Fu Shou (died 8 January 215) was an empress of the
Eastern Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
of China. She was the first wife of
Emperor Xian
Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220.
Liu Xie was a so ...
, the last Han emperor. She is best known for initiating a conspiracy against
Cao Cao
Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...
Fu Shou's father was Fu Wan (), a seventh generation descendant of the early Eastern Han official Fu Zhan () and the hereditary Marquis of Buqi. Fu Wan's wife was Princess Yang'an (), a daughter of Emperor Huan), but she was not Fu Shou's biological mother as Fu Shou's mother was named Ying (). Fu Wan also had a wife with the family name Fan (), but it is not clear whether she was Ying. The Fu family descended from the prominent
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
scholar Fu Sheng.
In 190, as Emperor Xian was being forced by
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo () (died 22 May 192), courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minist ...
to move the capital west to
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 ...
, Lady Fu became an imperial consort. In 195, while Emperor Xian was largely under the control of Dong Zhuo's subordinates Li Jue and
Guo Si
Guo Si () (died 197), also known as Guo Duo, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord serving under the warlord Dong Zhuo during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He assisted Dong Zhuo in his many campaigns and served as a su ...
, he designated Fu Shou as his empress consort.
As empress
As Emperor Xian continued his reign of being constantly under the control of one warlord or another, he and Empress Fu were apparently in a loving relationship, but both saw their power increasingly becoming minimal. Later in 195, during Emperor Xian's flight back to the old 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 ...
, Empress Fu was carrying silk, which were seized by soldiers ostensibly protecting her – such that even her own personal bodyguards were killed, and their blood spilt on her. When they returned to Luoyang, the imperial court was poorly supplied and while there is no record indicating that Empress Fu personally was under threat of starvation, a number of imperial officials died of hunger or were killed by robbers. Materially, the imperial court became much better supplied once the warlord
Cao Cao
Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...
arrived in 196 and took Emperor Xian and the imperial court under control. Cao Cao relocated the imperial capital to his headquarters in Xu County (present-day
Xuchang
Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province of China, province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the s ...
,
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 ...
).
Empress Fu was apparently not happy about Cao Cao's domination over the imperial court and central government. In 200, Emperor Xian's concubine, Consort Dong, was forcibly executed by Cao Cao against the emperor's wishes after her father Dong Cheng was found guilty of masterminding a conspiracy to assassinate Cao Cao. After Consort Dong's death, Empress Fu became angry and fearful, so she wrote her father Fu Wan a letter accusing Cao Cao of cruelty and implicitly asking him to come up with a plan to eliminate Cao Cao. Fu Wan was fearful and did not act on the letter, but Empress Fu's letter was discovered in 214. Cao Cao was so angry that he forced Emperor Xian to depose Empress Fu. When Emperor Xian was reluctant to do so, Cao Cao sent
Hua Xin
Hua Xin (158 – 30 January 232), courtesy name Ziyu, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. He initially served directly under the central government of the Eastern Han dynasty ...
and close aides into the imperial palace to capture the empress. Empress Fu tried to hide behind a wall, but Cao Cao's men found her and dragged her out. As she was being taken away, she cried out to Emperor Xian to save her, but his only response was that he had no idea what would happen to him. She was incarcerated and killed along with her two sons (Liu Feng had predeceased his mother on 9 August 200) and more than 100 members of the Fu clan, with her mother Ying and 18 others exiled.(遂将后下暴室，以幽崩.所生二皇子，皆鸩杀之。后在位二十年，兄弟及宗族死者百馀人，母盈等十九人徙涿郡。) ''Houhanshu'', vol.10, part 2
See also
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Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms
The following are lists of people significant to the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of Chinese history. Their names in Mandarin pinyin are sorted in alphabetical order.
Fictional characters in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of ...
Records of the Three Kingdoms
The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...
Book of the Later Han
The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...