Empress Wu (Shu Han)

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Lady Wu was a native of Chenliu and her year of birth is unknown. Her father had an old friendship with Liu Yan, Governor of Yi Province, so the Wu family moved into Shu with Liu Yan. After a physiognomist told Liu Yan that Lady Wu's appearance indicated extraordinary future rank, Liu Yan married her to his son Liu Mao. Liu Mao was the only son who accompanied Liu Yan into Shu and later established himself with his father in Yi Province. He died not long afterward, leaving Lady Wu a young widow without children. The marriage gave her a place within the upper ranks of Yi Province society but also left her in the socially delicate position of a widow.

Marriage to Liu Bei and Installation as Empress

In 214, the nineteenth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei took Yi Province from Liu Zhang and assumed the governorship. By this time his wife Lady Sun, younger sister of Sun Quan, had returned to Eastern Wu. Liu Bei's ministers proposed that he marry the widowed Lady Wu. Liu Bei hesitated because he and Liu Mao belonged to the same broader clan relationship and he feared that marrying Liu Mao's widow would violate ritual norms. Fa Zheng argued that the relationship was no closer than the precedent involving Duke Wen of Jin and Ziyu. Duke Wen, Chong'er, had married Huai Ying, who had previously been his nephew's wife, and Fa Zheng used the example to argue that kinship rules could be adjusted under political circumstances. Liu Bei therefore took Lady Wu as his wife. The Eastern Jin historian Xi Zuochi later criticized this decision, arguing that Liu Bei had not faced the same pressures as Duke Wen and had improperly used the earlier story to excuse a violation of ritual propriety; he also criticized Fa Zheng and other ministers for failing to guide Liu Bei toward the standards of Yao and Shun.

In 219, the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei declared himself King of Hanzhong and made Lady Wu Queen of Hanzhong. In 221, the first year of Zhangwu, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor at Chengdu, asserting continuity with the Han. In the fifth month he elevated Queen Wu to empress, with Zhuge Liang, serving as Grand Councilor and Bearer of Credentials, presenting the imperial seal and ribbon. Lady Wu thereby became the first formally installed empress of Shu Han.

Period as Empress Dowager

In 223, the third year of Zhangwu, Liu Bei died at Yong'an Palace and Crown Prince Liu Shan succeeded as the Later Ruler. In the fifth month, Liu Shan honored Empress Wu as empress dowager, with residence at Changle Palace. Although she was not Liu Shan's biological mother, as principal mother under ritual law she held the highest position in the inner court. Liu Shan treated her with considerable respect, and major court affairs were at times reported to her.

In the first month of 234, the twelfth year of Jianxing, Empress Dowager Wu kept Lady Hu, wife of Liu Yan, in the palace for several months after Hu came to offer congratulations. Because Hu was beautiful, Liu Yan suspected that Liu Shan had favored her and ordered soldiers to slap her. Hu angrily accused Liu Yan, who was imprisoned and executed, his body exposed in the marketplace. The court thereafter prohibited the wives and mothers of officials from entering court for congratulatory ceremonies. The episode illustrates Empress Dowager Wu's authority in the palace and indirectly led to a political scandal.

In 245, the eighth year of Yanxi, Empress Dowager Wu died. She was interred in Liu Bei's Huiling Mausoleum and received the posthumous title Empress Mu.

Empress Mu was surnamed Wu and a native of Chenliu, sister of the Shu-Han general Wu Yi. Her father had been an old associate of Liu Yan, so the family moved into Shu with him. Because a physiognomist said she would be a noble woman, Liu Yan married her to his son Liu Mao, who had come into Shu with him; after Liu Mao's death she was a widow.

In 214, when Liu Bei took Yizhou from Liu Zhang, Lady Sun had already returned to the Eastern Wu and the ministers proposed that he marry Lady Wu. Liu Bei hesitated because of his clan relationship with Liu Mao, and Fa Zheng urged him with the question of how that compared with the case of Duke Wen of Jin and Yu, whereupon he took her as his consort. The Eastern Jin historian Xi Zuochi criticized this, holding that Liu Bei was not driven by circumstance as Duke Wen had been, so that invoking the precedent violated propriety and Fa Zheng and the others had failed to guide him toward the way of Yao and Shun. When Liu Bei took the title King of Hanzhong in 219 she was made queen, and in the fifth month of 221, on his taking the imperial title, she was made empress, the seals being conferred by the chancellor Zhuge Liang as bearer of the tally.

In the fifth month of 223 the heir Liu Shan came to the throne and honored her as empress dowager in the Changle Palace. In the first month of 234 the wife of Liu Yan, Lady Hu, came to court to offer congratulations and was kept in the palace for months; Liu Yan, because of her beauty, suspected she had been favored by Liu Shan and had soldiers slap her, whereupon she brought suit, and Liu Yan was imprisoned, beheaded and his body exposed, the court forbidding the wives and mothers of ministers to come to court thereafter. In 245 the empress dowager died and was buried in Liu Bei's Huiling with the posthumous name Mu. Later fiction differs from the histories in its treatment of her, making Liu Yong and Liu Li her sons when the records of the Three Kingdoms call both sons of Liu Bei by lesser consorts, and such episodes as Zhuge Liang's settling of the five invasions are likewise invented.

Lady Wu's rise to be empress of Shu-Han is bound up with the integration of the local Yizhou interest and the incoming groups within the regime. After entering Shu, Liu Bei needed a balance between the old officials of Yizhou and the Jing-Chu group that had come with him; her brother Wu Yi belonged to the Dongzhou group that had entered Shu with Liu Yan, and the marriage served both political integration and Liu Bei's need to steady Yizhou at the time. That Fa Zheng, Dong He and others held high office afterward is consistent with this tendency.

As empress dowager in the later years of Shu-Han she continued to take part in ritual and palace affairs as the senior member of the ruling house. Liu Shan honored her as empress dowager in the Changle Palace, and auspicious and mourning ceremonies generally required her presence or an edict from her; the affair over the wife of Liu Yan being kept in the palace shows that her establishment carried real weight in palace matters. After her death she was buried with Liu Bei at Huiling with the posthumous name Mu, the only person to enter Huiling as empress. On the extant evidence her records concern marriage, rank and a few palace incidents, and the extent of her own participation in politics cannot be determined.

Records of the Shu-Han court and its consorts are few, and Lady Wu is remembered largely because she was buried at Huiling. Liu Bei's Lady Gan died early and Lady Sun returned to Wu, leaving her the only empress to remain long in the palace as empress dowager after Liu Bei's death, her rank giving her a place in Shu-Han ritual. Under Liu Shan, such major ceremonies as the investiture of heirs, the enfeoffment of clansmen and changes of era generally required an edict from or the presence of the empress dowager, continuing the Han tradition of the dowager's part in ritual.

After Shu-Han fell her tomb and titles were preserved. Chen Shou gave her a biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms; brief as it is, it preserves traces of palace life at Shu-Han, such as the affair of Liu Yan's wife coming to court and the court's consequent ban on the wives of officials attending. Pei Songzhi's commentary adds Xi Zuochi's judgment, and these later comments together with the contemporary record form the main material for knowing her today. As to her own political influence the Records say nothing, her image remaining chiefly one of rank and ceremony.

Shu-Han institutions largely followed those of the Eastern Han, the titles and ritual of empress and empress dowager being much the same, so that Lady Wu's career has some value for institutional history: each advance from queen of Hanzhong to empress to empress dowager matched a change in the political status of Liu Bei and his son, and the name Changle Palace, following Han usage, shows how deliberately Shu-Han maintained the image of Han legitimacy. Luo Guanzhong's novel rewrote such institutional matters as story, and the differences from the histories should be distinguished in reading.

In his commentary Pei Songzhi adds Xi Zuochi's judgment to the record of Lady Wu, and Xi's standpoint measures Liu Bei's conduct by propriety, offering an angle on how the Wei-Jin age assessed Shu-Han. As to her real influence in the later years of Shu-Han the extant material does not permit a judgment; only her part in ritual and the handling of the Liu Yan affair show the weight of her rank in palace matters.

On the extant material Lady Wu's position in Shu-Han ritual is clear enough, while traces of her taking part in concrete affairs are very few. Shu-Han institutions followed the Eastern Han: the empress dowager lived in the Changle Palace, and great ceremonies, investitures and mourning rites required her approval or an edict from her, so that she was nominally the continuation and guarantee of imperial authority. Liu Shan was only seventeen at his accession, and the dowager with Zhuge Liang and Li Yan formed the regency; by ritual procedure she supplied legitimacy to his throne, which is the practical meaning of her rank.

Her death in 245 came after Zhuge Liang's, when Jiang Wan and Fei Yi governed in turn, the state's internal affairs steadying while its posture abroad turned defensive. Her funeral and the settling of her posthumous name, Mu, took place in this comparatively calm period, in contrast with the turbulence before. Later discussions of the Shu-Han court and its consort families generally note that the consort kin were never strong there: Wu Yi and Wu Ban were commanders, but no domination by consort kin took shape, which may have something to do with her own conduct, though the sources do not permit a firm conclusion.

Major Activities

Political Status and Symbolic Role

Empress Wu was the first empress formally installed after the foundation of Shu Han. Her elevation reflected Liu Bei's need to consolidate his position in Yi Province and integrate local and migrant elite groups. The Wu family represented part of the Dongzhou group that had entered Shu with Liu Yan. Liu Bei's marriage to Lady Wu and her elevation as empress helped connect the new regime with this group and with the existing political society of Yi Province. Her brother Wu Yi later rose to General of Chariots and Cavalry and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jiyang, becoming an important Shu Han commander.

Connection to the Liu Yan Case

In 234, the twelfth year of Jianxing, Empress Dowager Wu kept Liu Yan's wife Lady Hu in the palace for several months, which aroused Liu Yan's suspicion. Liu Yan was an old follower of Liu Bei who held the title General of Chariots and Cavalry but had fallen into political difficulty after a dispute with Wei Yan and exercised little substantive authority. After the case involving Lady Hu, Liu Yan was imprisoned and executed, and the court thereafter prohibited officials' wives and mothers from entering court. Although the case originated in Liu Yan's suspicions, the source text treats the empress dowager's keeping Hu in the palace for several months as the immediate trigger. The episode also reflects the delicate relationship between the Shu Han palace and senior officials.

Attitude after Zhuge Liang's Death

According to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Empress Dowager Wu wept loudly when she learned of Zhuge Liang's death. When Wei Yan sent a messenger accusing Yang Yi of rebellion, she recalled that Liu Bei had said Zhuge Liang distrusted Wei Yan, whereas Yang Yi had enjoyed Zhuge Liang's confidence and had served as his chief clerk; she therefore argued that Wei Yan's statement should not be accepted on its own. Yang Yi's memorial then arrived accusing Wei Yan of rebellion. Empress Dowager Wu asked the officials for their views, and they trusted Yang Yi rather than Wei Yan. Although this episode is fictionalized in the novel, the source uses it to illustrate the later literary image of her participation in Shu Han politics.

Personal Relations

• Wu Yi: Elder brother; General of Chariots and Cavalry of Shu Han, later Marquis of Jiyang
• Liu Mao: First husband; son of Liu Yan; died young
• Liu Bei: Husband; Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han
• Liu Shan: Adoptive son and Later Ruler of Shu Han; honored Lady Wu as empress dowager
• Zhuge Liang: Grand Councilor; presented Lady Wu with the empress's seal and ribbon and later assisted Liu Shan
• Fa Zheng: Shu Han strategist who strongly urged Liu Bei to marry Lady Wu
• Liu Yan: Shu Han General of Chariots and Cavalry; executed after the case involving his wife Lady Hu, whom Empress Dowager Wu had kept in the palace

Historical Assessment

Three Kingdoms Period and Early Assessments

• Chen Shou, in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, records Fa Zheng's argument over Liu Bei's marriage to Lady Wu without directly judging it, but preserves Xi Zuochi's criticism that Liu Bei improperly invoked the precedent of Duke Wen of Jin and violated ritual propriety.
• The Eastern Jin historian Xi Zuochi argued that Liu Bei was not forced by circumstances as Duke Wen had been and that the precedent was therefore inappropriate; he also criticized Fa Zheng and other ministers for failing to guide Liu Bei toward the moral model of Yao and Shun.

Song and Yuan Periods

• Sima Guang's Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance records the life of Empress Wu without a special judgment, while preserving Xi Zuochi's criticism.
• Hu Sanxing's commentary on the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance did not offer a major new judgment on Liu Bei's marriage to Lady Wu and largely followed earlier accounts.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms depicts Lady Wu as the mother of Liu Bei's later sons Liu Yong and Liu Li and invents scenes in which the empress dowager participates in court affairs after Zhuge Liang's death. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, however, Liu Yong and Liu Li were both concubine-born sons of Liu Bei and were not born to the same mother.

• Qing scholars such as He Zhuo and Zhao Yi made occasional textual observations concerning Empress Wu while studying the Records of the Three Kingdoms, but did not provide a systematic assessment of her life.

Modern Period

• Lü Simian, in Historical Talks on the Three Kingdoms, discussed Liu Bei's marriage to Lady Wu as a political marriage intended to build support among Yi Province elites.
• Tian Yuqing, in studies of Qin-Han and Wei-Jin history, discussed the Wu family as representatives of the Dongzhou group and their place in Shu Han politics.
• Modern scholars generally interpret Lady Wu's elevation as part of Liu Bei's effort to integrate political groups in Yi Province. Her personal activities are only sparsely documented, but her position as the first formally installed empress of Shu Han is institutionally significant.