Empress Zhou (周皇后, personal name unknown) (died October 1, 918

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

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Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vol. 270.), formally (as her

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

) Empress Shunde (), known as Empress Zhaosheng () in her lifetime, was an empress of the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state

Former Shu Great Shu ( zh, c=大蜀, p=Dàshǔ), known in historiography as the Former Shu ( zh, c=前蜀, p=Qiánshǔ, links=no) or occasionally Wang Shu (王蜀), was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and ...

, as the wife of Former Shu's first emperor Wang Jian.

Background

It is not known when the future Empress Zhou was born, but it is known that her family was from Xu Prefecture (許州, in modern

Xuchang Xuchang ( zh, s=, t= ; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe ...

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 ...

) — the capital of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

's Zhongwu Circuit (), where her husband Wang Jian started his career as an army officer. It is also not known when she married Wang Jian, but given their family origins, it would appear that they were married while he was still at Zhongwu Circuit. She had at least one younger brother, Zhou Dequan (), who would later become a

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Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang dynasty and before the reunification of China ...

'' (十國春秋)
vol. 38

As empress

In 907, after the Tang throne, last held by

Emperor Ai of Tang Emperor Ai of Tang (27 October 89226 March 908), also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan of Tang (), born Li Zuo, later known as Li Chu (), was the last emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned—as a puppet ruler—from 904 to 907. Emperor Ai ...

, was seized by

Zhu Quanzhong Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (), personal name Zhu Quanzhong () (December 5, 852 – July 18, 912), né Zhu Wen (), name later changed to Zhu Huang (), nickname Zhu San (朱三, literally, "the third Zhu"), was a Chinese military general, mona ...

, who established Later Liang as its Emperor Taizu, Wang Jian, who then controlled the modern

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

and

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

region and carried the title of Prince of Shu, claimed imperial title as well, establishing Former Shu. In 908, he created Lady Zhou empress.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 267. He also gave her the honorary title of Empress Zhaosheng. There was no record of her having any sons with Wang Jian.

Death

Wang Jian died in 918 and was succeeded by his youngest son

Wang Zongyan Wang Yan () (899–926), né Wang Zongyan (王宗衍), courtesy name Huayuan (化源), also known in historiography as Houzhu of Former Shu (前蜀後主; "last lord of Former Shu"), later posthumously created the Duke of Shunzheng (順正公) by ...

, born of his favorite

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

Consort Xu. Wang Yan honored his mother Consort Xu 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 ...

and honored his aunt, also a concubine to Wang Yan, as consort dowager; historical records contained no indication that he honored Empress Zhou at all other than with the empress title she still held. Empress Zhou was greatly saddened by Wang Jian's death and mourned bitterly. She died several months later and was buried at the same tomb as Wang Jian.

Notes and references

* ''

''
vol. 38
* ''

'', vols.

267 __NOTOC__ Year 267 ( CCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Paternus and Arcesilaus (or, less frequently, year 1020 ''Ab urbe condita''). The d ...

270 __NOTOC__ Year 270 ( CCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antiochianus and Orfitus (or, less frequently, year 1023 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...

. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Empress 9th-century births 918 deaths Former Shu empresses People from Xuchang