Marriage
Once Wang Mang became regent, he built a personality cult around himself and become very popular. In 2 AD Wang Mang decided to cement his position by having his daughter married to Emperor Ping. He declared, in accordance with ancient customs, that Emperor Ping would have one wife and 11 concubines, and started a selection process by identifying eligible noble young ladies. He disingenuously petitioned Grand Empress Dowager Wang that his daughter not be considered, and then started a petition apparently driven by the people to have his daughter selected as empress. The petitioners stormed the palace, and Grand Empress Dowager Wang, overwhelmed by the display of affection for Wang Mang, ordered that Wang Mang's daughter be made empress. In 4 AD Emperor Ping officially married her and made her empress.
Read more about this topic: Empress Wang (Ping)
Famous quotes containing the word marriage:
“the marriage twists, holds firm, a sailor’s knot.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“That a marriage ends is less than ideal; but all things end under heaven, and if temporality is held to be invalidating, then nothing real succeeds.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)
“Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)