Empress He

Biography

Family Background and Early Years Empress He came from a butcher's household in Wan County, Nanyang. Her family was of very humble status, and her father He Zhen worked as a butcher; the family had no political base. She was said to be seven chi and one cun tall, approximately 164 centimeters, and exceptionally beautiful. According to the “Annals of Empresses” in the Book of the Later Han, her “family were originally butchers, and she was selected to enter the palace women's quarters.” Her entry into the palace may have been connected with her family bribing the eunuch Guo Sheng, who was involved in the selection of women for palace service. After entering the palace she won the favor of Emperor Ling, Liu Hong, and in 176, the fifth year of the Xiping era, gave birth to Prince Liu Bian. As Emperor Ling's earlier sons had died young, Liu Bian became the de facto eldest surviving imperial son. Emperor Ling had him fostered in the household of the Daoist Shi Zimiao, where he was known as the “Marquis of Shi,” while He was made a Noble Lady. The sources describe her as “strong and jealous, so that none in the rear palace failed to fear her,” and she gradually established a dominant position within the inner court. ### Palace Rivalry and Elevation as Empress In 178, the first year of the Guanghe era, Empress Song occupied the formal position of empress but lacked Emperor Ling's favor. He joined other favored palace women in maligning Empress Song and accused her of engaging in sorcery. Emperor Ling believed the accusations and ordered the seals and insignia of Empress Song confiscated. Empress Song entered the palace prison, where she died in grief. Her father and brothers were also executed, while eunuchs who pitied her innocence pooled money for her burial. With Empress Song removed, He eliminated the principal obstacle to becoming empress. On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month in 180, the third year of the Guanghe era, Emperor Ling established He as empress. The following June, her father He Zhen was posthumously made General of Chariots and Cavalry and Marquis Xuande of Wuyang, and her mother Xing was enfeoffed as Lady of Wuyang. The He family thus rose abruptly from a butcher's household into the ranks of powerful imperial in-laws. ### Poisoning of Lady Wang In 181, the fourth year of the Guanghe era, Lady Wang, Wang Rong, became pregnant. Fearing Empress He, she reportedly took medicine in an attempt to induce an abortion, but the fetus remained unharmed. She later dreamed of carrying the sun on her back, regarded the dream as auspicious, and abandoned the attempt. That year she gave birth to Prince Liu Xie. Empress He then poisoned Lady Wang with poisoned wine. Emperor Ling was furious and intended to depose Empress He. Eunuchs including Zhang Rang, who hoped to secure their future through the He family, tearfully pleaded for her and each offered enormous sums from their own households as gifts, calming the emperor and preserving her position. Liu Xie was subsequently raised by Emperor Ling's mother, Empress Dowager Dong, and was known as the “Marquis of Dong.” The episode laid the groundwork for later conflict between Empress He and Empress Dowager Dong. ### Regency and the Power of the Imperial In-Laws In April 189, the sixth year of the Zhongping era, Emperor Ling became gravely ill and ordered the eunuch Jian Shuo to support Liu Xie as successor. After Emperor Ling died, Jian Shuo planned to kill General-in-Chief He Jin before enthroning Liu Xie, but the plot leaked and He Jin acted first. Empress He's son Liu Bian became emperor, while He was honored as Empress Dowager and began ruling from court. She relied on her elder brother, General-in-Chief He Jin, and Grand Tutor Yuan Wei to assist in government and manage the affairs of the Masters of Writing. He Jin soon killed Jian Shuo, absorbed his troops, and took control of the capital garrison during the succession struggle after Emperor Ling’s death. After Empress Dowager He took control of court government, her conflict with her mother-in-law Empress Dowager Dong intensified. Empress Dowager Dong had repeatedly encouraged Emperor Ling to establish Liu Xie as crown prince, which He resented. Dong's nephew, General of Agile Cavalry Dong Chong, also competed for power with He Jin. In anger, Empress Dowager Dong rebuked He, saying in effect, “Do you rely on your brother? I shall order the General of Agile Cavalry to cut off He Jin's head.” When Empress Dowager He learned of this, she told He Jin. He Jin, the Three Excellencies, and General of Chariots and Cavalry He Miao then memorialized that, under precedent, a dowager empress from a princely house should not remain in the capital, and asked that Empress Dowager Dong be returned to her domain. He Jin sent troops to surround Dong Chong's residence; Dong was dismissed and committed suicide, while Empress Dowager Dong died suddenly from fear and distress. Popular opinion blamed the He family. At this point, the domination of the court by the He imperial in-laws was complete. ### Political Conflict with He Jin and the Eunuch Faction After she began ruling from court, He Jin sought to eliminate the eunuchs, but Empress Dowager He explicitly opposed him, arguing that palace eunuchs had governed the restricted quarters “from antiquity to the present” and that this was an established Han practice that could not simply be abolished. Her mother, Lady of Wuyang, and her half-brother He Miao accepted bribes from the eunuchs, repeatedly pleaded for them before the empress dowager, and accused He Jin of arbitrarily killing palace attendants and weakening the state through his control of power. The empress dowager therefore became suspicious of He Jin. Intimidated by the eunuchs' long-established influence, He Jin hesitated. Yuan Shao advised summoning powerful generals from the provinces to the capital to exert pressure. He Jin accepted the proposal and called in Dong Zhuo and others with troops. Only as Dong Zhuo drew near did Empress Dowager He become alarmed and reluctantly order the Regular Attendants and Lesser Yellow Gate eunuchs dismissed, while retaining only those eunuchs who had good relations with He Jin to guard the palace. Empress Dowager He's younger sister was the daughter-in-law of Zhang Rang's adopted son. Zhang Rang used her to appeal for mercy, and the empress dowager was moved and recalled the dismissed eunuchs. In August, He Jin entered Changle Palace and again requested that the eunuchs be killed. Zhang Rang and his allies had agents listen secretly, learned of the plan, and forged an order in the empress dowager's name summoning He Jin back into the palace, where they killed him before Jiade Hall. He Jin's subordinates Wu Kuang and Zhang Zhang, together with Yuan Shu, attacked the Southern Palace and burned the Nine Dragons Gate and the eastern and western palaces. Zhang Rang and other eunuchs falsely told the empress dowager that the General-in-Chief had rebelled and carried off Empress Dowager He, Emperor Shao, and Liu Xie, Prince of Chenliu, through covered passageways toward the Northern Palace. Master of Writing Lu Zhi stood at a gallery window with a weapon and berated Duan Gui. Frightened, Duan Gui and the others released Empress Dowager He, who escaped by jumping from the gallery. ### Dong Zhuo's Domination and Her Death After Governor Dong Zhuo of Bingzhou was summoned and led troops into Luoyang, he overawed the court. He compelled Empress Dowager He to depose Liu Bian, Emperor Shao, as Prince of Hongnong and enthrone Liu Xie, Prince of Chenliu, who became Emperor Xian of Han. Liu Bian was helped down from the throne and faced north as a subject, while Empress Dowager He choked with tears and the assembled officials grieved but did not dare speak. Dong Zhuo then accused her of having driven Empress Dowager Dong to death through sorrow, violating the proper relation between a wife and her mother-in-law and lacking filial obedience, and moved her to Yong'an Palace. On the third day of the ninth lunar month that year, September 30, 189, he sent men to poison her. On October 29, 189, in the tenth lunar month of the first year of the Yonghan era, she was buried with Emperor Ling at Wenzhao Mausoleum according to the rites for an empress rather than those for an empress dowager.

Major Activities

Inner-Palace Struggles After entering the palace, He used her forceful personality and Emperor Ling's favor to eliminate obstacles within the inner court. In 178 she joined other favored women in accusing Empress Song of sorcery, leading to Song's deposition and death in the palace prison. In 181 she poisoned Lady Wang, who had given birth to Liu Xie. Although the act nearly caused her own deposition, eunuch intercession preserved her position. These episodes consolidated her authority in the rear palace while also establishing the historical characterization of her as “strong and jealous.” ### Ruling from Court After Emperor Ling died in 189, He, as the emperor's mother, was honored as Empress Dowager and ruled from court, becoming the last of the six Eastern Han empress dowagers traditionally described as exercising direct regency. She relied on her elder brother General-in-Chief He Jin and Grand Tutor Yuan Wei as principal assistants and, over a short period, dominated major political actions including the killing of Jian Shuo and the removal of Empress Dowager Dong, creating a regime centered on the He imperial in-laws. ### Complex Relations with the Eunuch Faction He had a complicated relationship with the eunuch faction. On the one hand, eunuchs had helped preserve her position after the poisoning of Lady Wang, and the eunuch Guo Sheng may have helped arrange her initial entry into the palace. On the other hand, during her regency she joined He Jin in eliminating the eunuch leader Jian Shuo. Yet when He Jin sought to eradicate the eunuchs wholesale, she firmly opposed him on the grounds that eunuch control of the inner palace was an established Han institution. She later recalled dismissed eunuchs after Zhang Rang's plea for mercy. The conflict then escalated: He Jin was killed and the court descended into chaos amid the struggle with the eunuch faction, including the Ten Attendants. ### Movements and Places of Activity Empress He's life was centered on the imperial palaces at Luoyang—the Southern Palace, Northern Palace, and Yong'an Palace—and on her family's native place in Wan County, Nanyang. She undertook no known long-distance travels. Her life trajectory remained entirely bound to inner-palace and court politics, from the women's quarters to the empress's throne, then to the status of empress dowager, forced residence at Yong'an Palace, and finally death in the center of a struggle for political power.

Personal Relations

• Xing: mother; enfeoffed as Lady of Wuyang
• He Jin: paternal half-brother; General-in-Chief
• He Miao: maternal half-brother, originally surnamed Zhu; General of Chariots and Cavalry
• Lady He: younger sister; wife of Zhang Feng, adopted son of the eunuch Zhang Rang
• Liu Bian: son; Emperor Shao of Han ### Spouse - Liu Hong, Emperor Ling of Han: husband ### Ruler–Subject Relations - Liu Bian, Emperor Shao of Han: her son, who honored her as Empress Dowager after ascending the throne
• Liu Xie, Emperor Xian of Han: son of Emperor Ling; after Dong Zhuo enthroned him, He was deposed and confined
• Dong Zhuo: governor of Bingzhou who deposed Liu Bian and ordered He poisoned ### Conflicts - Empress Song: deposed after accusations promoted by He and other palace women
• Lady Wang (Wang Rong): poisoned by He
• Empress Dowager Dong: mother-in-law and political rival; forced out of the capital by the He faction and died soon afterward
• Jian Shuo: eunuch leader killed by He Jin
• Zhang Rang: eunuch whose relationship with He was complicated and whose faction ultimately triggered the palace crisis ### Associates - Yuan Wei: Grand Tutor who assisted He Jin in government
• Yuan Shao: adviser to He Jin who proposed summoning Dong Zhuo to the capital
• Lu Zhi: Master of Writing who helped rescue Empress Dowager He during the palace upheaval

Historical Assessment

Eastern Han / Contemporary - Dong Zhuo accused her: “The Empress Dowager oppressed Grand Empress Dowager Yongle and caused her to die from grief, violating the proper relation between wife and mother-in-law and lacking filial obedience.” (Records of the Three Kingdoms, “Biography of Dong Zhuo”)

• The “Treatise on the Five Phases” in the Book of the Later Han records that popular opinion blamed the He family for Empress Dowager Dong's death. ### Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties - Fan Ye described her as “strong and jealous, so that none in the rear palace failed to fear her.” (Book of the Later Han, “Annals of Empresses”)
• Fan Ye also wrote that, after taking control of court affairs, she “entrusted matters to her brother Jin,” after which conflict between imperial in-laws and eunuchs intensified and the political order collapsed. ### Ming and Qing Periods - Ding Yaokang argued that the decline of Han truly began with He Jin, and that the establishment of Empress He imperiled the dynasty; he further used her humble origins to stress the importance of choosing an empress with care. (Tianshi)
• Mao Zonggang compared the deaths of Lady Qi under Empress Lü and Lady Wang under Empress He, and the reciprocal deaths of Empress Dowager Dong and Empress Dowager He, interpreting them as moral retribution. (Collected Commentary on Romance of the Three Kingdoms)
• Cai Dongfan wrote that Empress He, though extraordinarily fortunate to rise from a butcher's household to become mother of the state, failed to exercise restraint; in his view the resulting conflicts destroyed her own family and helped shift the fate of the dynasty. (Romance of the Later Han) ### Modern Assessments - Scholar Zhuang Xiaofang argues that Empress Dowager He's refusal to eliminate the eunuchs was not altruistic but reflected a desire to preserve the same kind of political freedom as the emperor; she sought not only freedom of action but also political power. (“A Preliminary Study of Eastern Han Empress Dowagers Who Ruled from Court,” master's thesis, Xiamen University, 2007)
• Modern historians generally consider her political background limited and her political judgment weak. Conflict between imperial in-laws and eunuchs intensified during her regency and formed part of the chain of events leading to He Jin's summons of Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhuo's seizure of power, and the eventual collapse of Eastern Han.