Guo Shengtong
| Guo Shengtong | |
|---|---|
| Empress of the Eastern Han Dynasty | |
| Reign | 26–41 |
| Spouse | Emperor Guangwu of Han (m. 24) |
| Issue |
|
| Father | Guo Chang, Marquess Si of Yin'an |
Guo Shengtong (郭聖通; died 52 CE) was an empress during the Eastern Han dynasty. She was the first empress of Emperor Guangwu (Liu Xiu), the founder of Eastern Han. She lost her husband's favor and was deposed in 41. However, both she and her family continued to be respected and honored even after she was deposed.
Guo Shengtong came from a wealthy family. Her father Guo Chang (郭昌) was a major landowner in the Zhending Commandery (真定, roughly modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). Her mother was a daughter of Liu Pu (劉普), Prince Gong of Zhending—a hereditary prince descended from the Western Han imperial house, as a sixth generation descendant of Emperor Jing, and she carried the courtesy title of Lady. After Guo's maternal grandfather's death in 7 BCE, her uncle Liu Yang (劉楊) inherited the principality. When Wang Mang usurped the Han throne, he was demoted to duke, and the following year demoted to a commoner.
Circa 23, as Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty was crumbling, Liu Yang rose in rebellion and, as his family had hereditary authority in Zhending, the people followed him, and he reclaimed the title of Prince of Zhending. He became a regional power in his principality and nearby commanderies. He nominally submitted to Emperor Gengshi. When the pretender Wang Lang, claiming to be a son of Emperor Cheng (with the name Liu Ziyu (劉子輿)) rose against Emperor Gengshi in late 23, Prince Yang supported his claim. In 24, however, as Liu Xiu, still an official under Emperor Gengshi, was trying to pacify the region, he engaged in talks with Liu Yang, and they reached an alliance, under which Liu Xiu took Liu Yang's niece Guo in marriage. (Liu Xiu was already married to Yin Lihua at the time, and it is not clear what Guo's status was vis-à-vis Yin, although Yin was likely in Liu's and her home territory of Nanyang (modern Nanyang, Henan) at the time, thus avoiding a direct difficult situation.)
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