Young Widowhood and Temporary Status As Empress Dowager
By circa 5 AD, Emperor Ping appeared to have grown out of a heart condition that he had suffered from, and it became plain that he resented Wang Mang for slaughtering his uncles in 3 AD and not allowing his mother to visit him in the capital, Chang'an. Wang Mang therefore resolved to murder the emperor. In the winter of 5 AD, Wang Mang gave pepper wine (considered in those days to be capable of chasing away evil spirits) to the 13-year-old emperor, but had the wine spiked with poison. As the emperor was suffering the effects of the poison, Wang Mang wrote a secret petition to the gods, in which he offered to substitute his life for Emperor Ping's, and then had the petition locked away. Historians generally believe that Wang Mang had two motives in doing this—to absolve himself of involvement in the poisoning if Emperor Ping recovered from the poisoning, and to leave evidence of his faithfulness for posterity. After a few days of suffering, Emperor Ping died making Empress Wang a widow at the age of 14. After Emperor Ping's death, Wang Mang assumed the unprecedented title of acting emperor (假皇帝).
In 6 AD, Wang Mang selected Emperor Ping's cousin-once-removed (a great-great-grandson of Emperor Xuan), the two-year-old Liu Ying as the next emperor (to be known as Emperor Ruzi). However, using Emperor Ruzi's young age as a pretext, Wang Mang retained his role as acting emperor, while Liu Ying was given the title crown prince. Empress Wang was given the title empress dowager.
Wang Mang promised at the time that he would return the throne to Emperor Ruzi as soon as he was old enough, but in 8 AD, Wang Mang seized the throne and established the Xin Dynasty. In 9 AD, the toddler Emperor Ruzi was created the Duke of Ding'an (定安公), and Empress Dowager Wang was given the title of Duchess Dowager of Ding'an.
Read more about this topic: Empress Wang (Ping)
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