Mao (Ming)

Empress Mao ( Chinese  毛 皇后 ; birth name unknown; † 237 ), formally Empress Mingdao ( Chinese  明 悼 皇后  - "all seeing and deplorable empress") was an empress of the Wei Dynasty at the time of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China . Her husband was Emperor Ming ( Cao Rui ).

Ms. Mao became a concubine of Cao Rui when his father Cao Pi was emperor. Cao Rui held the title of Prince of Pingyuan at that time , and the title of princess was held by his wife Yu. Ms. Mao, however, became more and more popular with Cao Rui.

When Cao Rui became emperor in 226 after his father's death, most suspected that he would make his wife Yu empress. Instead he chose his concubine Mao, even though she came from a humble background: her father Mao Jia ( Chinese  毛 嘉 ) was a carpet weaver. He and his son Mao Zeng ( Chinese  毛 曾 ) were given high positions by Cao Rui, and Mao Jia was made Marquis. When Cao Rui learned that the noble families were still looking down on his father-in-law, he promoted him and ordered the officials to attend the marquis' feasts.

Over the years, however, Empress Mao lost her husband's favor, and she was deposed in 237 in favor of concubine Guo . At a feast, the new empress asked her husband to invite Ms. Mao too, but Cao Rui refused and ordered not to tell the deposed empress about the feast. When Ms. Mao found out about it and spoke to the emperor about it, he became furious and killed some officers whom he suspected of having told her. He ordered his wife Mao to commit suicide. However, he granted her a funeral worthy of an empress, and her family retained their titles.

predecessor	Office	successor
Guo Nuwang	Empress of the Wei Dynasty 226–237	Guo