Wang Xianyuan
Wang Xianyuan | |||||
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Empress consort of Liu Song | |||||
Tenure | 5 June 453 – 12 July 464 | ||||
Predecessor | Empress Yin Yuying | ||||
Successor | Empress Lu | ||||
Born | 427 | ||||
Died | 9 October 464 Jiankang, Liu Song | (aged 36–37)||||
Spouse | Emperor Xiaowu of Song | ||||
Issue | Liu Chuyu, Princess Kuaiji (446?[1] – 2 January 466[2]) Liu Ziye, Emperor Qianfei (449–466) Liu Zishang, Prince of Yizhang (451[3] – 2 January 466) | ||||
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Father | Wang Yan | ||||
Mother | Princess Wuxing |
Wang Xianyuan (Chinese:
Background
[edit]Wang Xianyuan came from a noble family, as her father Wang Yan (
Wang Xianyuan married Liu Jun in 443, when he was the Prince of Wuling under his father Emperor Wen, and she therefore carried the title Princess of Wuling. She was much favored by Liu Jun, and they had at least six children—his two oldest sons Liu Ziye and Liu Zishang (
As empress consort
[edit]After Liu Jun's older half-brother Liu Shao the Crown Prince assassinated their father Emperor Wen in 453 and took over the throne himself, Liu Jun started an uprising, and later that year captured and killed Liu Shao, taking the throne himself as Emperor Xiaowu. During the campaign, Princess Wang remained at his defense post Xunyang (
Little is known about Empress Wang's life during her husband's reign. However, he had a large number of concubines, and was also said to be so sexually immoral that he had a number of incestuous liaisons—including with the daughters of his uncle Liu Yixuan (
In July 464, Emperor Xiaowu died. Liu Ziye succeeded him (as Emperor Qianfei). He honored Empress Wang as empress dowager.
As empress dowager
[edit]Emperor Qianfei immediately showed himself to be a cruel and arbitrary ruler, and there was little Empress Dowager Wang could do to control her son. In fall 464, she grew seriously ill, and she asked that Emperor Qianfei be summoned. He refused—stating that in sick people's rooms there would be ghosts, and he could not go. In anger, she told her servant girls, "Bring a sword and cut me open, to see how it is this animal came out of me!"[8] She soon died and was buried with her husband Emperor Xiaowu.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Lady Liu's birth year and her age when she died were not recorded. However, it is likely that she was born in or after 443 as that was the year her parents married.
- ^ According to Emperor Ming's biography in Book of Song, Lady Liu and her brother Liu Zishang were ordered to commit suicide on the jiwei day of the 11th month of the 1st year of the Yongguang era. This corresponds to 2 Jan 466 in the Julian calendar. ([
永光 元年 十 一 月 ]己 未 ,司 徒 扬州刺史 豫 章 王子 尚 、山 阴公主 并赐死 。) Song Shu, vol.08 - ^ According to Liu Zishang's biography in Book of Song, he was 16 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. (
太 宗 殒废帝 ,称 太 皇后 令 曰:“子 尚 顽凶极悖,行 乖天理 。楚 玉 淫乱 纵慝,义绝人 经。并可于第赐尽。”子 尚 时年十 六 。) Song Shu, vol.80. Thus, his birth year should be 451. - ^ Lady Wang's biography in Book of Song indicated that she was 38 (by East Asian reckoning) when she died.
- ^ jichou day of the 8th month of the 8th year of the Da'ming era, per volume 129 of Zizhi Tongjian
- ^ In Lady Wang's biography in Book of Jin, Princess Poyang was recorded as being Emperor Xiaowu's daughter. In his Jiao Kan Ji, Qing-era commentator Zhang Senkai (张森楷) noted that in Wang Dao's biography in Book of Jin, Princess Poyang was recorded as Emperor Jianwen's daughter, and thus Emperor Xiaowu's sister.
- ^ (
元 嘉 二 十 年 ,拜 武 陵 王妃 。生 废帝、豫 章 王子 尚 、山 阴公主 楚 玉 、临淮康 哀 公主 楚 佩、皇女 楚 琇、康 乐公主 脩 明 。世 祖 在 蕃 ,后 甚有宠。) Song Shu, vol.41 - ^ (
王 太 后 疾 笃,使 呼 废帝。帝 曰:“病人 间多鬼 ,那 可 往!”太 后 怒 ,谓侍者 :“取 刀 来 ,剖我腹 ,那 得 生 宁馨儿!”) Zizhi Tongjian, vol.129