Empress Dowager Bo (薄太后) was an imperial

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

Emperor Gaozu of Han Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Emper ...

(Liu Bang). She was also known as Consort Bo (薄姬) during the life of the Emperor, and more formally as either Empress Dowager Xiaowen (孝文太后) or (rarer) Empress Gao (高皇后). Despite being a concubine of lower standing, her son, Liu Heng, became

Emperor Wen of Han Emperor Wen of Han (; 203/202 – 6 July 157 BCE), born Liu Heng (), was the fifth emperor of the Western Han dynasty in China from 180 to his death in 157 BCE. The son of Emperor Gao and Consort Bo, his reign provided a much needed stability a ...

, cementing her place in history. The year of her birth is not known. She died in 155 BC. Empress Dowager Bo is formally the first grand empress dowager in Chinese history, as

Empress Dowager Lü An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

, the only other empress dowager till then who lived to see her

grandson Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

become emperor, never claimed the title.

Early years

The future Empress Dowager Bo's father, Gentleman Bo (薄翁), came from Wu County (吳縣, in modern

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

). He had an adulterous affair with a Lady Wei (魏媼), the daughter of a member of the Wei royal family. Empress Dowager Bo was born of this union. According to Chinese historical works (with the exception the ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. I ...

'', which tells a different version of her life), Lady Bo was, when she was young, the prettiest concubine of

Wei Bao Wei Bao (died 204 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Western Wei () of the Eighteen Kingdoms during the Chu–Han Contention, an interregnum between the Qin and Han dynasties of China. Life Wei Bao was a descendant of the royal family of ...

, the Prince of Wei. Wei Bao allied himself with Liu Bang to defeat

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (, –202 BC), born Xiang Ji (), was the Hegemon-King (Chinese: 霸王, ''Bà Wáng'') of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the Chu state, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynas ...

's force, but later betrayed Liu Bang by defecting to Xiang Yu's camp. Unlike other defectors who switched sides again after Liu Bang's final victory, Wei Bao remained loyal to Xiang Yu to the end. After

Han Xin Han Xin (; 231/230–196 BC) was a Chinese military general and politician who served Liu Bang during the Chu–Han Contention and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dynasty. Han Xin was named as one of the "Three Heroes of the ear ...

conquered Wei, Wei Bao and his entire family were brought in front of Liu Bang to await execution. Wei Bao begged for mercy, but the emperor was unreceptive until he offered Lady Bo as a gift to Liu Bang. Her beauty had captured the attention of the emperor, and she was taken as an imperial concubine. Her former husband was thus spared execution. Historical records did not provide the information on whether other members of Wei Bao's family were spared as well, but it was likely the case. Lady Bo was not favored among the concubines, but she gave birth to a son, Liu Heng, who was made the Prince of Dai. The birth of her son elevated Lady Bo's status to Consort Bo. Unlike many other concubines, she was not confined to the palace and was allowed to accompany her son to the remote Principality of Dai (modern northern

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

and northwestern

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 ...

) to be the princess dowager. Dai was not a rich domain, and the region was under constant threats and attacks from the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

. Although Consort Bo could not live a luxurious lifestyle so far from the imperial palaces, she still managed to have a relatively comfortable life. Nonetheless, she had to work as a seamstress. Such rather difficult living conditions in comparison to other consorts had an unexpected benefit: unlike other consorts who became

Empress Lü Zhi An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

's victims due to her jealousy, Lü was very sympathetic to Consort Bo. The empress never saw Bo and her son as a threat to her quest of power, and thus, the two were spared from the politics that killed many other concubines and princes. The ''

'' tells a different story of how Lady Bo came to become the emperor's concubine. It states that Liu Bang discovered Lady Bo working as a seamstress in Dai and took her as his concubine there. Despite this difference in Lady Bo's origin, the ''Book of Han'' and other historical texts converge with Lady Bo and her son, Liu Heng, in the Principality of Dai.

Rise to the top

In 180 BC, after the death of her mistress, Emperor Gao's wife

, and after the officials then slaughtered the Lü clan, they offered the throne to Prince Heng over his nephew Emperor Houshao -- whom they accused of not being imperial blood. Prince Heng consulted Princess Dowager Bo, who could not decide either. It was later, after they dispatched Princess Dowager Bo's brother

Bo Zhao Bo or BO may refer to Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre *Box office, where tickets to an event are sold, and by extension, the amount of business a production receives *'' BA:BO'', 2008 South Korean film * ''Bo'' (film), a ...

(薄昭) to the capital

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 ...

to observe the situation and to ascertain the officials' good faith that Prince Heng chose to accept the throne.

Later years

After Prince Heng took the throne as Emperor Wen, Princess Dowager Bo was honored as

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 ...

, even though she had not previously been an empress. She was largely unassuming as empress dowager, and did not exert anywhere close to the influence that Empress Dowager Lü asserted over Emperor Hui or even her daughter-in-law, Empress Dou, would later assert over her grandson Emperor Jing. The one major instance in which she asserted her influence was in 176 BC. At that time,

Zhou Bo Zhou Bo (died 169 BC), posthumously known as Marquis Wu of Jiang, was a Chinese military general and politician who served as a chancellor of the early Western Han dynasty. Life Zhou Bo's ancestral home was in Juan County (; present-day Yuanyan ...

, who had been instrumental in Emperor Wen's becoming emperor, had retired to his

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

when he was falsely accused of treason and arrested. Empress Dowager Bo, believing in Zhou's innocence, famously threw her scarf at Emperor Wen, stating: :''Before you became emperor, Zhou was in control of the imperial seal, and commanded the powerful northern guards. How ridiculous is it that he did not commit treason then, but now plans to use his small march as the base for a rebellion?'' It was at least partly due to her influence that Emperor Wen eventually released Zhou. She either did not try to intercede similarly (as appears most likely) or was ineffective in her intercession, when her brother Bo Zhao killed an imperial messenger—a crime far more serious than ordinary murder—in 170 BC. Even though Bo Zhao was the Empress Dowager's only sibling, Emperor Wen eventually pressed him into committing

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. One of the final influences Empress Dowager Bo had was when she arranged for the daughter of one of her relatives to marry her grandson, then-Crown Prince Qi, during her son's reign. After Emperor Wen died in 157 BC and Crown Prince Qi succeeded him as Emperor Jing, Empress Dowager Bo became grand empress dowager. There was no recorded instance of her trying to assert political influence after that. She died just two years later in 155 BC.Lily Xiao Hong Lee, A. D. Stefanowska, Sue Wiles
"Biographical dictionary of Chinese women: antiquity through Sui, 1600 B.C.E.-618 C.E."
2007 (This would prove disastrous for Emperor Jing's wife,

Empress Bo Empress Bo () (personal name unknown) (died 147 BC) was an empress during the Han Dynasty. She was the first wife of Emperor Jing, and also the first empress to be deposed in Chinese imperial history. Empress Bo was from the family of Empress D ...

, as she would be soon deposed after losing her main support.) After she died, she was enshrined in a temple of her own rather than in her husband's temple, because only one empress could be enshrined in an emperor's temple, and Empress Lü was already enshrined in Emperor Gao's temple. Later, during

Emperor Guangwu Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later ...

's reign, however, he effectively reversed the position of Empress Dowager Bo and Empress Lü by enshrining Empress Dowager Bo as "Empress Gao" and demoting Empress Dowager Lü to a separate temple.

References

* ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...

'', vol. 49. * ''

'', vol. 97, part 1. * ''

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 ...

'', vols. 13, 14, 15. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bo, Empress Dowager 155 BC deaths Han dynasty empresses dowager Han dynasty imperial consorts 3rd-century BC Chinese women 3rd-century BC Chinese people 2nd-century BC Chinese women 2nd-century BC Chinese people Year of birth unknown Chinese grand empresses dowager Emperor Gaozu of Han Chinese concubines Remarried royal consorts