He (China)

Empress He ( 何 皇后 , Hé huánghòu ) († 189 ), birth name unknown, formally Empress Lingsi ( 靈 思 皇后 , Língsī huánghòu  - "the inattentive and profound empress") was an empress of the Han dynasty . She was the second wife of Emperor Ling . With her brother He Jin , she was temporarily able to take over power at the imperial court after the death of her husband in 189.

Family background and marriage to Kaiser Ling

Unlike most empresses of the Han dynasty, Empress He did not come from a noble family. Her father He Zhen was rather a butcher in Nanyang (in what is now Nanyang , Henan ). Her mother's name was Xing. It is not known when she was made concubine. According to legend, her family bribed the eunuchs to get her adopted. It is said that He was taller than most women and very beautiful. In 176 she gave birth to the eldest surviving son of Emperor Ling, Liu Bian . Emperor Ling had had many sons before, but all of them had died in infancy or childhood. According to the custom of the time, Liu Bian was entrusted to the magician Shi Zimiao and received the titleMarquise Shi to avert the fate of his brothers. In 180 Emperor Ling made his concubine He Empress. She replaced his wife Empress Song, who was deposed in 171 .

As empress

As Empress, He was said to be particularly preferred by Emperor Ling. She is described as very jealous and cruel, and the concubines feared her. After becoming Empress, her mother was made Mistress of Wuyang, and her brothers He Jin and He Miao were frequently promoted.

In 181 concubine Wang gave birth to Emperor Ling's son Liu Xie . The jealous Empress He murdered her by poisoning her congee. Emperor Ling was dismayed and wanted to depose her, but the eunuchs pleaded in her favor and she stayed. Prince Liu Xie was raised personally by the Empress Mother Dong and became famous as the Marquise Dong .

As an empress mother

Emperor Ling died in 189. The powerful eunuch Jian Shuo , whom he trusted, wanted to kill He Jin and make Liu Xie emperor, so he set up a trap for He Jin. He Jin found this out and rashly appointed Prince Bian (who would later become known as the Prince of Hongnong ) as emperor . Empress He became Empress Mother , and she and He Jin assumed power at court, although some eunuchs remained influential.

Soon there was a confrontation. In the summer of 189, He Jin conspired with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu and some young officers against Jian Shuo. Jian tried to convince others, such as Zhao Zhong and Song Dian, to arrest and kill He Jin. Even so, Zhao and Song were persuaded by the eunuch Guo Sheng to turn against Jian Shuo. He Jin captured him and had him executed.

The Hes then faced another threat. Emperor Ling's mother, Emperor's grandmother Dong , and her nephew Dong Cheng were not impressed by the balance of power at court and often clashed with the Hes. Finally, the emperor's grandmother Dong even threatened to have He Jin beheaded by Dong Chong. He Jin immediately took the initiative and had the Empress Mother He issue an edict to banish Emperor's grandmother Dong to Hejian (in today's Baoding , Hebei ), where her husband's marrow was, and to arrest Dong Chong. Dong Chong committed suicide, and the imperial ring-grandmother Dong died shortly afterwards. Most historical evidence says she died of fear, but some say she committed suicide. This act made the Hes very unpopular with the people.

In the fall of 189, Yuan Shao He Jin suggested that the eunuchs be slaughtered. The Empress Mother He refused this at first because she would then have had to go to common people, which she refused as dishonorable. Ms. Xing and He Miao also opposed the plan because they owed a lot to the eunuchs. He Jin was reluctant to carry out the plan and came up with an alternative with Yuan Shao, which turned out to be fatal. One of the generals who advised He Jin to do so was Dong Zhuo , who at the time was in command of the experienced troops in Liang Province (in what is now Gansu ). Dong Zhuo was also known for his disloyalty.

When Dong Zhuo and his troops approached the capital, the Empress Mother He was forced to order the eunuchs to leave the palace and return to their brands . (Most of the influential eunuchs had been made marquis by Emperor Ling .) However, the eunuch leader, Zhang Rang , appointed his stepdaughter (a sister of Empress Mother He), and so the eunuchs remained in the capital. When the eunuchs found out that He Jin was going to destroy them, they ambushed him and killed him. He Jin's allies, led by Yuan Shao, surrounded the palace, and the eunuchs took Empress Mother He, the young Emperor and Prince Xie hostage, even though Empress Mother He soon escaped. In the meantime, Yuan Shao had caused a bloodbath among the remaining eunuchs and killed He Miao as well.

Two days later, the eunuchs who held the emperor and prince hostage knew that their position was hopeless. They therefore fled south with their hostages. With government officials Lu Zhi and Min Gong on their heels, the eunuchs released their hostages and drowned themselves in the Yellow River . When Lu Zhi and Min Gong were taking the emperor and prince back to the capital, Luoyang , they were stopped by Dong Zhuo's troops. When Dong Zhuo questioned her, the emperor went into some kind of shock and was unable to report. Liu Xie, on the other hand, had no problem and told Dong Zhuo what had happened. Dong Zhuo was impressed by the young prince and began to think about depositioning the emperor and installing Liu Xie as prince because he was taken with his title of Marquis Dong (Dong Zhuo had the same family name).

Dong Zhuo took the capital with his troops in no time. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao , who were in command of the palace guard at the time, found themselves powerless and fled. Dong Zhuo then deposed the young emperor (and appointed him Prince of Hongnong ), and Empress Mother He was forced to consent. Prince Xie was made Emperor Xian .

Dong Zhuo then accused Empress mother He of infidelity to the imperial ring grandmother Dong and humiliated her. He then gave himself up to death by poison. Although she was buried under the title of Empress, she was not given the proper honors of an Empress mother, and Dong Zhuo also had her mother, Ms. Xing, executed. Her son, the Prince of Hongnong, was to suffer the same fate in 190.

predecessor	Office	successor
song	Empress of China 180-189	Fu Shou