Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan
| Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress consort of Han Dynasty | |||||
| Tenure | 83–74 BC | ||||
| Predecessor | Empress Wei | ||||
| Successor | Empress Xu | ||||
| Born | 89 BC | ||||
| Died | 37 BC (aged 55) | ||||
| Spouse | Emperor Zhao of Han | ||||
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| Father | Shangguan An | ||||
| Mother | Lady Huo | ||||
| Posthumous name | |
|---|---|
| Empress Xiao Zhao 孝昭皇后 |
Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan (上官太皇太后) (personal name unknown) (89 BC(?) – 37 BC), also known as Empress Shangguan (上官皇后), Empress Xiaozhao (孝昭皇后) and Empress Dowager Shangguan (上官太后), was an Empress, Empress Dowager and Grand Empress Dowager during Han Dynasty and wife to Emperor Zhao. Her father was Shangguan An (上官安), the son of Shangguan Jie (上官桀). Her mother was the daughter of Huo Guang. She was a key figure in a number of political incidents during the middle Han Dynasty, and she spent her entire adult life as a Grand Empress Dowager and a widow without family. Both sides of her family were wiped out in two separate mass executions as punishment accessories of the people who dared usurp the throne. She remains the youngest person in history to assume the both titles of Empress Dowager and Grand Empress Dowager.
Lady Shangguan's grandfathers Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie (along with ethnic Xiongnu official Jin Midi) were co-regents for the young Emperor Zhao, who ascended the throne in 87 BC at age seven. Huo was the primary regent. At that time, Lady Shangguan herself was a toddler.
It is not clear when Lady Shangguan's parents married, but what was clear was that it was while her grandfathers were colleagues in Emperor Wu's administration and great friends. However, after Jin, a moderating influence in the co-regency, died in 86 BC, they began to have conflicts, because Shangguan Jie was unhappy with his lesser role in the co-regency. in 84 BC, Shangguan Jie wanted to marry the five-year-old Lady Shangguan to the emperor. Huo initially refused, believing her to be too young. Shangguan Jie turned elsewhere for support of his plan. Lady Shangguan's father Shangguan An was a friend of Emperor Zhao's sister and caretaker Princess Eyi's lover, Ding Wairen (丁外人). He encouraged Ding to persuade the princess on the soundness of the marriage—reasoning that the Shangguans' power would be firmer with the marriage, and that they could then help Ding legitimize his relationship with Princess Eyi. Princess Eyi agreed, and later in 84 BC, the young Lady Shangguan was created an imperial consort. In 83 BC, she was created empress.
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