Wang Xianyuan (Chinese: 王憲嫄; c. 427[4] – 9 October 464[5]), formally Empress Xiaowenmu (孝武文穆皇后, literally "the civil and solemn empress"), was an empress of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Xiaowu (Liu Jun).
| Wang Xianyuan 王憲嫄 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress consort of Liu Song | |||||
| Tenure | 5 June 453 – 12 July 464 | ||||
| Predecessor | Empress Yin Yuying | ||||
| Successor | Empress Lu | ||||
| Born | c. 427 | ||||
| Died | 9 October 464 (aged 36–37) Jiankang, Liu Song | ||||
| Spouse | Emperor Xiaowu of Song | ||||
| Issue | Liu Chuyu, Princess Kuaiji (446?[1] – 2 January 466[2]) Liu Ziye, Emperor Qianfei (449–466) Liu Zishang, Prince of Yizhang (451[3] – 2 January 466) | ||||
| |||||
| Father | Wang Yan | ||||
| Mother | Princess Wuxing | ||||
Background
editWang 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 Yan's father Wang Gu (王嘏) was a Jin minister; Yan's mother was Princess Poyang, a daughter of Emperor Jianwen of Jin.[6] 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 and Liu Zishang (劉子尚), and daughters Liu Chuyu, Liu Chupei (劉楚佩), Liu Chuxiu (劉楚琇), and Liu Xiuming (劉脩明).[7]
As empress consort
editAfter Liu Jun's older half-brother Liu Shao the 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, Jiangxi) and did not accompany him in attacking the capital Jiankang, although upon his victory she and his mother Consort Lu Huinan 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, 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 leaves to silkworms, 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.
As empress dowager
editEmperor 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!"[8] She soon died and was buried with her husband Emperor Xiaowu.
Notes
edit- ^ Lady Liu's birth year and her age when she died were not recorded. However, it is likely that she was born in or after 443 as that was the year her parents married.
- ^ According to Emperor Ming's biography in Book of Song, Lady Liu and her brother Liu Zishang were ordered to commit suicide on the jiwei day of the 11th month of the 1st year of the Yongguang era. This corresponds to 2 Jan 466 in the Julian calendar. ([永光元年十一月]己未，司徒扬州刺史豫章王子尚、山阴公主并赐死。) Song Shu, vol.08
- ^ According to Liu Zishang's biography in Book of Song, he was 16 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. (太宗殒废帝，称太皇后令曰：“子尚顽凶极悖，行乖天理。楚玉淫乱纵慝，义绝人经。并可于第赐尽。”子尚时年十六。) Song Shu, vol.80. Thus, his birth year should be 451.
- ^ Lady Wang's biography in Book of Song indicated that she was 38 (by East Asian reckoning) when she died. The Chinese year largely corresponding to 427 in the Julian calendar is from 12 Feb 427 to 1 Feb 428.
- ^ jichou day of the 8th month of the 8th year of the Da'ming era, per volume 129 of Zizhi Tongjian
- ^ In Lady Wang's biography in Book of Jin, Princess Poyang was recorded as being Emperor Xiaowu's daughter. In his Jiao Kan Ji, Qing-era commentator Zhang Senkai (张森楷) noted that in Wang Dao's biography in Book of Jin, Princess Poyang was recorded as Emperor Jianwen's daughter, and thus Emperor Xiaowu's sister.
- ^ (元嘉二十年，拜武陵王妃。生废帝、豫章王子尚、山阴公主楚玉、临淮康哀公主楚佩、皇女楚琇、康乐公主脩明。世祖在蕃，后甚有宠。) Song Shu, vol.41
- ^ (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