Empress Dowager Li (Later Shu)

Empress Dowager Li (李太后, personal name unknown) (d. 965) was the mother of Meng Chang, the last emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Later Shu. She was a concubine of Meng Chang's father Meng Zhixiang (Emperor Gaozu).

It is not known when the future Empress Dowager Li was born, but it is known that she was from Taiyuan. At one point, she became a concubine of Li Cunxu — the future founding emperor of Later Tang and, at that time, the heir to Li Keyong the Prince of Jin. Sometime later, she was awarded to the Jin official Meng Zhixiang as a concubine of his, possibly as an attendant to Li Keyong's niece (daughter of Li Keyong's brother Li Kerang (李克讓)), whom Li Keyong gave in marriage to Meng as Meng's wife.

In 918 or 919, there was a time when Lady Li dreamed of a star falling into her abdomen. She informed this dream to Meng Zhixiang's wife (who would later, after Later Tang's founding in 923, be created the Grand Princess Qionghua), who believed this to be a favorable omen. The future princess thus had her attend to Meng. She gave birth to his third son Meng Renzan in late 919.

In 934, Meng Zhixiang, who then carried the title of Prince of Shu as a Later Tang subject, declared himself Emperor of Shu. With Grand Princess Qionghua having died by that point, he posthumously honored her as empress, and created Lady Li an imperial consort, initially with the rank of Furen (夫人), and then the greater title Guifei (貴妃).

Meng Zhixiang died in later 934, and Meng Renzan, who then changed his name to Meng Chang, took the throne. In 935, he honored Consort Li as empress dowager.

Empress Dowager Li was said to be intelligent and of good judgment. However, there were few references made to her being involved in Meng Chang's governance. The one exception was a reference in 957, when she became worried that the Later Shu military commands were in the hands of the wrong people. She stated to Meng Chang:

I had previously watched Emperor Zhuangzong [(i.e., Li Cunxu)] battle Liang forces across the River, and also the acts of the late Emperor [(i.e., Meng Zhixiang)], both at Taiyuan and in conquering the Shu region. Under them, unless the generals had great accomplishments, they would not be allowed to command armies, so the soldiers became respectful and fearful. Among our current generals, Wang Zhaoyuan [(王昭遠)] was originally a servant of ours; and Yi Shenzheng [(伊審徵)], Han Baozhen [(韓保貞)], and Zhao Chongtao [(趙崇韜)] are all young, inexperienced sons from aristocratic families. None of them had real military experience, and we are merely commissioning them because of their relationships with us. In ordinary times, no one would dare to object. But if there are troubles on the borders, how can they battle the great enemies? The way I see it, only Gao Yanchou [(高彥儔)] is an old soldier from Taiyuan who would not abuse your trust. No other is suitable.

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