troops and engaged the Mongols at Wuhu City in Anhui. The Song army suffered defeat and not long afterward, bowing to public pressure, the empress dowager ordered Jia Sidao's execution. By the middle of 1275 the Mongol army had control of most of Jiandong (江東), the southern part of modern-day Jiangsu Province. On the 18th of January 1276, the leader of the Mongol forces, General Bayan arrived outside Lin'an with his army. The Song court dispatched statesman

Lu Xiufu Lu Xiufu (8 November 1236 – 19 March 1279), courtesy name Junshi (), was a Chinese statesman and military commander who lived in the final years of the Song dynasty. Originally from Yancheng (present-day Jianhu County) in Jiangsu Province, alo ...

(陸秀夫) to negotiate. The envoy was left with no option other than to surrender to the Mongols.

Fall of Song dynasty

Later the same year, in February 1276, Grand Empress Dowager Xie carried the five-year-old emperor out of Lin'an and into the Mongol camp where she too surrendered. The remnants of the Southern Song court and army who were still able to fight withdrew southwards to Fujian and Guangdong. The former child emperor, his mother and the Imperial princesses were taken to Beijing to formally submit to the Mongols, and from there to the summer residence of the Yuan emperor in Inner Mongolia, where Empress Dowager Xie joined them a few months later.Lily Xiao Hong Lee, Sue Wiles: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618–1644 They were all stripped of their titles, but were awarded tax-free property in Beijing, where they settled.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xie, Daoqing 1210 births 1283 deaths Song dynasty empresses 13th-century women rulers Song dynasty empresses dowager Chinese grand empresses dowager 13th-century Chinese women 13th-century Chinese people People from Taizhou, Zhejiang People from Tiantai County