Empress Chen Jiao
| Empress Chen of Wu 孝武陳皇后 | |||||
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| Empress of Western Han Dynasty | |||||
| Reign | 141–130 BC | ||||
| Predecessor | Empress Wang Zhi | ||||
| Successor | Empress Wei Zifu | ||||
| Died | c. 110 BC | ||||
| Spouse | Emperor Wu of Han | ||||
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| Father | Chen Wu, Marquess of Tangyi | ||||
| Mother | Liu Piao, Princess Guantao | ||||
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Family name: Chen 陳 Given name: Jiao 嬌 (Not in official history) |
Empress Chen of Wu (孝武陳皇后), also known as Deposed Empress Chen (陳廢后) and in unofficial history as Chen Jiao (simplified Chinese: 陈娇; traditional Chinese: 陳嬌; pinyin: Chén Jiaō; Wade–Giles: Ch'en Chiao) or as her milk name A'Jiao (阿嬌), was an empress during Han Dynasty. She was the older cousin and first wife of Emperor Wu of Han until her deposition in 130 BC for committing witchcraft.
Empress Chen was the daughter of Chen Wu (陳午), the Marquess of Tangyi (堂邑侯), and Liu Piao (劉嫖), the Eldest Princess Guantao (館陶長公主, the older sister of Emperor Jing of Han). She also had two brothers, Chen Xu (陳須) and Chen Jiao (陳蟜). There were no authentic historic records of her real name, and the well-known name "A'Jiao" came from a pseudohistoric fable titled Hanwu Stories (漢武故事), thought to be written during the Wei-Jin period.
Princess Guantao initially proposed to marry her teenage daughter to Liu Rong (劉榮), Emperor Jing's eldest son and crown prince at the time as well as son of his favorite concubine, Lady Li (栗姬). However, Lady Li rudely rejected the proposal out of grudge over that Princess Guantao often pimped new concubines for Emperor Jing (therefore siphoning away her favor). A greatly humiliated and frustrated Princess Guantao then approached Consort Wang Zhi, another concubine favored by Emperor Jing, and offered to marry her daughter to Consort Wang's 5-year-old son Liu Che, Emperor Jing's tenth (and arguably the favorite) son and then the Prince of Jiaodong (膠東王). Consort Wang, who had been watching quietly from the sidelines, saw her opportunity and welcomed the proposal immediately. This political marriage secured an alliance between them, who then plotted together to ensure that Emperor Jing became increasingly annoyed at Lady Li. Coupled with Lady Li's own foolishness, it eventually resulted in the deposition of Liu Rong, who was demoted from crown prince to the Prince of Linjiang (臨江王) in 150 BC and exiled out of the capital Chang'an. Lady Li died soon after out of depression and anger, and Liu Rong was arrested two years later for illegally seizing imperial shrine lands and committed suicide in custody.
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