Royals › Empress / Consort
Empress Dowager Dou
Western Han empress of Emperor Wen and mother of Emperor Jing, a devotee of Huang-Lao teachings who struck down the young Emperor Wu's Confucian ministers
In a spring palace garden, a pavilion with round windows stands over a pond of goldfish; a peony-painted round fan, a zither and a lacquer box of pearl hairpins lie in the foreground, and one small figure in a long-sleeved gown stands at the far end of a covered walkway.
Also known as Dou Yifang
- Roles
- Empress / Consort
Empress Dowager Dou, consort of Emperor Wen of the Western Han, came from Guanjin in Qinghe; one early source gives her name as Yifang. Taken into the palace under Empress Lu, she was sent out to the vassal kings, and a eunuch's slip assigned her to Dai rather than Zhao. In Dai she became the favourite of Liu Heng and bore Princess Guantao, the future Emperor Jing and Liu Wu, Prince of Liang. Made empress in 179 BCE after Liu Heng's accession, she later lost her sight and was found by her long-lost brother Dou Guangguo. As empress dowager she favoured Liu Wu and made the emperor and her kinsmen read the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. In 139 BCE, when the ministers Zhao Wan and Wang Zang urged the young Emperor Wu to stop reporting to her, she had them prosecuted; both killed themselves, and Dou Ying and Tian Fen lost office. Only after her death in 135 BCE did Wu bring Confucian scholars into government.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–135 BCE