Sima Maoying (; 393? or 403/4?Zhang Senkai is of the opinion that Sima Maoying's true birth year is around this period as this would make her 36-37 years old (by East Asian reckoning) at the time of her death. In addition, one possible reason why this period was not used as her birth year was that

Huan Xuan Huan Xuan () (369 – 19 June 404), courtesy name Jingdao (敬道), nickname Lingbao (靈寶), formally Emperor Wudao of Chu (楚武悼帝), was a Jin Dynasty warlord who briefly took over the imperial throne from Emperor An of Jin and declared ...

usurped the Jin throne during this period, making Sima's birth more lowly as her father's title at the time was "Duke of Shiyang County" (石阳县公), which is lower in rank than "Prince of Langye". – 439) was a princess of the

Eastern Jin dynasty Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

(with the title Princess Haiyan (海鹽公主)) and an

empress consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but historically she does not formally ...

of the

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 father was

Emperor Gong of Jin Emperor Gong of Jin (; 386 – October or November 421), personal name Sima Dewen (), was the last emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (266–420) in China. He became emperor in January 419 after his developmentally disabled brother Emperor An ...

, and her husband was

Emperor Shao of Song Emperor Shao of Liu Song ((劉)宋少帝; c. 406 – 4 August 424''guichou'' day of the 6th month of the 2nd year of the ''Jingping'' era, per Emperor Shao's biography in ''Book of Song''), also known by his post-removal title Prince of Yingyang ( ...

Life

Sima Maoying was a daughter of Emperor Gong and his wife,

Chu Lingyuan Chu Lingyuan (; 384 – 7 August 436), formally Empress Gongsi (恭思皇后), was the last empress consort of the Chinese Eastern Jin dynasty. Her husband was the last emperor of the dynasty, Emperor Gong (Sima Dewen). Family background Chu ...

. She must have been created princess during her father's brief reign (419–420), and it was also at that time that she married Liu Yifu (the future Emperor Shao), then the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the powerful general Liu Yu (the future

Emperor Wu of Song Emperor Wu of (Liu) Song (()宋武帝; 16 April 363– 26 June 422), personal name Liu Yu (), courtesy name Dexing (), childhood name Jinu (),(皇考以高祖生有奇異，名為奇奴。皇妣既殂，養于舅氏，改為寄奴焉。) ''Song S ...

). In 420, her father-in-law forced her father to yield the throne to him, ending Jin and establishing Liu Song. He created Liu Yifu

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 ...

, and she therefore carried the title of crown princess. In 421, he had her father killed. In 422, after Liu Yu died, Liu Yifu took the throne as Emperor Shao, and she was created empress. However, in 424, officials whom Liu Yu had left in control of the government deposed Emperor Shao, believing him to be unfit to be emperor, demoting him to the title of Prince of Yingyang (营阳王). Empress Sima was therefore also demoted to Princess of Yingyang. Soon, the officials had Liu Yifu killed. They replaced him with his capable brother

Liu Yilong Emperor Wen of Liu Song ((劉)宋文帝, (Liu) Song Wen-di; 407 – 16 March 453), personal name Liu Yilong (劉義隆), childhood name Che'er (車兒), was an emperor of the Liu Song dynasty of China. He was the third son of the dynastic founder ...

(as Emperor Wen), and Emperor Wen, in 432, posthumously had his nephew Liu Lang (劉郎) (a son of his brother Liu Yigong (劉義恭) the Prince of Jiangxia) adopted into Liu Yifu's line as his son and created Liu Lang the Prince of Nanfeng (南丰王). The former Empress Sima therefore carried the title Princess Dowager of Nanfeng. She died in 439.

Notes

, - style="text-align: center;" , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sima Maoying, Empress Liu Song empresses 393 births 439 deaths Jin dynasty (266–420) people