Empress Fu (符皇后; given name unknown) ( 931 – 29 August 956), posthumously Empress Xuanyi (宣懿皇后) was an empress consort of the Chinese

Later Zhou dynasty Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ...

during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. She was invested the empress in 954 when her husband Guo Rong (Chai Rong) became the second Later Zhou

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. Three years after her death, Guo Rong married her younger sister when he fell critically ill. Originally the wife of Li Chongxun (李崇訓), she was widowed in 949 following a narrow escape from death. After Chai was also widowed in 950, they married through the arrangement of Chai's adoptive father and Later Zhou's founding emperor

Guo Wei Guo Wei () (10 September 904 – 22 February 954According to Guo Wei's biography in "Old Histories of the Five Dynasties", he died between 9am and 11 am on the ''renchen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Xiande'' era of his reig ...

First marriage to Li Chongxun

When Lady Fu was a teenager, her father

Fu Yanqing Fu Yanqing () (898'' History of Song'', vol. 251.-July 31, 975''Xu Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 8.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), né Li Yanqing (), courtesy name Guanhou (), formally the Prince of Wei (), nicknamed Fu Disi ( ...

was a

military governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' may ...

for the

Later Han Later Han (後漢) may refer to two dynastic states in imperial China: *Eastern Han (25–220), the second period of the Han dynasty, also called Later Han * Later Han (947–951), a dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period See al ...

. He arranged for her to marry fellow military governor

Li Shouzhen Li Shouzhen (; died 17 August 949''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 288.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states Later J ...

's son Li Chongxun (李崇訓). In 948, Li Shouzhen and Li Chongxun rebelled against the Later Han government, and another military governor,

, was tasked to suppress the mutiny. After months of battles, in 949 Li Shouzhen was defeated and committed suicide. Following suit, Li Chongxun first killed his siblings, but as he prepared to kill his wife, she hid under the curtains of her bedroom. Unable to find her in a hurry, Li Chongxun killed himself. When Guo Wei's soldiers stormed into the house, they saw a young girl (Lady Fu was only 18) calmly sitting in the reception hall. She declared, "The gentleman Guo Wei is an old acquaintance of my father's. Your sort would be wise not to violate me!" It proved to be effective as no Later Han soldier dared to approach her. Later, Guo personally assured her that he would not harm her and would return her to her family safely. The young girl was so grateful that from then on she regarded the senior commander as her godfather.

Second marriage to Chai Rong

In 951, Guo Wei and his nephew-in-law

Chai Rong Chai Rong () (27 October 921 – 27 July 959), later known as Guo Rong (), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, was the second emperor of the Later Zhou dynasty of China, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

were station at Weizhou (魏州; today's

Linzhang County Linzhang County () is a county of southmost Hebei province, China, named after the Zhang River within its borders. It is under the administration of Handan City, and, , it had a population of 590,000 residing in an area of . Administrative divisi ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

) when the Later Han emperor

Liu Chengyou Liu Chengyou () (28 March 931Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter – 2 January 951), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Yin of Later Han (), was the second and last emperor of the Later Han dynasty of China, dur ...

killed their entire families left behind in the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Bianzhou (汴州; today's

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

). Guo led his troops to attack the capital, and after the death of Liu Chengyou, declared himself the emperor of the new

Later Zhou Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ...

. Having lost his wife and children to the senseless killing, Chai Rong was looking for another mate. He had been quite impressed by Lady Fu's story, presumably having also met her due to their close associations with Guo Wei. Lady Fu was also looking for a second marriage. Her mother had advised her to shave her head and become a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

following her miraculous escape from death, but she refused, stating, "Why should I deform my own body and hair?" At the arrangement of Guo, she married Chai, 10 years her senior.

Notes and references

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fu, Empress Later Zhou empresses 930s births 956 deaths Year of birth uncertain