Empress Liu (531 – 20 March 615), personal name Liu Jingyan (), 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

Chen dynasty The Chen dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Chen (南陳 / 南朝陳) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and the fourth and last of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasties, ...

. Her husband was Emperor Xuan (Chen Xu). She briefly governed as regent during the illness of her son Chen Shubao in 582.

Background

Liu Jingyan was born in 531 when her father Liu Yan (柳偃) was a

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...

official. His wife was Princess Changcheng, a daughter of

Emperor Wu of Liang Emperor Wu of Liang () (464 – 12 June 549), personal name Xiao Yan (蕭衍), courtesy name Shuda (叔達), childhood name Lian'er (練兒), was the founding Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty, during the Northern and Souther ...

. (The traditional histories imply that she was the princess' daughter, but do not clearly state so.) Liu Yan came from a lineage of officials, as his grandfather Liu Shilong (柳世隆) was a key general under

Emperor Gao of Southern Qi Emperor Gao of Southern Qi ((南)齊高帝; 427– 11 April 482According to Xiao Daocheng's biography in ''Book of Southern Qi'', he died aged 56 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''renxu'' day of the 3rd month of the 4th year of the ''Jianyuan'' e ...

and

Emperor Wu of Southern Qi Emperor Wu of Southern Qi (南齊武帝) (440– 27 August 493), personal name Xiao Ze (蕭賾), courtesy name Xuanyuan (宣遠), childhood name Long'er (龍兒), was the second emperor of the Chinese Southern Qi dynasty. He is generally considere ...

, and his father Liu Yun (柳惲) was a Liang official. When Liu Yan died while being governor of Poyang Commandery (鄱陽, roughly modern

Shangrao Shangrao ( zh, s= , t= , p=Shàngráo) is a medium-sized prefecture-level city located in the northeast of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. The city borders the province of Anhui to the north, the province of Zhejiang to the east, and ...

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 ...

), Liu Jingyan, having no older brothers (she had one younger brother, Liu Pan (柳盼)), managed the affairs of the household. After the rebel general

Hou Jing Hou Jing (; died 26 May 552), courtesy name Wanjing (萬景), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He was a general of Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, and Liang, and briefly, after controlling the Liang imperial regime for severa ...

attacked 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 ...

in 548 and captured it in 549, Liu Jingyan and Liu Pan went to Jiangling to rely on Princess Changcheng's brother Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong. On account of the princess, Xiao Yi treated them with kindness.''Book of Chen'', vol. 7.

Marriage to Chen Xu

In 552, after Xiao Yi's general

Wang Sengbian Wang Sengbian () (5th century – 27 October 555), courtesy name Juncai (君才), was a Chinese military general and regent of the Liang dynasty. He came to prominence as the leading general under Emperor Yuan (Xiao Yi)'s campaigns against the r ...

defeated Hou, Xiao Yi declared himself emperor (as Emperor Yuan). He rewarded Wang and his lieutenant

Chen Baxian Emperor Wu of Chen (; 503– 9 August 559), personal name Chen Baxian (陳霸先), courtesy name Xingguo (興國), childhood name Fasheng (法生), was the founding emperor of the Chen dynasty of China. He first distinguished himself as a Liang dy ...

, while requesting Chen Baxian to send his son Chen Chang and nephew Chen Xu to Jiangling, his new capital, to serve in his administration—but also to serve as hostages. While Chen Xu was at Jiangling, Emperor Yuan married Liu Jingyan to him as his wife, notwithstanding that he had already married a Lady Qian while he was a commoner at his home commandery of Yixing (義興, roughly modern

Huzhou Huzhou (, ; Huzhou dialect: Romanization of Wu Chinese, ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzho ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

). In 553, she bore Chen Xu a son, Chen Shubao. In 554,

Western Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Western Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei. One of the Northern dynasties during the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the weste ...

forces attacked and captured Jiangling, and around the new year 555, they put Emperor Yuan to death. Chen Xu and Chen Chang were taken to the Western Wei capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

as honored captives, while Lady Liu and Chen Shubao were left at Rangcheng (穰城, in modern 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 ...

). In 557, Chen Baxian seized the throne and established the

as its Emperor Wu. While Chen Xu was then still detained at Chang'an, he remotely created Chen Xu the Prince of Shixing. Subsequently, when Emperor Wu died in 559, because Chen Baxian's son Chen Chang was still detained at Chang'an as well, Chen Xu's brother Chen Qian succeeded Emperor Wu (as Emperor Wen). In 562, following negotiations, Western Wei's successor state

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties of China's ...

agreed to allow Chen Xu to return to Chen. Later that year, after further negotiations, Lady Liu and Chen Shubao were allowed to return to Chen as well. As Chen Xu then carried the title of Prince of Ancheng, she carried the title of Princess of Ancheng. In 566, Emperor Wen died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Fei. Chen Xu, as the young emperor's uncle, was in an honored position, sharing power with the officials Dao Zhongju (到仲舉), Kong Huan (孔奐), Yuan Shu (袁樞), and Liu Shizhi (劉師知). However, Chen Xu soon came into a power struggle with Dao and Liu, and in 567, after Liu made a failed attempt to have Chen Xu removed from the palace, Chen Xu forced him to commit suicide, and subsequently forced Dao to commit suicide as well. He was now in control of the imperial government. In winter 568, he had an edict issued in the name of Emperor Wu's wife Grand Empress Dowager Zhang Yao'er deposing Emperor Fei and giving him the throne. In spring 569, he formally took the throne as emperor (as Emperor Xuan). He created Princess Liu as empress and her son Chen Shubao as

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 ...

.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 170.

As empress consort

Empress Liu was said to be beautiful, tall, and humble. Cognizant that Emperor Xuan had married Lady Qian as his wife before marrying her, but that Lady Qian had been subordinated to the lesser imperial consort title of ''Guifei'' (貴妃), she humbled herself when in Consort Qian's presence, often offering the better items to Consort Qian and taking the lesser items for herself. In spring 582, Emperor Xuan became ill. Crown Prince Shubao, as well as his brothers Chen Shuling (陳叔陵) the Prince of Shixing and Chen Shujian (陳叔堅) the Prince of Changsha, attended to Emperor Xuan. Chen Shuling, who wanted the throne for himself, secretly had a dull knife designed to cut medications sharpened. When Emperor Xuan died, Crown Prince Shubao, while mourning his father, placed himself over the casket. Chen Shuling stabbed him in the neck with the knife, and he fell to the ground. When Empress Liu saw this, she intervened, but she was also stabbed several times by Chen Shuling, who was however then hit by the

lady in waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but ...

Lady Wu and was unable to kill Chen Shubao. Subsequently, Chen Shuling fled out of the palace and staged a military coup, along with his cousin Chen Bogu (陳伯固) the Prince of Xin'an (Emperor Wen's son). Because Chen Shubao had been seriously wounded, Empress Liu, while also herself injured, took control of the situation, and the imperial troops were able to defeat Chen Shuling's and Chen Bogu's. Both were killed. Chen Shuling's sons were also killed, while Chen Bogu's sons were demoted to commoner status.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 175.

As empress dowager

Chen Shubao then assumed the throne, and Empress Liu took the title of

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 Chen Shubao was continuing to recover from his injuries, the various urgent matters at hand—including Emperor Xuan's funeral arrangements, the border defenses (as Chen had recently lost the region between the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

and the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

to Northern Zhou's successor state

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

), and other important matters, were ruled on by Empress Dowager Liu, assisted by Chen Shujian. When Chen Shubao recovered, she returned the imperial authorities to him and no longer ruled on governmental matters. When Chen fell to Sui in 589, Chen Shubao and his clan were taken to Chang'an. Empress Dowager Liu went to Chang'an as well. She subsequently took up residence at Sui's eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

. She died there in 615 and was buried in Luoyang, not with her husband Emperor Xuan.

Ancestry

Notes and references

* ''

Book of Chen The ''Book of Chen'' or ''Chen Shu'' (''Chén Shū'') was the official history of the Chen dynasty, one of the Southern dynasties of China. The ''Book of Chen'' is part of the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by ...

'', vol. 7. * ''

History of the Southern Dynasties The ''History of the Southern Dynasties'' is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. It contain 80 volumes and covers the period from 420 to 589, the histories of the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang, ...

'', vol. 12. * ''

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 ...

'', vols. 168, 170, 175. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu Jingyan, Empress Liang dynasty people Chen dynasty empresses Chen dynasty regents 530s births 616 deaths Sui dynasty people 6th-century women regents 6th-century Chinese women 6th-century empresses consort 6th-century regents Mothers of Chinese emperors