Fu Song'e (苻娀娥, died September 404) was a consort of

Murong Xi Murong Xi (; 385–407; r. 401–407), courtesy name Daowen (道文), formally Emperor Zhaowen of (Later) Yan ((後)燕昭文帝), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Later Yan dynasty of China. He was one of the youngest sons of Murong Chui (Empe ...

(Emperor Zhaowen), emperor of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

-led Chinese Later Yan dynasty. She was posthumously honored as Empress Min (愍皇后). She was the older sister of Murong Xi's empress

Fu Xunying Fu Xunying (苻訓英) (died 407) was an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Later Yan dynasty. Her husband was Murong Xi (Emperor Zhaowen). Life Fu Xunying was a daughter of Fu Mo (苻謨), a member of Former Qin's imperial house before he su ...

Early life

Fu Song'e was the oldest daughter of Fu Mo (苻謨), the mayor of Later Yan's capital Zhongshan (中山, in modern

Baoding Baoding (), formerly known as Baozhou and Qingyuan, is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2010 census, Baoding City had 11,194,382 inhabitants out of which 2,176,857 lived in the b ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

) in the 390s. Shortly after the Later Yan emperor

Murong Bao Murong Bao (; 355–398), courtesy name Daoyou (道佑), Xianbei name Kugou (庫勾), formally Emperor Huimin of (Later) Yan ((後)燕惠愍帝), temple name Liezong (烈宗) or Liezu (烈祖), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Later Yan ...

(Emperor Huimin) abandoned Zhongshan in face of

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

military attacks, Fu Mo was killed by Murong Xiang (慕容詳) the Duke of Kaifeng, who wanted to be emperor himself. His family was also slaughtered. Somehow, however, Fu Song'e and her younger sister

were not killed—perhaps they escaped the slaughter, or perhaps they were not in Zhongshan at that point.

As Murong Xi's consort

After

became emperor in 401, he took Fu Song'e and Fu Xunying as imperial consorts in late 401 and greatly favored them. Both of them were described as beautiful and charming. Murong Xi was said to have granted every wish from the sisters, and providing them with so much luxury that his small empire's resources were highly drained. Fu Song'e liked to travel as a commoner and throw banquets, and Murong Xi permitted her this indulgence. He also ordered the construction of Quguang Hai (曲光海; "Bent-Light Sea") and Qingliang Chi (清涼池; "Cool Pond") specifically for her. During the hot summer, half of the laborers and soldiers in the construction work died from the heat. Murong Xi however preferred the younger sister Fu Xunying, whom he made the empress in January 404.

Death

In September 404, when Fu Song'e was taken ill, a man named Wang Rong (王榮) in the capital Longcheng (龍城, in modern Chaoyang,

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

) volunteered to treat her and promised cure. However, Fu Song'e died soon after, and Murong Xi was so enraged that he had Wang Rong

dismember Dismemberment is the act of cutting, ripping, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise disconnecting the limbs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with ...

ed and his corpse burned in public.

References

* * {{cite book, last=

Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the monumental history book ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Sima was ...

, title=

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 ...

''(資治通鑑)'', trans-title=''Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government'', year=1086, ref={{harvid, ''Zizhi Tongjian'' 404 deaths 4th-century births Later Yan posthumous empresses