Empress Tudan (d. 1170) was the empress of the fourth emperor of the
Jurchen-led Chinese
Jin dynasty
Jin may refer to:
States Jìn 晉
* Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC
* Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin
* Jin (Later Tang precursor) ...
,
Digunai. After his murder, she was demoted to commoner status. She was one of three Jin empresses from the Tudan clan.
Biography
Tudan was the daughter of Xieye, a prominent official of the Jin Dynasty. She initially entered
Digunai's harem with the title Consort of Qi State (). She was promoted and received the title Consort Hui () in 1150, before being elevated to empress later that year when her son Alubu was born. After this, the number of women in Digunai's harem increased, and the Empress fell out of favour. At one point, two officials' wives were sent to serve the Empress, and the debts of one of them were cancelled in return.
Empress Tudan's family used her position to extort property and wealth from other officials. When a minor wife of her father, Huta (忽撻), clashed with his main wife, Wulu (兀魯), investigators did not dare contradict Huta, who enjoyed Empress Tudan's particular favour. Wulu was thus killed, and even when Digunai found that she had been unfairly treated, Xieye's punishment did not stick, and he was quickly reinstated and promoted.
[
In 1161, Empress Tudan and her son, the crown prince, accompanied Digunai to Nanjing near modern ]Kaifeng
Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...
, from where he launched attacks against the Song. Empress Tudan remained in Nanjing, but when Digunai was killed, her son was murdered, and she fled to her mother-in-law's home in Zhongdu
Zhongdu () was the capital of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) of China, located in modern-day Beijing, specifically in southwestern part of Xicheng District. By the late 12th century the city had a population of nearly one million, and was the last ...
. Digunai's successor, Emperor Shizong, reportedly took pity on her and allowed her to return to her parents' home in Shangjing, bestowing a yearly allowance of 2,000 strings of cash on her and specifying that all grain for her servants be provided from official stores. Empress Tudan died in 1170.[
]
Family
*Father: Xieye (? – 1154) (斜也), sinicised name Tudan Gong (徒單恭)
*Husband: Digunai, Prince of Hailing (24 February 1122 – 15 December 1161)
**Son: Alubu (1150 – 1161) (阿魯補), sinicised name Wanyan Guangying (完顏光英)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tudan, Empress
12th-century Chinese women
1170 deaths
Jin dynasty (1115–1234) empresses