Early Life
Empress Dou was born into a poor family in Qinghe (清河, in modern Xingtai, Hebei). She had two brothers, Dou Zhangjun (竇長君) and Dou Guangguo (竇廣國) or Shaojun (少君, probably courtesy name). When she was young, she was summoned into the palace to be a lady in waiting at the court of Emperor Hui. She would not see her brothers again for a very long time.
On one occasion, Emperor Hui's mother Empress Dowager Lü wanted to give some of the ladies in waiting to the imperial princes as gifts. Lady Dou was one of the ladies chosen. Because her home was part of the Principality of Zhao (modern central and southern Hebei), she requested that the eunuch in charge send her to Zhao. He agreed—but then forgot about it, and had her sent to the Principality of Dai (modern northern Shanxi and northwestern Hebei), then considered a desolate region. When she found out, she cried and did not want to go, but had no choice.
That mistake by the eunuch turned out to be a fortunate one for Lady Dou, however. She became a favorite of Liu Heng, the Prince of Dai, and she bore him a daughter Liu Piao, and two sons, Liu Qi and Liu Wu.
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