Empress Dowager Yan Ming (匽明) (died 152), formally Empress Xiaochong (孝崇皇后) was an empress dowager during Han Dynasty -- even though she was never empress and, for that matter, was never married to an emperor. She became empress dowager because her son Liu Zhi became emperor (as Emperor Huan) in 146.
Yan Ming was a concubine of Liu Yi (劉翼), the Marquess of Liwu. After Marquess Yi died, her son Zhi, as the oldest son of the marquess, inherited the title. After the young Emperor Zhi was poisoned by the powerful official Liang Ji in 146, the 13-year-old Marquess Zhi, because he was betrothed to Liang Ji's younger sister Liang Nüying, was selected by Liang to succeed to the throne. After he became emperor, he initially only honored his mother with the title of an imperial consort (after posthumously honoring his father as an emperor). After the regent Empress Dowager Liang (Liang Ji's other sister) died in 150, Emperor Huan honored Consort Yan with an empress title, effectively making her the empress dowager. He gave her nine counties as her fief. She died in 152.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Yan Ming, Empress Dowager |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Chinese empress |
| Date of birth | |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | 152 |
| Place of death | |
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)