Death
In 693, one of Wu Zetian's trusted ladies in waiting, Wei Tuan'er (韋團兒), was, for reasons lost to history, said to be resentful of Wu Dan. To attack him, she decided to first falsely accuse Crown Princess Liu and one of Wu Dan's concubines, Consort Dou, of witchcraft. On an occasion when both Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou were in the palace to greet Wu Zetian, Wu Zetian waited until they left her presence, and then sent assassins to kill them. Their bodies were buried inside the palace, and the location was kept secret. Wu Dan, fearful of what his mother might do next, said nothing of the loss of his wife and concubine. When Wei Tuan'er considered further falsely accusing Wu Dan, her plans were leaked to Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian executed her.
In 710, Wu Dan (whose name had been restored to Li Dan by that point after Tang Dynasty's restoration in 705 under Emperor Zhongzong, who was restored that year) became emperor after Emperor Zhongzong's death. He honored Empress Liu as Empress Suming and Consort Dou (whose son Li Longji (the later Emperor Xuanzong) had been made the Prince of Shouchun) as Empress Zhaocheng, and he sought to locate their bodies for reburial, but could not locate them. He therefore carried out ceremonies where their spirits were summoned to caskets to be buried at an imperial tomb. After Emperor Ruizong's own death in 716, on account of Emperor Xuanzong's desire to honor his mother Consort Dou, Empress Liu was initially not worshipped together with Emperor Ruizong at the imperial ancestral temple, but eventually was, in 732.
Read more about this topic: Empress Liu (Ruizong)
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“In the attempt to defeat death man has been inevitably obliged to defeat life, for the two are inextricably related. Life moves on to death, and to deny one is to deny the other.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“I asked myself, “Is it going to prevent me from getting out of here? Is there a risk of death attached to it? Is it permanently disabling? Is it permanently disfiguring? Lastly, is it excruciating?” If it doesn’t fit one of those five categories, then it isn’t important.”
—Rhonda Cornum, United States Army Major. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, “Perspectives” page (July 13, 1992)
“My death from the wrists,
two name tags,
blood worn like a corsage
to bloom
one on the left and one on the right....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)