Empress mother Bian

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Empress mother Bian ( Chinese  卞 太后 , Pinyin Biàn Tàihòu , maiden name unknown; † 230 ), formally Empress Wuxuan ( Chinese  武宣皇 后 , Pinyin Wǔxuān Huánghòu  - "warlike and knowing empress"), was under the government of the Emperors Cao Pi and Cao Rui Empress mother . She was the second wife of Cao Cao , the founder of the Wei Dynasty .

Family background and marriage to Cao Cao

The future empress mother Bian was born in the Langye headquarters (in what is now southeastern Shandong ). She came from a humble background and was forced into prostitution in her youth . At the age of 19 she became a concubine of Cao Cao; The time at which this was is not known, but it must have been before 187. She bore him four sons, Cao Pi, Cao Zhang , Cao Zhi and Cao Xiong . His eldest son, Cao Ang, died in 197 and was mourned so intensely by his adoptive mother, Ms. Ding, that Cao Cao eventually disowned her and made Ms. Bian his wife. In 213 Cao Cao became Prince of Wei, and in 219 Emperor Xian also appointed Ms. Bian as Princess of Wei. As a princess, she is said to have been wise and humble. In particular, she turned down rambling celebrations when her son Cao Pi was named heir to the Principality of Wei in 217.

As an empress mother

Cao Cao died in 220, and Cao Pi inherited the title of Prince of Wei . In the same year he forced the emperor to abdicate in his favor and founded the Wei dynasty. Ms. Bian received the title of Empress Mother , but was neither involved in the administration of the empire nor in the campaigns against the Wu dynasty . But she succeeded in ensuring that titles and assets were hardly ever given in the Cao family . This policy lasted until the end of the dynasty. The Empress Mother intervened only once: in 226 the Emperor wanted to execute General Cao Hong , a cousin of Cao Cao, for personal reasons. Empress Mother Bian reminded her son of Cao Hong's merits; especially how he once saved Cao Cao's life. The emperor refused to execute Cao Hong, but stripped him of his posts and titles.

As an emperor's grandmother

After Cao Pi's death, his son Cao Rui ascended the throne in 226. He honored his grandmother with the title of Imperial Ring Grandmother . Ms. Bian fell out with Cao Rui's wife Yu, who had been Princess of Pingyuan until then, but who had not been made empress after Cao Rui's accession to the throne. Instead, the concubine Mao had become empress. When the emperor's grandmother Bian tried to calm the angry Princess Yu, she replied: "It is a tradition among the Caos to prefer abusive women." She didn't want to offend the emperor's grandmother, but she had forgotten that she came from even the lowest of backgrounds . Emperor's grandmother Bian was terribly outraged, but she simply sent Ms. Yu back to Cao Rui's property in Pingyuan.