Empress Lü Zhi

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Empress Lü Zhi (呂雉), commonly known as Empress Dowager Lü (呂太后, pinyin: Lü Taihou) or formally as Empress Gao (高皇后, pinyin: Gaō Huánghoù) (d. 180 BC) was the wife of Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty. They had two known children -- the eventual Emperor Hui and Princess Luyuan (魯元公主). After her husband's death, she carried on a lengthy affair with one of his officials, Shen Yiji (審食其), the Marquess of Piyang, which lasted until her death.

Empress Lü is often criticized for being a power-hungry woman. According to traditional historians, she conspired against Han Xin, the Prince of Chu, and Peng Yue, the Prince of Liang; both were prominent generals and major contributors to the founding of the Han dynasty and were awarded principalities for their achievements. Allegedly at Empress Lü's suggestion, Emperor Gao removed Han from his principality of Chu, and she executed Han in Emperor Gao's absence after accusing him of treason. Similarly, allegedly at her suggestion, he had Peng arrested, charged with treason, and executed. Despite her reputation for ruthlessness and cruelty (which is probably well-deserved), she appeared to be genuinely devoted to her husband and the safety of the empire -- so much so that long after Emperor Gao's death, she, then firmly in control, continued to carry out his instructions on the succession of ministers. Despite her cruelty, she was also known as an able administrator, and she (other than the instances of nepotism) generally promoted capable officials. During her regency, therefore, the people of the empire enjoyed a measure of rest from the turmoils of the destruction of Qin Dynasty and the wars of Chu Han Contention. However, due to her inexplicable trade embargo against Nanyue, Nanyue made repeated attacks against the Principality of Changsha (modern Hunan) and the Commandery of Nan (modern Hubei). As far as the relations with Xiongnu to the north, there was a famous episode in which the Xiongnu chanyu Modu wrote her a mocking letter proposing marriage. She wrote back a humble letter proposing instead that a princess be given to him as part of the heqin system.

After Emperor Gao died in 195 BC, Empress Lü received the title of Empress Dowager and became immensely powerful. She murdered Concubine Qi's son Liu Ruyi, the Prince of Zhao, and she then tortured Concubine Qi by cutting off her limbs and blinding and deafening her, leading to her death. Her inhumane treatment of Concubine Qi depressed the gentle but weak Emperor Hui. She also starved to death another son of her husband's -- Liu You, the Prince of Zhao -- whom she felt had slighted his wife, the Princess of Zhao, who was a niece of hers. Emperor Hui's infant sons, Emperor Qianshao and Emperor Houshao, were installed as her puppets on the throne after Emperor Hui's death in 188 BC. Thus, real power rested in her hands for sixteen years.

During her regency, members of the Lü clan gradually took over important posts in the government; however, upon her death, officials that previously served under Emperor Gao, including Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and Guan Ying, eliminated the Lü clan and placed Emperor Wen on the throne. In this way, Empress Dowager Lü's devotion to her husband's wishes oddly enough led to her own clan's downfall, as Chen and Zhou were named by her to their posts long after Emperor Gao's death pursuant to his instructions on ministerial succession.

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[edit] Family background and marriage to Liu Bang

Lü Zhi's father Lü Wen (呂文) was the county magistrate for Danfu (單父) during late Qin Dynasty. When her eventual husband Liu Bang, then a roving bandit, once carried out a raid in Danfu, he had an opportunity to meet Lü Wen, who was surprised at his appearance and behavior and thought he would eventually be a great man, and so married Lü Zhi to him despite his being a bandit. She bore him a daughter, the later Princess Luyuan, and then bore him a son, Liu Ying, in 210 BC.

Despite their marriage, Liu Bang did not settle down but continued his life as a bandit. When Chen Sheng rose against Qin rule in 209 BC, Liu gathered his band of bandits and joined the rebellion. For the next few years, Lü appeared to reside with Liu's father, Liu Zhijia (劉執嘉), only seeing Liu Bang on the occasion when he would be home.

[edit] Life during Chu Han Contention

In 207 BC, after the fall of Qin, in which Liu Bang played a major role but in doing so offended Xiang Yu, who wanted the glory for himself, Liu became the Prince of Han (modern Sichuan, Chongqing, and southern Shaanxi). However, Lü, her children, and her father-in-law did not go to the then-remote Principality of Han, but stayed in Liu's home county of Pei (in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), either because of Han's remoteness or because they were prevented from doing so by Xiang, whose Principality of Western Chu included Pei.

Late in 207 BC, Liu would break out of the isolation that Han was in by attacking the three Qins -- three principalities that Xiang set up to prevent Liu from receiving the territories of the former state of Qin, which had been promised to Liu, starting a four-year war known as the Chu Han Contention. Despite this, however, Xiang initially took no action against Lü or her father-in-law.

In 205 BC, while Xiang was occupied in a separate war against Qi, Liu took the opportunity to attack his capital Pengcheng (彭城) (in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), capturing it in summer 205 BC. Xiang quickly withdrew from the Qi campaign and staged a counter-attack that nearly annihilated Liu's forces and recaptured Pengcheng. In the aftermaths, as Liu tried to retreat back to his territory, he went through Pei and tried to take his father, wife, and children with him. In the confusion the family members became separated. Liu was able to take his children back to the safety of his own territory, while his father and his wife Lü were captured by Xiang's forces and held thereafter as hostages, along with Liu's official Shen Yiji. (It has been speculated that the romantic relationship that Lü later had with Shen started to develop at this stage, as they were probably imprisoned together by Xiang.)

Near the end of the war, when there was a temporary truce between Liu and Xiang, Xiang transferred Liu Zhijia and Lü to Liu. Lü was then honored with the title Princess of Han. The truce, however, did not last long, as at Zhang Liang and Chen Ping's suggestion, Liu broke the truce and defeated Xiang in 203 BC. Soon thereafter, Liu claimed the title of emperor (later known as Emperor Gao of Han). He created Princess Lü empress, and created her son Ying as crown prince.

[edit] As empress

Despite Emperor Gao's victory over Xiang, there would still be many unpacified areas of the empire for years, requiring the new emperor to engage in many campaigns thereafter. He put Empress Lü and Crown Prince Ying in charge of the capital Chang'an and key decisions in home territories, assisted by Xiao He and Zhang Liang. It was also during this time that Emperor Gao began to favor one of his younger concubines, Consort Qi, who bore him a son, Ruyi (劉如意), who was created the Prince of Zhao in 199 BC, displacing Empress Lü's son-in-law (Princess Luyuan's husband) Zhang Ao (張敖). Consort Qi yearned to have her son displace his older brother Prince Ying as the heir to the throne, and would often beg Emperor Gao to make her son the crown prince, drawing resentment from Empress Lü.

During this period, however, Empress Lü proved herself to be an able administrator of the home territories, and quickly built a strong working relationship with Emperor Gao's officials, who admired her for her capability and feared her for her ruthlessness. She would, indeed, be most known as an empress for her hand in the deaths of Han Xin and Peng Yue -- whose military capabilities both she and her husband had been apprehensive of. In 196 BC, while Emperor Gao was away trying to suppress a rebellion by Chen Xi (陳豨), the Marquess of Yangxia, it was alleged that Han, a friend of Chen's who by then had been demoted to a powerless marquess in Chang'an, conspired to start a rebellion in the capital. Empress Lü, after consulting with Xiao, had Xiao summon Han for a meeting, at which Empress Lü's guards surprised Han and captured and executed him. She also slaughtered Han's clan.

Later that year, Peng would suffer the same fate. Emperor Gao had summoned Peng and his forces to join him in the campaign against Chen. Peng, then the Prince of Liang, however, did not do so, claiming illness, and Emperor Gao, angry, sent a messenger to rebuke him. An official of Peng's encouraged him to rebel, but Peng refused to do so. Despite this, Emperor Gao surprised Peng and had him arrested and stripped of his titles. He then exiled Peng to Qingyi (青衣, in modern Ya'an, Sichuan). On Peng's journey to the southwest, however, he encountered Empress Lü. He pleaded to her, claiming his innocence. Empress Lü agreed to intercede on his behalf, and they returned to Luoyang, where Emperor Gao was at then, together. Peng thought that Empress Lü was in fact going to beg Emperor Gao for his freedom. Instead, she told Emperor Gao that Peng, being as capable as he was, would create a threat if exiled, and Emperor Gao agreed; she then found an informant to falsely report that Peng was about to start a new rebellion. Peng was executed, as was his clan.

Empress Lü's own son Crown Prince Ying, however, would be in a precarious position himself, as Emperor Gao, unimpressed by his kind but weak character, continued to consider replacing him with Prince Ruyi. With officials having strong rapport with Empress Lü, however, they generally opposed the move, and Emperor Gao had to abandon it. After he died in 195 BC, Prince Ying succeeded him as Emperor Hui. Empress Lü became empress dowager.

[edit] As empress dowager

Empress Dowager Lü quickly exerted even more influence on the reign of her son than even she did as empress. The first targets that she had were Consort Qi and Prince Ruyi (who by then had gone to his Principality of Zhao, in modern central Hebei). She placed Consort Qi in prisoner clothes and stock and forced her to conduct hard labor -- grinding rice. She also summoned Prince Ruyi to the capital, intending to kill them together. Prince Ruyi's prime minister Zhou Chang (周昌), whom Empress Dowager Lü respected because of his stern opposition to Emperor Gao's proposal to make Prince Ruyi crown prince, temporarily protected him by refusing to allow him to go to Chang'an. Empress Dowager Lü got around Zhou by first summoning him to the capital, and then, once he left Zhao, summoning Prince Ruyi.

Emperor Hui tried to save Prince Ruyi's life. Before Prince Ruyi could get to the capital, Emperor Hui intercepted his young brother at Bashang (霸上, in modern Xi'an) and received Prince Ruyi into his palace, and they dined together and slept together. Empress Dowager Lü wanted to kill Prince Ruyi, but was afraid that any attempt might also harm her own son, and therefore could not carry out her plot for several months.

Empress Dowager Lü got her chance in winter 195 BC. One morning, Emperor Hui was out hunting and wanted to take Prince Ruyi with him. The young prince was then only 12 years old and refused to get up from bed, and Emperor Hui left for the hunt on his own. Empress Dowager Lü heard this and immediately sent an assassin into the emperor's palace to force poisoned wine down the prince's throat. By the time that Emperor Hui returned, his brother was dead. She then tortured Consort Qi inhumanely -- by cutting her limbs off, blinding her, and deaftening her -- and Consort Qi would eventually die from the torture. When Emperor Hui saw Consort Qi in her tortured state, he cried outloud and became ill for about a year, complaining to his mother that he felt that he could no longer govern the empire, given that he, as the emperor, could not even protect the concubine and son so loved by his father. From that point on, Emperor Hui indulged himself with wine and women and no longer made key governing decisions, leaving them to his mother.

Emperor Hui would have to protect another sibling of his from Empress Dowager Lü. In winter of 194 BC, when Liu Fei, Prince of Qi -- his older brother by Emperor Gao's mistress Consort Cao -- made an official visit to the capital, they both attended a feast put on by Empress Dowager Lü. Emperor Hui, honoring the prince as an older brother, asked him to sit in a seat at the table even more honored than his own. The empress dowager was greatly offended and instructed her servants to pour a cup of poisoned wine for Prince Fei and then toasted him. As Prince Fei was about to drink the poisoned wine, however, Emperor Hui, realizing what was happening, grabbed the cup as if he was able to drink it himself. Empress Dowager Lü immediately jumped up and slapped at the cup, spilling it. Prince Fei was able to get out of the situation by offering an entire commandery from his principality to Princess Luyuan as her realm. Empress Dowager Lü, who greatly loved her daughter as well, became pleased and let Prince Fei return to his principality.

In 192 BC, Empress Dowager Lü (who by that point had began (or reassumed?) her affair with Shen) would receive a most unusual marriage proposal. The Xiongnu chanyu Modu sent her a letter stating the following, intending to intimidate and mock her:

I am a lonesome ruler who was born in the northern wilderness and had grown on plains full of livestock. I often got to your borders and wanted to tour the main territories of Han. You had just lost your husband, and I imagine you cannot endure the loneliness. Since neither of us can gratify ourselves in our loneliness, marry me, and we will exchange what we do not have for what we do have. What do you think?

Empress Dowager Lü was greatly offended, but could do nothing due to Xiongnu's military strength. She instead offered a daughter of an imperial prince to Modu in marriage (as part of the heqin system) and wrote back a humble letter, seeking peace.

In 191 BC, at Empress Dowager Lü's insistence, Emperor Hui married Princess Luyuan's daughter Zhang Yan (張嫣) -- his niece -- as empress. The marriage would be a childless one. It was alleged that Empress Dowager Lü told Empress Zhang to take eight boys from others and execute their mothers, and then adopt the children as her own. (There is a dispute whether these children were Emperor Hui's; traditional historians believed that they were not, while modern historians generally believe that they were, by his concubines.) (See here for more details.)

In 188 BC, Emperor Hui died. One of the children that Empress Zhang adopted, Liu Gong, became emperor (as Emperor Qianshao). However, now-Grand Empress Dowager Lü would be the one who actually and formally ruled over the empire, and traditional historians did not even consider Liu Gong a true emperor, often omitting him from the list of Han Dynasty emperors.

[edit] As grand empress dowager

Quickly, Grand Empress Dowager Lü tried to carry out something that Emperor Gao had prohibited -- making her kin princes. (Emperor Gao had decreed that no non-imperial clan members could be made princes -- a rule that Grand Empress Dowager Lü herself had a hand in creating.) This was opposed by the right prime minister Wang Ling (王陵) but accepted by the left prime minister Chen Ping and the commander in chief of the armed forces Zhou Bo (周勃). When Wang rebuked Chen and Zhou in private for going against Emperor Gao's rule, they rationalized that their compliance with the grand empress dowager was necessary to protect the empire and the Lius. Grand Empress Dowager Lü then promoted Wang to the honorary position of the emperor's teacher (太傅, taifu); Wang declined and claimed illness. Lü then removed him from the position and had him (as the Marquess of Anguo) returned to his march (in modern Baoding, Hebei) and promoted Chen to right prime minister ("right" being the more honored direction) and her lover Shen Yiji to left prime minister.

She then proceeded to create her family princes. She preceded the creation of the Lüs by first creating her grandson by Princess Luyuan, Zhang Yan (張偃 -- different intonation than his sister the empress), Prince of Lu. She eventually created these family members princes:

  • Lü Tai (呂台), the son of her brother Lü Ze (呂澤), the Prince of Lü (created 186 BC, died that year)
  • Lü Chan (呂產), the son of Lü Tai, first as the Prince of Lü (created 182 BC to replace his brother Lü Jia (呂嘉), the son of Lü Tai, who was regarded as arrogant and wasteful), then as the Prince of Liang (created 181 BC)
  • Lü Lu (呂祿), the son of her brother Lü Shizhi (呂釋之), the Prince of Zhao (created 181 BC)
  • Lü Tong (呂通), the son of Lü Tai, the Prince of Yan (created 181 BC)

She also, in an unprecedented action, created her sister Lü Xu (呂須) the Marchioness of Lingguang, with a separate march from that of her husband Fan Ceng (樊噌), in 184 BC.

Sometime in or before 184 BC, Emperor Qianshao discovered that he was not in fact now-Empress Dowager Zhang's son and that his mother had been put to death. He made the mistake of remarking that when he grew up, Empress Dowager Zhang would pay for this. Grand Empress Dowager Lü, once she heard of this, had him secretly imprisoned within the palace and publicly announced that he was severely ill and unable to receive anyone. After some time, she told the officials that he continued to be ill and incapable of governing, and that he had also suffered a psychosis. She proposed that he be deposed and replaced. The officials complied with her wishes, and he was deposed and put to death. He was succeeded by his brother Liu Yi (劉義), whose name was then changed to Liu Hong (劉弘) (as Emperor Houshao).

[edit] Death

In 180 BC, Grand Empress Dowager Lü was making sacrifices to the gods at Bashang. As she was returning to the capital after the sacrifices, she saw something that appeared to be a blue-haired dog charging her armpit and then suddenly disappearing. A warlock informed her that the object was Prince Ruyi's spirit. She became apprehensive and began to suffer pain in her armpit, which eventually became a major illness. She died later that year and was buried with her husband.

In the aftermaths of her death, the officials would plot against the Lü clan and have Grand Empress Dowager Lü's family members overthrown and executed. See Lü Clan Disturbance for more details.

[edit] Personal information

[edit] See also

Preceded by:
(dynasty established)		 Empress of Western Han Dynasty
202 BC–195 BC		 Succeeded by:
Empress Zhang Yan
Preceded by:
none (start of new title)		 Empress of China
202 BC–195 BC
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