Liang Nüying () (died 159), formally Empress Yixian (懿獻皇后, literally "the meek and wise empress") 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), ...

during

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 ...

. She was Emperor Huan's first wife.

Family background

It is not known when Liang Nüying was born, but what is known is that in her young age she was accustomed to an honored position as the daughter of the Grand Marshal Liang Shang (梁商) and the sister to Empress

Liang Na Liang Na (; 116–150), formally Empress Shunlie (順烈皇后, literally "the kind and achieving empress"), was an empress during the Han Dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Shun of Han. She later served as regent for his son Emperor Chong, and the ...

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition a ...

's wife, and later regent to his son Emperor Chong, and two successors from collateral lines, Emperors

Zhi There are many Chinese characters transcribed in Hanyu Pinyin as ''zhi'' ( Wade-Giles ''chih''): * 志 zhì, aspiration, will. The "will" is a fundamental concept in the philosophy of Mencius, leading authorities such as David Nivison to c ...

and Huan. Indeed, it was because she was betrothed to Emperor Huan (who was then the Marquess of Liwu) that her brother, the powerful

Liang Ji Liang Ji (梁冀) (died 9 September 159Emperor Huan's biography in ''Book of the Later Han'' recorded that Liang Ji and Sun Shou committed suicide on the ''dingchou'' day of the 8th month of the 2nd year of the ''Yanxi'' era of his reign. This co ...

, insisted on making him emperor in 146 after poisoning Emperor Zhi. After Emperor Huan became emperor, he married her in 147 and created her empress.

As empress

As an empress, Empress Liang was somewhat in the shadow of her sister, the

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 ...

, and brother, and not much is known about her. Traditional history indicates that because of her honored position as the empress dowager's sister, initially, Emperor Huan did not dare to have any other favorite consorts. She was described as so luxurious in her living that her expenses far exceeded the empresses of the past. After her sister died in 150, she began to lose Emperor Huan's favor, but she continued to be greatly jealous. As she was sonless, she did not want any imperial consorts to have sons—so she would have them killed if they became pregnant. With Liang Ji effectively in control of government, Emperor Huan did not dare to respond, but he would rarely have sexual relations with her. Empress Liang died in anger on August 9, 159 and was buried with the honors of an empress. Later that year, Emperor Huan, in conjunction with

eunuch 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 ...

s, overthrew Liang Ji in a coup d'etat. The Liang clan was slaughtered. On September 29, Empress Liang's tomb was retitled a tomb of an "Honored Lady", effectively meaning that she was posthumously demoted. On the 28th day of the August of that same year, she was buried in Yiling.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liang Nuying, Empress Han dynasty empresses 2nd-century Chinese women 2nd-century Chinese people 159 deaths Year of birth unknown