Empresses

Empresses usually acquired their power after the death of their Emperor husband. After an emperor died, empresses would get the title of Dowager Empress. However, this title was not automatically given and some got this title even though they were not the Empress Consort while thier husband was emperor. As a Dowager Empress, these women would sometimes act as regent for new emperors who were either too young or incapable of ruling on their own. By keeping child emperors on the throne and replacing them once they were close enough to an age where they would be mature enough to rule on their own, some empresses were able to hold onto power for and extended period of time. By doing so, they were able to benefit their own families.

Royal Women

In an imperial household, there were more women than just the empress. There were also palace women, and these women usually consisted of servants, musicians, entertainers, consorts, and concubines. The number of palace women could be in the hundreds. They often lived in an isolated household where the only males that could interact with them were eunuchs, except for the emperor and any imperial children. Even though women from the families of high-ranking ministers were preferred to be chosen as the legal wife and empress of an emperor, any women who caught the attention of the emperor could be made his wife. This meant women from lower ranking families could become empress. With this gain of power and being favored by the emperor meant these royal women could help the men in their own families acquire high ranks and honors. (Oxford)

Concubines

Because a number of Empresses started as concubines, it is important to realize what this meant in Chinese society. The Chinese term for concubine is qie. This term refers to a woman who lived with a married man and his legal wife. The man of the household had sole access to the concubine and any children she had with him were legitimate. The position of concubine was also legally defined. When trying to determine what type of rank a concubine had, they could be placed between paid servants and the legal wife. Concubines were able move up in rank if they bore a son for the man, especially if his wife has not done so. Concubines often came from families of lower social standings. Having concubines often added to the social standings of the head of the household. Some emperors had hundreds of concubines, and some of these concubines were able to gain power in the government, usually after gaining power in the household. (Oxford)

Even though most ordinary families did not have concubines, the system created a market for women. Attractive daughters could be sold into concubinage when the family was desperate. The head of the household knew this was a lucrative option. (Oxford)

Lü of Han (d. 180 B.C.)

Portrait of Emperor Kao-ti, founder of the Han Dynasty and husband of Empress Lü.

I was the wife of Emperor Kao-Ti. Some of his other known names were his temple name Gaozu and his personal name Liu Bang. He was the founding Emperor of the Han Dynasty. He died in 195 B.C. My son Hui-Ti succeeded him as emperor, but he died in 188 B.C. at the age of 23. Hui-Ti had no children with his official empress, so the child of one of his consorts was made emperor. His name was Shao-ti Kung. After three years, he was replaced by another child who was still an infant, named Shao-ti Hung. Because of the child emperors, I was able to act as regent and given the title "Grand Empress Dowager." As regent, I was able to issue edicts under my own authority. Even though I was regent and was in control, I never claimed the title of "Empress" for myself. Meaning I only had the title Empress because of my deceased husband.

My husband Kao-Ti swore an oath with his followers, but I chose to ignore it. Instead I nominated four of my family members as kings, I elevated six others to marquis, and I posted other family members as generals. By appointing family members, I was able to command forces that were encamped in Ch’ang-an, the capital of the Han dynasty. Even with appointing my family members in high ranking positions, I was unable to keep control over the entire empire.

I died in 180 B.C. Before I died, I had appointed family members as Chancellor of State and General of the Army, the two most senior posts. My family wanted to eliminate the imperial house of Liu, which was my husband's family, and take over. However, three descendants of Kao-ti still had control of kingdoms, Ch’u, Huai-nan, and Tai. These family members acquired support from other family members. Kao-ti's grandson, the king of Ch'i took control and marched into Ch'ang-an, and eliminated my family. If I wanted to make sure my family succeeded in starting their own dynasty, I should have made sure the entire house of Liu had been killed.

(Cambridge History, vol 1 1986:132-133, 135-136)

Wu Zetian of Tang (627-705)

Portrait of Empress Wu Zetian of Tang Dynasty.

In 640 I joined the household of Emperor Toizong. After his death in 649, I was sent with rest of the women to a Buddhist convent. However, I was soon summoned to join the household of the new emperor, Gaozong. By 656, I had full power of the women's quarters and the Empress and the favorite concubine of Gaozong had been killed. (Oxford)

Gaozong suffered from a stroke in 660 C.E. and I took control of the Empire. After this I decided to become active in decision making and I would sit behind a screen behind his throne. Many people thought one of my adult sons should be in charge when my husband was sick, but unfortunately one of them died and the other was accused of plotting against Gaozong and committed suicide. Gaozong died in 683 C.E. (Oxford)

The heir of Gaozong, Zhongzong, wanted to turn the empire over to his father-in-law. In order to protect the Tang Dynasty, I stepped in. I exiled Zhongzong and another son of Gaozong, Ruizong was made emperor. He was not given any active role in the government. With this, there was rebellion from other family members in the imperial Tang family, but those were quickly put to an end. (Oxford)

I idealized the early Zhou dynasty, and because of that ceremonies and the names of offices were switched to be more like the Zhou. In 688 a stone was found that had the inscription, "A Sage Mother shall come to rule mankind; her rule shall bring eternal prosperity." In 690, I assumed full imperial power under my own name and started my own dynasty, naming it Zhou.

By 690, the ruling virtue was entangled with Buddhist prophecies. One of these prophecies was of a bodhisattva called Maitreya, "who would come to save the cosmos and its people from apocalyptic disaster." My lover, Xue Huaiyi, had a new commentary on a Buddhist text entitled the Great Cloud. This text prophesied that Maitreya would come back in female form. Xue argued that that I was Maitreya incarnate. Xue was the architect of the Bright Hall, and with the proclamation of Maitreya, which I added to my title in 694, a new Heavenly Hall was built. (Oxford)

In 695 the halls were burned down, Xue was killed, and I gave up my title of Maitreya. During this time there was religious upheaval. I brought Zhongzong out of exile and made him my successor. I favored two brothers, with the name Zhang. After I overturned the capital sentence of one of the brothers in early 705, Zhongzong, the high officials and the prison guards killed the brothers. They also forced my abdication. By the end of the year I was dead. In 716 I was given the title Zetian. (Oxford)

Cixi of Qing (Tzu Hsi) 1835-1908

Portrait of Empress Cixi of Qing Dynasty.

Portrait of Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty.

Like many other empresses, I started my political career as a concubine. I was the concubine for Xianfeng emperor. I had his only son, which helped me move up higher in the ranks of the concubines. The emperor died in 1861, and my five year old son was named the Tongzhi emperor. With the help of Xianfeng's brother, Prince Gong, I staged a coup d’état and overthrew the five-man regecy Xianfeng had set up. I ruled as co-regent with the Empress Dowager Ci'an. She was the first wife to Xianfeng, and luckily for me she never exercised much power. (Oxford)

When my son died in 1875, my three year old nephew, Guangxu, was made Emperor. When Guangxu was mature enough to rule on his own in 1898, I moved to the summer palace, but was kept informed about all that was going on. During this time there was a movement for reform and this was something I did not approve of because it affected my power and the power of others. (Oxford)

Guangxu was interested in the ideas of reform. He called on Kang Youwei to help him with reform. Kang Youwei was a leader of a group urging for modernizing and presented Confucius as an “institutional innovator and proponent of change.” With the help of Kang Youwei, Guangxu passed a number of edicts for reform. Some of these edicts dealt with education, government, and commerce. After three months, I had enough of the reform. I did not want the reform to interfere with my power. I locked Guangxu in prison for an 'illness' and had as many of the reformers as I could killed. Unfortunately, Kang Youwei escaped to Japan. (Ebrey 2010: )

I did implement a few reforms after the Boxer Rebellion, but it was not enough to stop the Revolution in 1911. I died on November 15,1908, the day after my nephew died. The last act was installing Puyi as the Emperor. It turns out Puyi was the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasy. (Oxford)

List of Dowager Empresses

Han Dynasty

Empress Dowager Lü

Empress Dowager Dou

Empress Dowager Wang

Empress Dowager Deng

Empress Dowager Liang

Empress Dowager He

Northern Dynasties

Empress Dowager Feng

Empress Dowager Hu

Empress Dowager Wenming

Tang Dynasty

820–848 : Empress Dowager Guo (Muzong)

824–845 : Empress Dowager Wang (Jingzong)

826–847 : Empress Dowager Xiao (Wenzong)

846–865 : Empress Dowager Zheng (Xuānzong)

Qing Dynasty

1643–1649 : Empress Xiaoduanwen

1646–1688 : Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang

1661–1663 : Empress Xiaokangzhang

1663–1717 : Empress Xiaohuizhang

1722–1723 : Empress Xiaogongren

1735–1777 : Empress Xiaoshengxian

1820–1850 : Empress Xiaoherui

1855 : Empress Xiaojingcheng

1861–1881 : Empress Dowager Ci'an

1861–1908 : Empress Dowager Cixi

1908–1913 : Empress Dowager Longyu

Contemporary Commentary

When looking at the role women usually played during Imperial China and the few Empresses that stepped out of those roles, a few conclusions can be made. First, these were power hungry women who were willing to do almost anything in order to get and hold on to the power they desired. They were often willing kill anyone who tried to get in their way. It also makes one wonder what it was about them that made them so willing to do so. Often times, the empresses had to either depose or kill their own children in order to stay in power. For most mothers, that would be an unthinkable thing to do. Perhaps that is why there is such a small amount of women who took control of the empire and their respective dynasties in the way Empress Lü, Empress Wu Zetian, and Empress Cixi did.

References

• The Cambridge History of China, vol. 1. New York: Cambridge University Press,1986
• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Cambridge Illustrated History of China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 2nd ed.
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Oxford University Press, Online Version, 2012.
• Images are public domain because the copyrights have expired

Classroom Presentation

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