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Shangguan Wan'er

Shangguan Wan'er
Shangguan Wan'er.jpg
Born 664
Shan County, Shan Prefecture
Died 21 July 710 (aged 46)
Chang'an
Spouse Emperor Zhongzong of Tang
Full name
上官婉兒
Posthumous name
Wenhui (文惠)
House House of Li (by marriage)
Father Shangguan Tingzhi
Mother Lady Zheng
Full name
上官婉兒
Posthumous name
Wenhui (文惠)
Shangguan Wan'er
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 上官婉兒
Simplified Chinese 上官婉儿
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese Thượng Quan Uyển Nhi
Japanese name
Kanji 上官婉児
Hiragana じょうかんえんじ

Shangguan Wan'er (664?–21 July 710) was a concubine/imperial consort to two emperors of the Tang dynasty. Although caught up in court intrigues and executed in 710, she is famous for her talent as a poet, writer and politician.

When Wan'er was 13 years old, she became a secretary of Wu Zetian, who was then the empress of Emperor Gaozong and later became an empress in her own right. At age 42, when Wan'er became imperial consort to Wu Zetian's son Li Xian, later known as Emperor Zhongzong, she was given the imperial consort rank of Zhaorong (昭容).

Shangguan Wan'er's grandfather Shangguan Yi had become a prominent official early in the reign of Emperor Gaozong and had become chancellor in 662. In 664, Emperor Gaozong was angry at the level of influence that his second wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian) was exerting over policies, and he consulted Shangguan Yi, who recommended that he depose Empress Wu. However, when Empress Wu discovered this, Emperor Gaozong changed his mind and instead blamed Shangguan Yi. At Empress Wu's instigation, her allies, the chancellor Xu Jingzong falsely accused Shangguan Yi of plotting with Emperor Gaozong's son Li Zhong, on whose staff Shangguan had served at one time, as well as the eunuch Wang Fusheng (王伏勝) (who had earlier reported Empress Wu's wrongdoing to Emperor Gaozong) against Emperor Gaozong. Li Zhong was forced to commit suicide, while Wang, Shangguan Yi, and Shangguan Wan'er's father Shangguan Tingzhi (上官庭芝) were put to death on January 3, 665.

After Shangguan Yi's and Shangguan Tingzhi's deaths, Shangguan Wan'er and her mother Lady Zheng—a sister of the official Zheng Xiuyuan (鄭休遠) -- were spared but became slaves in the inner imperial palace. As Shangguan Wan'er grew older, she learned to read and write from her mother. She read extensively and showed a talent for writing prose and poetry at an early age, as well as in matters of civil service regulations. After Empress Wu stumbled upon poems written by the 13-year-old Shangguan Wan'er in the crown prince's study, Empress Wu summoned Shangguan Wan'er and asked her to compose an essay based on a given theme right on the spot. Shangguan Wan'er performed marvellously, and the Empress was so impressed that she appointed Wan'er her personal secretary.


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