Dou (Zhang)

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Empress Dou ( Chinese  窦 皇后 , Pinyin Dòu Huánghòu , birth name unknown; † 97 ), formally Empress Zhangde ( 章 德 皇后 , Zhāngdé Huánghòu , polite and talented empress ) was an empress of the Han dynasty . Her husband was Emperor Zhang . She was already influential under her husband's government; as regent for his adopted son, Emperor He, however, she became particularly powerful. Her family members, especially her brother Dou Xian , also wielded much power until they were overthrown in a coup by Emperor He 92. Empress He lost her power, but was honored until her death.

Family background

Dou Rong

Liu Jiang

Dou Xun

Princess Piyang

Dou Xian

Mrs. Dou

Ms. Dou's father, Dou Xun, was a grandson of statesman Dou Rong. Her mother was Princess Piyang, the daughter of Liu Jiang (Prince of Donghai), who was highly honored as the brother of Emperor Ming and became Emperor Guangwu's first Crown Prince . Therefore, Mrs. Dou was made princess, even though her father was not an emperor. Dou Xun was able to marry a princess because the Dou family were a powerful aristocratic family at the time. However, he was later charged with bribing other officials and died in prison.

Marriage to Emperor Zhang

In 77 Mrs. Dou became an imperial concubine . She was Emperor Zhang's favorite wife and was therefore made Empress in 78.

Empress Dou was a jealous woman and she soon got into an argument with the other concubines.

The Empress Dowager Ma chose shortly before her death two daughters of Song Yang imperial concubines. In 78, the elder concubine Song gave birth to a son, Liu Qing . Because Empress Dou had not given birth to a son, Liu Qing was made crown prince in 79. The concubines Song were strongly preferred by Emperor Zhang until the death of Empress Mother Ma (79).

In the year 79 Empress Dou adopted the son of the imperial concubine Liang , Liu Zhao . She conspired with her mother, Princess Piyang, and her brothers to make her adoptive son crown prince. After the death of Empress Ma, she carried out this plan. She let her brothers collect gossip about the Song family while bribing servants and eunuchs herself to find out incriminations about the Song concubines.

In 82 an opportunity arose for Empress Dou. The older concubine, Song, was ill, and she solicited raw devil's thread from her family to heal her. Empress Dou took possession of the herbs and claimed that the concubine wanted to use them to practice witchcraft . Emperor Zhang was enraged and banished Crown Prince Qing from the palace. He had the concubines locked up and heard from the powerful eunuch Cai Lun . The two poisoned each other and committed suicide. Crown Prince Qing was deposed and made Prince of Qinghe ; he was replaced as Crown Prince by Prince Zhao. However, he was kind to his brother and the two spent a lot of time together.

The Song sisters shouldn't be the only victims of Empress Dou. After Prince Zhao became Crown Prince, the Liang family (his birth mother's relatives) did not celebrate openly, but secretly rejoiced. When the Empress Dou heard about this, she was dissatisfied and feared that the Liang family would gain power. So she looked for a way to wipe out the clan. She spread bad rumors about concubine Liang and her sister, who was also an imperial concubine. Both lost the privilege of Emperor Zhang. In 83, the Dous anonymously slandered Liang Song, the father of Liang's concubines. He died in prison, and Liang's concubines died in grief and fear.

The Dou clan continued to gain power. Emperor Zhang realized in 83 that his cousins ​​Ma did not obey the law. So he stopped promoting their ma-fathers and sent them back to their brands . The brothers of the Empress Dou, Dou Xian and Dou Du, soon rose in the courtly hierarchy of power. This marked the first case in the history of the Han Dynasty where the Empress's family had more power than that of the Empress Mother . Similar cases would last until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty , and they were a source of corruption. In 83, Emperor Zhang, offended by Dou Xian's arrogance, threatened to kill him, but after Empress Dou apologized in the guise of a concubine on behalf of her brother, the Emperor spared him.

Empress mother and regent

Emperor Zhang died in 88. Crown Prince Zhao succeeded him to the throne as Emperor He at the age of nine . Empress Dou, now the mother of the empress, served him as regent. Her brothers Dou Xian, Dou Du, Dou Jing, and Dou Gui became powerful officials, although they held comparatively minor titles. Of her brothers, Dou Gui was the only one who was submissive and humble, but the other three, especially Dou Xian, were arrogant and used their association with the Empress Mother to intimidate other officials.

In the year 88 Dou Xian committed a crime that caused the Empress mother Dou to threaten him with execution. Liu Chang, the Marquis of Duxiang, was favored by the Empress Mother because of his intelligence, and Dou Xian feared that her position would diminish his power. So he murdered him and blamed her brother Liu Gang, the Marquis of Li, for it. However, some judges, who were not afraid of Dou Xian, investigated and found the real culprit. Emperor's mother Dou was furious and had Dou Xian locked up. Dou Xian then offered to lead an army against the northern Xiongnu to iron out his offense.

Empress mother Dou agreed, and Dou Xian defeated the Xiongnu 89 on his campaign. After this great victory he became even more arrogant, and Empress Mother Dou allowed him to do so. Dou Xian defeated the Xiongnu again in 91 and destroyed their tribal community. After that, he expanded his power in the government by intimidating all officials and threatening them with demotion or even death.

In 92 the Dou family fell victim to a coup. The details are unclear, but it appears that Emperor He (perhaps encouraged by his brother, former Crown Prince Qing, deposed by the Dous, and the eunuch Zheng Zhong ) suddenly ordered the Imperial Guards to arrest and execute Dou Xian's crony. Emperor He sent Dou Xian and his brothers back to their brands and then ordered them (with the exception of Dou Guis) to commit suicide. Mrs. Dou remained Empress Mother, but lost all her power.

After the fall of the Dou family

Emperor He did not know that he was not the birth son of the Empress mother Dou. He continued to treat her with respect, even though he did not give her any real authority after the overthrow of her brothers. After her death in 97 it was revealed that his birth mother was Liang's concubine. Emperor He posthumously honored his mother and also rewarded her family with power and charity, but refused to demote Empress mother Dou posthumously. He had her buried with her husband Emperor Zhang with all imperial honors.

predecessor	Office	successor
Ma	Empress of China 78–88	Yin