Empress Jinghuai, known during her life as Lady Wang, was a concubine of

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

, the founding emperor of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

and mother to future Emperor

Sun Xiu Sun Xiu (235 – 3 September 264), courtesy name Zilie, formally known as Emperor Jing of Wu, was the third emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Early life Sun Xiu was born in 235 to Wu's founding emper ...

, during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period of China. She had active participation in the various succession disputes to the throne, being on the warfoot with Sun Luban, daughter of Sun Quan.

Life

Lady Wang was from Nanyang (南陽, modern-day Nanyang,

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 ...

), and was referred to as ''Lady Wang of Nanyang'' to distinguish her from Lady Wang of Langye (posthumously known as Empress Dayi, another concubine of Sun Quan who shared the same surname). She entered Sun Quan's harem during the Jiahe period (232-238), presumably before 235 when she gave birth to Sun Xiu. When Sun He became heir apparent, Lady Wang of Langye became esteemed, and all other consorts who had been favoured by Sun Quan were expelled from the palace, including Lady Wang of Nanyang, who was exiled to Gong'an (公安, modern-day

Gong'an Gong'an County () is a county in southern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hunan to the south. It is under the administration of Jingzhou City. History During the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era, Gong'an County was k ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

), where she died and was initially buried.

Family and relatives

When Sun Xiu became emperor in 258, he posthumously honoured Lady Wang as ''Empress Jinghuai'' (敬懷皇后 ''Attentive Remembering Empress'') and had her remains reinterred at the Jing Tombs (敬陵), the modern location of which is unknown. As the Wang family had no male-line descendants, her maternal half-brother Wen Yong (文雍) was given a commune marquisate.(王氏無後，封同母弟文雍為亭侯。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 50.

Citations

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). Scroll 50. ** Robert Joe Cutter and William Gordon Crowell. ''Empresses and Consorts: Selections from Chen Shou's Records of the Three States with Pei Songzhi's Commentary.'' Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999. * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms'' () by Pei Songzhi (372–451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After the fall of the Eastern Jin ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{People of Eastern Wu Family of Sun Quan People of Eastern Wu Eastern Wu posthumous empresses Chinese concubines People from Nanyang, Henan Mothers of Chinese emperors