Lady Xiahou (夏侯氏; 180s – after 219) or Consort Xiahou (夏侯姫) was a Chinese noblewoman of the Xiahou clan of the

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

state 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. She was the niece of

Xiahou Yuan Xiahou Yuan () (died February 219), courtesy name Miaocai, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is known for his exploits in western China (in parts of prese ...

, a famous general of the warlord

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

. She married

Zhang Fei Zhang Fei () (; died July or August 221 AD), courtesy name Yide (益德), was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period ...

, a general of the

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

, founder of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu ( zh, t=蜀, p=Shǔ; Sichuanese Pinyin: ''Su'' < Middle Chinese: *''źjowk'' < Eastern Han Chinese: *''dźok''), was a Dynasties in ...

. She had one daughter who became empress of the Shu state.

Life

In 200, Xiahou was thirteen or fourteen years old by

East Asian age reckoning Traditional East Asian age reckoning covers a group of related methods for reckoning human ages practiced in the East Asian cultural sphere, where age is the number of calendar years in which a person has been alive; it starts at 1 at birth and i ...

, and was captured by Zhang Fei when she went out to collect firewood in the local area of Qiao County (). Zhang Fei discovered that she was a woman from a good family and married her.: "初，建安五年，時霸從妹年十三四，在本郡，出行樵採，爲張飛所得。飛知其良家女，遂以爲妻，產息女，爲劉禪皇后。故淵之初亡，飛妻請而葬之。及霸入蜀，禪與相見，釋之曰：「卿父自遇害於行間耳，非我先人之手刃也。」指其兒子以示之曰：「此夏侯氏之甥也。」厚加爵寵。" Cited in Her origins and the exact circumstances of her abduction and marriage, including her feelings on the matter, are not clearly known. She was from the Xiahou clan which was one of the main maintainers of the state of Cao Wei which was a rival of what would become the state of Shu Han that Zhang Fei would serve. There are anecdotes that say that Xiahou Yuan abandoned his son for a year to save his late brother's daughter; it is unknown if that person would be Lady Xiahou.: "時兖、豫大亂，淵以饑乏，棄其幼子，而活亡弟孤女。" Cited in Lady Xiahou bore one daughter who became empress of the state of Shu Han. In 219, Xiahou Yuan was killed in battle between Cao Cao and Liu Bei during the Battle of Hanzhong. When Lady Xiahou learned of this, she requested them to take his remains and bury him with dignity. In 249, after the

Incident at the Gaoping Tombs The Incident at the Gaoping Tombs was a ''coup d'état'' that took place on 5 February 249 in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. The parties involved were Sima Yi and Cao Shuang, who were both regents for ...

took place in Cao Wei,

Xiahou Ba Xiahou Ba (died 255–259), courtesy name Zhongquan, was a Chinese military general of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Xiahou Yuan, a prominent general who served under Cao Cao, the warlord w ...

, cousin of Lady Xiahou and son of Xiahou Yuan, defected to Shu Han. Xiahou Ba was displeased with Cao Wei's status when

Sima Yi Sima Yi (; ; 179 CE7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He formally began his political career in 208 under th ...

had

Cao Shuang Cao Shuang (died 9 February 249), courtesy name Zhaobo, was a Chinese military general and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the eldest son of Cao Zhen, a prominent general of Cao Wei. He initially ...

killed and exiled many Cao family loyalists, including members of the Xiahou clan. Xiahou Ba went to Chengdu asking Emperor Liu Shan to serve the state of Shu. He was given special treatment and accepted due to being Lady Xiahou's cousin and Empress Zhang's uncle.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* ** 9: 諸夏侯曹傳, pages 270, 273 ** 34: 二主妃子傳, page 907 * People of Shu Han Year of birth unknown 3rd-century Chinese women 3rd-century Chinese people {{ThreeKingdoms-stub