Teng (Empress)

Empress Teng ( Chinese  滕 皇后 , birth name unknown) was an empress of the Wu Dynasty at the time of the Three Kingdoms . She was the wife of the last Wu emperor, Sun Hao .

Family background and marriage to Sun Hao

Her father Teng Mu (滕 牧) was a distant relative of the former Wu Prime Minister Teng Yin (滕 胤), who was killed in the attempted overthrow of Emperor Sun Liang against the regent Sun Lin . Sun Lin forced Teng Mu and his family to be exiled at the border of the empire. After the Emperor Sun Xiu killed Sun Lin in 258 , he declared a general amnesty. Teng Mu was able to return to the capital with his family and became a middle officer. Ms. Teng was then married to Sun Hao , the Marquis of Wucheng and son of the former Crown Prince Sun He . When Sun Xiu died in 264 , the powerful officials Puyang Xing (濮陽 興) and Zhang Bu (張 布) made Sun Hao emperor, and the Marquise Teng was made empress.

Last Empress of Wu

Sun Hao was cruel, suspicious, and an incompetent ruler. He intimidated the officers so that they soon no longer dared to advise him. Because Teng Mu was close to the emperor, they let him bring delicate proposals before the emperor until Sun Hao got tired of it and also lost interest in the empress Teng. In 266 , Teng Mu suddenly received an order from the emperor to go to Cangwu (蒼梧, in today's Wuzhou , Guangxi ), and although he retained his posts and titles, it was still an exile. He died on the way to Cangwu. Sun Hao considered deposition of the Empress Teng, but his suspicions worked in the Empress's favor: his trusted wizards at court warned him that a change of mistress of the palace would lead to disaster. Sun Hao's mother, the Empress Mother He , also stood up for the Empress. From then on the empress stayed with the empress mother and avoided seeing her husband. Many imperial concubines were allowed to wear the imperial seal, but still paid tribute to the empress.

Little else is known about Empress Teng. When Wu was conquered by his rival Jin 280 , she accompanied her husband to Luoyang . Sun Hao received the title of Marquis of Guiming , and Ms. Teng became a marquise. The date of her death is unknown.

predecessor	Office	successor
Zhu	Empress of the Wu Dynasty 264–280	none (dynasty destroyed)

predecessor	Office	successor
Zhu	Empress of China (Southeast) 264–280	Yang Zhi from Jin