Family Background
Lady Dou's father Dou Xun (竇勳) was a grandson of the statesman Dou Rong (竇融). Her mother was Princess Piyang (沘陽公主), a daughter of Liu Jiang (劉疆), the Prince of Donghai, who was a highly-honored older brother to Emperor Ming and was Emperor Guangwu's first crown prince; therefore, she was created a princess even though her father was not an emperor. Dou Xun was able to marry a princess because the Dous were a powerful noble family at the time, although he himself would eventually be accused of bribing other officials and would die in prison.
Read more about this topic: Empress Dou (Zhang)
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