Empress Meng
| Empress Meng | |||||
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| Empress consort of Song Dynasty | |||||
| Reign | 1092-1096 | ||||
| Predecessor | Empress Xiang | ||||
| Successor | Empress Liu | ||||
| Born | 1073 | ||||
| Died | 1131 (aged 57–58) | ||||
| Spouse | Emperor Zhezong of Song | ||||
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| Father | Meng Yuen | ||||
| Posthumous name | |
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| Empress Zhaoche Shengxian 昭慈聖獻皇后 |
Empress Meng (1073–1131) was a Chinese Empress consort of the Song Dynasty, married to Emperor Zhezong of Song. She served as regent of China in 1127, and during the minority of Emperor Zhang, the son of Emperor Gaozong of Song, who was temporarily placed upon for 25 days in 1129. She played a significant political role in Chinese politics: first by legitimizing the Da Chu dynasty in 1127, and then ending it by legitimizing Emperor Gaozong of Song as the heir of the Song dynasty.
Meng was selected to become the primary spouse and empress of Emperor Zhezong by the Empress Dowager Regent Gao, and the wedding was conducted in 1092. She came from a "literati family", was very well educated, and from her introduction to court, she was taught "wifely etiquette".
The relationship between Meng and Zhezong was not a good one, and Zhezong resented her, possible because she had been chosen for him by the Empress Dowager Regent Gao. Reportedly, he tolerated, and maybe even encouraged, his favorite, Consort Liu, to be rude to empress Meng. Her mother-in-law, Dowager Empress Xiang, however, had a very good impression of her and a good relationship with her, and took her side against Consort Liu, though she later admitted, that both Meng and Liu had a temper and were both to blame for their infected rivalry.
In 1096, a scandal occurred when empress Meng was accused of witchcraft. When her infant daughter became ill, the empress asked her sister for advice. Her sister brought her "talisman-water", which was used by daoist-priest to cure illness. Meng had protested because such practices were banned in the palace, but the emperor commented that it was harmless. Nonetheless, rumors of witchcraft started to surround the empress. When the baby's illness grew worse, the empress noticed "token paper money" beside the child and suspected Consort Liu of using witchcraft against her. Soon after, a nun, a eunuch, and the adoptive mother of Meng was accused of having used witchcraft to help the empress, thereby implicating her. Thirty palace women and eunuchs were tortured during the investigation. The nun and the eunuch was executed, accused of having used black magic toward Consort Liu, and the adoptive mother of Meng was executed accused of having used magic to make the emperor fall in love with the empress. Empress Meng herself was stripped from her title and sent to a Daoist nunnery.
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