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Empress Duan (段皇后, personal name unknown) was the second wife of
An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month (19 February) 703 – 29 January 757) was a Chinese military general and rebel leader during the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion which devastated China and kill ...
, a general of the
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
and later emperor of his rebel state of Yan. After he declared himself emperor of Yan in 756, she probably carried the title of empress, but historical records are not completely clear.The sources differ about whether she was An Lushan's wife or concubine, and further were unclear as to her title. The ''
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 ...
'' referred to her as "Lady Duan" and indicated that she was favored by him; the couple had one son, An Qing'en. An Lushan referred to Empress Duan as his wife when Emperor Xuanzong granted him certain titles in 747. The ''
Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...
'' confirmed her as favored by him and mother of An Qing'en but indicated that she was a concubine. However, the modern historian
Bo Yang Bo Yang ( zh , t = 柏楊 , s = 柏杨 , p = Bó Yáng ; 7 March 1920 – 29 April 2008), sometimes also erroneously called Bai Yang, was a Chinese people, Chinese historian, novelist, philosopher, poet based in Taiwan. He is also regarded as a ...
, in his ''Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian'', referred to her as Empress Duan without citing a source, but also stated that she was a concubine. The ''
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 ...
'' made no reference to her at all but stated that An Qingxu's mother Lady Kang was An Lushan's "original wife." As an empress title would imply that she was a wife, rather than a concubine, she will be treated here as his wife. Compare ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 200, part 1; ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 225, part 1; ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 219; and ''Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 53 57
Little historical records exist about her. She was already considered An Lushan's wife in 747, even though his first wife Lady Kang was still alive. In 747, when
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was an Emperor of China, emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. Throu ...
gave An the honorary title as chief imperial censor, she was created a lady, with a rank rivaling the sisters of Emperor Xuanzong's favorite
concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...
Consort Yang Yuhuan. She had at least one son with him, An Qing'en (安慶恩), who was not one of three oldest of his 11 sons but whose birth rank is otherwise unknown. In 755, An Lushan rebelled against Emperor Xuanzong's reign at Fanyang (范陽, in modern
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
) and quickly advanced south, capturing the Tang eastern capital
Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...
later in the year. In spring 756, he declared himself emperor of new state of Yan. Historical records, however, did not explicitly state that she was created empress at that time. In response to An's rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong executed his first wife Lady Kang and oldest son An Qingzong (安慶宗), both of whom were then at the Tang capital
Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
. Lady Kang's son An Qingxu was the second oldest son, but was not favored by An Lushan. Instead, An Lushan favored both Lady Duan and her son An Qing'en and was considering creating An Qing'en
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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...
. By spring 757, An Lushan was severely ill and blind. He was also ill-tempered, and his attendants, as well as An Qingxu, all feared death. An Qingxu therefore entered into a conspiracy with the high-level official Yan Zhuang (嚴莊) and An Lushan's
eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, 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 2 ...
Li Zhu'er (李豬兒), and they assassinated An Lushan. An Qingxu succeeded to the Yan throne. No further reference was made to Empress Duan after that point.


Notes and references

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Duan, An Lushan Yan (An–Shi) empresses