As Empress Dowager
In 168, for reasons no longer clear, after Emperor Huan died without an heir, Emperor Huan's wife Empress Dowager Dou selected Marquess Hong to be emperor (as Emperor Ling). He did not honor her as an empress dowager, but rather as an imperial consort. In 169 (after Empress Dowager Dou's clan, including her father Dou Wu, was slaughtered by eunuchs), Emperor Ling welcomed his mother to the capital Luoyang and honored her as an empress dowager, although he also continued to honor Empress Dowager Dou (who was put under house arrest by the eunuchs) as empress dowager. Not until Empress Dowager Dou's death in 172 did Empress Dowager Dong appear to be firm in her title and become involved in politics.
Empress Dowager Dong was said to have heavily encouraged Emperor Ling in his sales of offices for money, a system that highly damaged the Han civil service system and caused great corruption throughout the empire.
In 181, after Emperor Ling's second son Liu Xie (劉協) was born to Consort Wang, Emperor Ling's wife Empress He poisoned Consort Wang. Empress Dowager Dong took Prince Xie and raised him herself, and he was therefore known by the circumspect title "Marquess Dong" (both he and his older brother Liu Bian (劉辯) were referred to as marquesses due to superstitions that evil spirits were aiming to kill the emperor's sons). Empress Dowager Dong favored Prince Xie and often encouraged Emperor LIng to create him crown prince over his older brother, which caused great discord between her and her daughter-in-law, Empress He.
Read more about this topic: Empress Dowager Dong
Famous quotes containing the word empress:
“We never really are the adults we pretend to be. We wear the mask and perhaps the clothes and posture of grown-ups, but inside our skin we are never as wise or as sure or as strong as we want to convince ourselves and others we are. We may fool all the rest of the people all of the time, but we never fool our parents. They can see behind the mask of adulthood. To her mommy and daddy, the empress never has on any clothes—and knows it.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)