Empress Wang Xianyuan
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Wang Xianyuan (; c. 427 – 9 October 464), formally Empress Xiaowenmu (孝武文穆皇后, literally "the civil and solemn empress"), was an
empress 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 ...
of the Chinese
Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties peri ...
. Her husband was Emperor Xiaowu (Liu Jun).


Background

Wang Xianyuan came from a noble family, as her father Wang Yan (王偃) was a great-great-grandson of the famed Jin prime minister
Wang Dao Wang Dao (; 276 – 7 September 339), courtesy name Maohong (茂弘), formally Duke Wenxian of Shixing (始興文獻公), was a Chinese politician during the Jin dynasty who played an important role in the administrations of Emperor Yuan, Empe ...
. Wang Yan's father Wang Gu (王嘏) was a Jin minister; Yan's mother was Princess Poyang, a daughter of
Emperor Jianwen of Jin Emperor Jianwen of Jin (; 320 – September 12, 372), personal name Sima Yu (), courtesy name Daowan (), was an emperor of the Eastern Jin dynasty in China. He was the younger brother of Emperor Ming and installed by military leader Huan Wen ...
. Wang Yan's wife was also a princess—Liu Rongnan (劉榮男), the Princess Wuxing, daughter of Liu Song's founder Emperor Wu. (It is not clear if she was Wang Xianyuan's mother.) Wang Xianyuan married Liu Jun in 443, when he was the Prince of Wuling under his father Emperor Wen, and she therefore carried the title Princess of Wuling. She was much favored by Liu Jun, and they had at least six children—his two oldest sons
Liu Ziye Former Deposed Emperor of Liu Song or Emperor Qianfei ((劉)宋前廢帝; 25 February 449 – 1 January 466), personal name Liu Ziye (劉子業), childhood name Fashi (法師), was an emperor of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty. His brief reign as a t ...
and Liu Zishang (劉子尚), and daughters
Liu Chuyu Liu Chuyu (劉楚玉) (died 2 January 466), often known by her title Princess Shanyin (山陰公主), although her title at death was the greater title of Princess Kuaiji (會稽公主), was a princess of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty. She was a d ...
, Liu Chupei (劉楚佩), Liu Chuxiu (劉楚琇), and Liu Xiuming (劉脩明).


As empress consort

After Liu Jun's older half-brother Liu Shao the
Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...
assassinated their father Emperor Wen in 453 and took over the throne himself, Liu Jun started an uprising, and later that year captured and killed Liu Shao, taking the throne himself as Emperor Xiaowu. During the campaign, Princess Wang remained at his defense post Xunyang (尋陽, in modern
Jiujiang Jiujiang, formerly transliterated Kiukiang and Kew-Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level ...
,
Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...
) and did not accompany him in attacking the capital
Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was the capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (265–420), Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Ch ...
, although upon his victory she and his mother Consort
Lu Huinan Lu Huinan (; 412 – 24 February 466), formally Empress Dowager Zhao (昭太后, literally "accomplished empress dowager"), semi-formally Empress Dowager Chongxian (崇憲太后), was an empress dowager of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty. She had be ...
were welcomed to the capital, and Princess Wang was created empress. In 454, he created her son Liu Ziye crown prince. Little is known about Empress Wang's life during her husband's reign. However, he had a large number of concubines, and was also said to be so sexually immoral that he had a number of incestuous liaisons—including with the daughters of his uncle Liu Yixuan (劉義宣) the Prince of Nan Commandery, and according to the ''
Book of Song The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. ...
'', rumors at the time suggested that even with his own mother Empress Dowager Lu. One of Liu Yixuan's daughters, whom Emperor Xiaowu gave the alias Consort Yin (claiming her to be a relative of his official Yin Yan (殷琰)), was particularly favored by Emperor Xiaowu, and Empress Wang's own favor in Emperor Xiaowu's eyes appeared to have greatly decreased. However, Empress Wang's position appeared to never have been threatened, even though her husband at times considered replacing her impulsive son Liu Ziye as crown prince with Consort Yin's son Liu Ziluan (劉子鸞) the Prince of Xin'an. A rare reference to herself was in 460, when she presided over a ceremony where she personally fed
mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...
leaves to
silkworm ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...
s, to show the imperial household's attention to farming. Empress Dowager Lu was in attendance. In July 464, Emperor Xiaowu died. Liu Ziye succeeded him (as Emperor Qianfei). He honored Empress Wang as
empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...
.


As empress dowager

Emperor Qianfei immediately showed himself to be a cruel and arbitrary ruler, and there was little Empress Dowager Wang could do to control her son. In fall 464, she grew seriously ill, and she asked that Emperor Qianfei be summoned. He refused—stating that in sick people's rooms there would be ghosts, and he could not go. In anger, she told her servant girls, "Bring a sword and cut me open, to see how it is this animal came out of me!"(王太后疾笃,使呼废帝。帝曰:“病人间多鬼,那可往!”太后怒,谓侍者:“取刀来,剖我腹,那得生宁馨儿!”) ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol.129 She soon died and was buried with her husband Emperor Xiaowu.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang Xianyuan, Empress Liu Song empresses 420s births 464 deaths Mothers of Chinese emperors