Royals › Empress / Consort
Wang Zhengjun
Empress of Emperor Yuan and aunt of Wang Mang, whose six decades as empress and dowager let her kinsmen control the Han court and opened the way for Wang Mang
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.
- Roles
- Empress / Consort
Wang Zhengjun, daughter of Wang Jin of Yuancheng, entered the palace under Emperor Xuan and was given to the crown prince Liu Shi, bearing him Liu Ao in 51 BCE. She became empress when Liu Shi took the throne as Emperor Yuan, and empress dowager when her son succeeded as Emperor Cheng in 33 BCE; her brother Wang Feng then ran the government, and five more brothers were made marquises on one day. On the day Emperor Ai died in 1 BCE she went to the Weiyang Palace, seized the imperial seals and summoned her nephew Wang Mang to be grand marshal and enthrone Emperor Ping. When Wang Mang later sent Wang Shun to demand the heirloom seal, she threw it to the ground. Wang Mang restyled her Mother Wen of the Xin house, and she died in 13 CE and was buried beside Emperor Yuan at the Weiling. In the History of Han (Hanshu), Ban Gu calls her clinging to the seal a woman's pity.
Life and times
Dates 71 BCE–13 CE