Deng Sui

Empress Deng Sui , 鄧 綏, Dèng Suī, (* 81 ; † 121 ), formally Empress Hexi ( moderate and peaceful empress ), was an empress of the Han dynasty . She was the second wife of Emperor He . Later, as Empress Mother , she served as regent to his son, Emperor Shang, and nephew, Emperor An , and was lauded as an able and diligent administrator. She was believed to be the last effective ruler of the Eastern Han Dynasty , as the following emperors were largely incompetent. During their reign, the country suffered from natural disasters and wars with the Xiongnu and Qiang , but Deng Sui was able to remedy the grievances and largely stifle the wars. She has also been recognized for her attention in the judiciary.

Family background and entry to the palace

Deng Sui was born in 81. Her father Deng Xun was a son of Deng Yu , the prime minister of the Guangwu Emperor . Her mother, Ms. Yin, was the daughter of a cousin of Emperor Guangwu's consort, Empress Yin Lihua . She was made a concubine in 95 and began her service in 96. She was then 15 years old, the Kaiser was 17.

As an imperial concubine and empress

By the time Deng Sui became imperial concubine, Emperor He had already elevated Empress Yin . This is described as beautiful, but harsh and awkward and, above all, jealous. Deng Sui tried to establish a decent relationship with the Empress through devotion and is said to have always masked the empress's missteps. However, this only increased the empress's jealousy because Emperor He was impressed by his concubine and valued her more and more. Empress Yin was also dissatisfied with the fact that Deng Sui recommended that the emperor have more intercourse with the concubines because his sons were dying away. When Emperor He fell ill, Empress Yin dropped the remark that as Empress Mother she would one day wipe out the Deng clan. When Deng Sui heard this, she wanted to commit suicide, but one of her servants cheated on her that the emperor had already recovered. Soon this really happened, and Deng Sui and her family escaped a cruel fate.

In 102 Empress Yin and her grandmother, Deng Zhu, were sued of witchcraft against the concubines. Empress Yin was deposed and likely died of grief later that year. The emperor made Deng Sui empress.

As the empress, Deng Sui is described as hardworking and submissive, and she often resisted the emperor's offer to promote her relatives. It also forbade the commandant houses and principalities to pay tribute to them, which had hitherto been the custom towards the empresses.

As regent for Emperor Shang

Emperor He died in 106, and a dispute arose over the successor. Empress Deng and all the imperial concubines had long been without sons. Although Emperor He had many sons, they all died in childhood. Whether the Empresses Yin and Deng ever gave birth to a son is not recorded. In his late reign, Emperor He had two sons (whose mothers are unknown): Liu Sheng and Liu Long . For the sake of superstition , it was thought that if they grew up outside the palace, they would be more likely to survive. They were therefore given to foster parents .

When Emperor He died, Liu Sheng, the elder, was still young; its actual age is not known. He was a sickly child. The younger one, Liu Long, was only 100 days old. Both were received at the palace, and Empress Deng made Liu Long crown prince because she believed he was healthier. In the evening he was proclaimed Emperor Shang . The power lay in the hands of the Empress Mother Deng, who took over the reign for the underage emperor. Her brother Deng Zhi soon became the most powerful official at the court. Deng Sui announced a general amnesty , which benefited the supporters of the Empress Dou's family without rights . The Dou clan was very powerful at the beginning of the reign of Emperor He, but was then overthrown in a coup.

The young emperor died in the year 106, which led to a new dispute over the succession. At that time, the officials discovered that Prince Sheng was not as ill as initially feared. They asked Deng Sui to make him emperor. Deng Sui feared that Prince Sheng might harbor a grudge against her because he had not been made emperor earlier. So she insisted on elevating Emperor Shang's cousin, twelve-year-old Liu Hu, to his place. He ascended to the throne as emperor . Prince Hu was the son of Prince Qing of Qinghe, who had once been Crown Prince of Emperor Zhang but was then deposed through the machinations of Empress Dou. He was considered a legitimate heir by some.

Regency for Emperor An

When the Emperor ascended to the throne, his father was still alive - as was his wife, concubine Geng, who was in the capital, Luoyang . The Empress Mother Deng was nevertheless able to maintain sole control over the emperor by sending Geng to her husband in Qinghe.

Empress mother Deng proved to be a capable regent who did not tolerate corruption even among her relatives. She also carried out many criminal law reforms. For example, in 107 it issued an edict that extended the period of time during which one could appeal against the death penalty .

In the same year there were problems at the borders. The first to rise were the Xiyu kingdoms (in present-day Xinjiang and Central Asia ), which had submitted to the Han at the time of the great general Ban Chao . They resisted the strict regulations of his successors and finally ordered the Empress Mother Deng to give up Xiyu. In the same year, the Qiang tribes, suppressed by Han officials for more than a decade, rose up because they feared being seconded as soldiers against the Xiyu kingdoms. This uprising affected a large area in what is now Shaanxi , Gansu and northern Sichuan . The Qiang troops even undertook campaigns in today's Shanxi and once even threatened the capital. The situation was so serious that Deng Zhi thought about giving up Laing Province (roughly today's Gansu); but Deng Sui wisely refused this proposal. The uprising could not be suppressed until 118, when the Western Empire was already sunk into chaos.

In the years from 107 to 109, numerous natural disasters also occurred throughout the empire: floods , droughts and hail . The Empress Mother Deng was very successful in overcoming these strokes of fate.

In 109 the South Xiongnu rose, who until then had been loyal vassals of the empire. They believed the Han government was so weakened by the Qiang uprising that it would be an easy target. But after the Han had brought their powerful forces into the field, the South Xiongnu submitted again and remained quiet until the end of the Han dynasty.

In 110 Ms. Yin, the mother of Empress Mother Deng, died. Her brothers gave up their posts to hold a three-year mourning period. After initially refusing, Empress Mother Deng allowed them to do so on the recommendation of the scholar Ban Zhao . Although they did not hold senior posts in government, the brothers remained powerful advisors. The submissive nature of the Empress Mother disappeared over the years and she clung to power. When her relatives and advisers suggested that she hand over power to Emperor An, she became angry and strictly refused.

She died in 121 and was buried with her husband Emperor He in full honor. At the age of 28, Kaiser An finally came to power. His wet nurse Wang Sheng and the trusted eunuchs Li Run and Jiang Jing slandered the Empress mother for having considered replacing Emperor An with his cousin Liu Yi (the prince of Pingyuan ). In his anger, Emperor An removed all relatives of the deceased Empress Mother from the government and forced many of them to commit suicide. In the same year, however, he partially revoked his order and allowed some Dengs to return. The clan had already shrunk by this point.

predecessor	Office	successor
Yin	Empress of China 102-106	Yan Ji