Lady Gouyi

Also known as Zhao Jieyu

Lady Gouyi, surnamed Zhao, came from Hejian. The History of the Han (Hanshu) says that when Emperor Wu passed through Hejian, a reader of auras told him a remarkable woman lived there; she was brought to him with clenched fists that opened at his touch, and she became his favourite. Raised to the rank of jieyu, she lived in the Gouyi palace, which gave her name. In 94 BC she bore Liu Fuling after a pregnancy said to have lasted fourteen months, like the sage king Yao's, and the emperor named her gate the Gate of Yao's Mother. Later, at Ganquan, she was rebuked for some fault and died of grief, and was buried at Yunyang. Chu Shaosun's supplement to the Shiji says instead that the emperor had her put to death so that a young heir's mother could not seize power. When her son became Emperor Zhao he named her empress dowager and built the Yun mausoleum for her.