Empress Dowager Tudan (Principal Wife of Wanyan Liang's Father)

Biography

Family Background and Early Years Empress Dowager Tudan came from the aristocratic Tudan clan of the Jin dynasty, a prominent Jurchen lineage with an important position in the early Jin. Her precise year of birth is unknown, though the text places it at around 1108. Around the 1120s, she married Wanyan Zonggan as his principal wife. Wanyan Zonggan was an elder illegitimate son of Emperor Taizu of Jin, Wanyan Min, and occupied a prominent place in Jin politics, serving as a guolun begile and assisting Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xizong. Tudan had no sons of her own and raised Wanyan Chong, the eldest son of Zonggan's secondary wife Lady Li. Wanyan Chong, however, drank heavily and repeatedly ignored her admonitions. Tudan came to dislike him and even subjected him to “unreasonable beatings.” By contrast, she was very fond of the more promising Wanyan Liang and treated him as her own son. Liang was born to Zonggan's secondary wife Lady Da and, because of Tudan's affection, was frequently close to her. ### Wanyan Liang's Regicide and Her Elevation as Empress Dowager In 1149, the ninth year of Huangtong, Wanyan Liang killed Emperor Xizong of Jin and seized the throne. When Tudan and Lady Xiao, a consort of Emperor Taizu, heard the news, they were shocked and said, “Even if the emperor had lost the Way, how could a subject go so far as this?” When they entered the palace, Tudan did not congratulate Wanyan Liang, and he therefore resented her. In the first month of 1150, the second year of Tiande, Tudan and Wanyan Liang's birth mother Lady Da were both honored as empress dowagers. Tudan lived in the Eastern Palace, Yongshou Palace, while Lady Da lived in the Western Palace, Yongning Palace. At Tudan's birthday banquet, Lady Da knelt to offer wine. Because Tudan was speaking with guests, she did not respond immediately. Wanyan Liang became enraged and the next day ordered the princesses and women of the imperial clan who had been speaking with the empress dowager to be flogged, deepening the rift between him and Tudan. ### Neglect During the Transfer of the Capital and Her Return In 1152, the fourth year of Tiande, Wanyan Liang ordered the capital moved to Zhongdu (present-day Beijing) and began constructing palaces there. In 1153, the first year of Zhenyuan, the transfer was formally completed, but Tudan alone was left behind in the Supreme Capital (present-day Acheng, Heilongjiang). She lived in constant fear; whenever a messenger arrived, she changed clothes and waited for orders, afraid that she might be killed. In 1153, Lady Da became seriously ill. Before her death, she instructed Wanyan Liang to bring Tudan back and treat her well, telling him to “serve Yongshou Palace as you would serve me.” In 1155, the third year of Zhenyuan, Wanyan Liang brought Tudan to Zhongdu. Outwardly he displayed extreme filial devotion, personally supporting her and carrying things for her, but his resentment remained. ### Remonstrance Against the Song Campaign and Her Killing In 1161, the sixth year of Zhenglong, Wanyan Liang planned a campaign against Song. Tudan opposed the plan and remonstrated with him, increasing his displeasure. When the Privy Council commissioner Pusan Shigong was dispatched against the Khitan rebel Saba and came to bid farewell to the empress dowager, Tudan spoke with him at length, complaining that the transfer of the capital and the southern campaigns had exhausted the realm and that now the Khitan problem had arisen as well. Wanyan Liang had already ordered the maid Gao Funü to watch the empress dowager. Gao Funü's husband Temoge instructed her to embellish Tudan's words when reporting them. Wanyan Liang suspected that, because Tudan regarded Wanyan Chong as her son and Chong's four sons were all grown, she might harbor a different design while Shigong commanded troops outside the capital. He therefore summoned the palace inspection official Da Huaizhong, the Hanlin court attendant Wolun, the Wardrobe Bureau commissioner Hutemo, and the Arsenal office chief Xishi, and ordered them to kill the empress dowager in Ningde Palace. The guard Gao Fu and forty soldiers were sent with them. Tudan was playing a board game when they arrived. They ordered her to kneel and receive the edict. Startled, she knelt. Hutemo struck her from behind; she fell and rose again twice before Gao Fu and the others strangled her to death at the age of fifty-three. The same purge also killed Ante, the commandery lady Baisan, Aluwa, Chacha, her wet nurse Nansa, the maids Asi and Wolibao, the Ningde Palace guard Wendiguan Chala, the office chiefs Wangjianu and Husha, and Wanyan Chong's sons Tannu, Alibai, and Yuannu. Wanyan Liang ordered Tudan's body burned inside the palace and her bones thrown into water. Gao Funü was enfeoffed as Lady of Yun State, and Temoge was appointed prefect of Zezhou. ### Posthumous Honors During the Dading era, after Emperor Shizong of Jin, Wanyan Yong, took the throne, he conferred the posthumous title “Empress Ai” on Tudan. Temoge and Gao Funü were brought from Zezhou to Zhongdu and executed. Wanyan Liang was later demoted to commoner status, stripped of his imperial title, and then restored to the rank of Prince of Liao; Tudan was correspondingly reduced to the title Princess Consort of Liao.

Major Activities

Raising Wanyan Chong and Favoring Wanyan Liang Tudan had no sons and raised Wanyan Chong, but disliked him because of his heavy drinking. She was fond of Wanyan Liang and treated him as her own son, influencing Liang's early upbringing. ### Elevation as Empress Dowager and the Birthday Banquet Incident In 1150, the second year of Tiande, Tudan and Wanyan Liang's birth mother Lady Da were both honored as empress dowagers. At Tudan's birthday banquet, Lady Da knelt to offer wine, but Tudan did not respond immediately. Wanyan Liang became angry and the next day ordered princesses and women of the imperial clan to be flogged, worsening the relationship between him and Tudan. ### Neglect During the Capital Transfer The move of the capital was ordered in 1152 and formally carried out in 1153. Wanyan Liang left Tudan alone in the Supreme Capital, causing her to live in constant fear. ### Remonstrance Against the Song Campaign and Her Death In 1161, the sixth year of Zhenglong, Tudan remonstrated against the campaign against Song. Wanyan Liang angrily said, “You are not my mother; you are a concubine of the Song people,” and ordered her killed in Ningde Palace. Her body was burned and her bones discarded. ### The Gao Funü Incident Wanyan Liang ordered the maid Gao Funü to watch the empress dowager. Gao Funü's husband Temoge embellished Tudan's words in his report, causing Wanyan Liang to suspect that Tudan harbored a different design and accelerating the decision to kill her.

Personal Relations

• Adopted son: Wanyan Chong (born to the secondary wife Lady Li)
• Adopted grandsons: Wanyan Tannu, Wanyan Alibai, Wanyan Yuannu (sons of Wanyan Chong)
• Stepson: Wanyan Liang (Prince of Hailing) ### Associates - Lady Da (birth mother of Wanyan Liang): on good terms with Tudan; in her final words Lady Da interceded on Tudan's behalf.
• Lady Xiao (consort of Emperor Taizu): together with Tudan expressed shock after Wanyan Liang's regicide. ### Rulers and Subjects - Emperor Xizong of Jin: killed by Wanyan Liang; Tudan did not congratulate Liang.
• Emperor Shizong of Jin: posthumously honored her as Empress Ai. ### Conflicts - Wanyan Liang: because Tudan did not congratulate him after the regicide, because of the birthday banquet incident, and because she opposed the Song campaign, he eventually ordered her killed.
• Gao Funü: watched Tudan and informed against her.

Historical Assessment

Jin Period / Contemporary Accounts - The “Biographies of Empresses and Consorts” in the History of Jin describes Tudan as “benevolent and generous,” without elaborating.

• Wanyan Liang angrily said, “You are not my mother; you are a concubine of the Song people,” reflecting his hostility toward her.
• Emperor Shizong of Jin posthumously honored her as Empress Ai, recognizing that she had died unjustly. ### Song and Yuan Periods - The History of Jin, compiled by Toghto and others in the Yuan dynasty, records Tudan's life in detail, describing her as “childless and benevolent in character,” while also criticizing her for being “unable to regulate the household.”
• Song-period notebooks often present Tudan as a victim of Wanyan Liang's tyranny, including the Collected Accounts of the Treaties with the North in Three Reigns. ### Ming and Qing Periods - Wang Shizhen's Ming-period writings, including the Collected Works of the Yanzhou Mountain Man, condemned Wanyan Liang's killing of his father's principal wife as “contrary to heavenly principle.”
• Zhao Yi's Qing-period Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories, when discussing the Jin imperial household, mentions Tudan's death and calls Wanyan Liang “cruel.” ### Modern Period - Modern scholars such as Cai Meibiao, in works including General History of China, have used Tudan's death as an example of Wanyan Liang's tyrannical rule.
• Online encyclopedias such as one account and another account generally follow the History of Jin, emphasizing her “benevolence” and “tragedy.”