Consort Wu

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Consort Wu came from a collateral branch of the Wu Zhou imperial house. Her great-grandfather Wu Shirang was an elder paternal uncle of Wu Zetian, and her father Wu Youzhi held the title Prince of Heng'an. Her mother, Lady Yang, was enfeoffed as Lady of Zheng. Consort Wu was Wu Zetian's grandniece and stood in an aunt-niece relationship with Princess Taiping. Because her father died early, she was brought into the palace to be raised according to established custom. Growing up in the court environment, she was exposed from childhood to palace rivalries, and, together with her Wu family background, this shaped what the source describes as a calculating disposition. Historical works do not record her initial palace rank, but the Funerary Register for Empress Zhenshun suggests that her first title was Jieyu and that she subsequently received three further enfeoffments.

Early Favor and the Loss of Children

After Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ascended the throne in 712, Consort Wu became one of his imperial consorts. Her beauty and intelligence quickly won the emperor's favor. Her early childbearing years, however, were marked by repeated loss. She successively gave birth to Li Yi, Prince Daoxiao of Xia (716–717), Li Min, Prince Aihuai (719–720), and Princess Shangxian. All three children were described as handsome and graceful, yet all died young. Emperor Xuanzong was deeply grieved by their deaths.

Enfeoffment and Exclusive Favor

Around 722, Consort Wu received the title Huifei. In 724, after Emperor Xuanzong deposed Empress Wang, he formally enfeoffed Wu as Huifei, and the court accorded her treatment equivalent to that of an empress. Thereafter, her standing in the palace rose further. Her mother Lady Yang was enfeoffed as Lady of Zheng. Her two younger brothers, Wu Zhong (also Wu Xinzhong) and Wu Xin (also Wu Xinzhong), respectively rose to Chancellor of the Imperial University and Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, and to an equivalent-ranking post as Director of the Palace Library.

After suffering the deaths of several children, Consort Wu eventually gave birth to Li Mao, Prince of Shou. Fearing that this child might also die young, Emperor Xuanzong ordered his elder brother Li Xian, Prince of Ning, to foster Li Mao, while the prince's wife, Lady Yuan, personally nursed him. Li Mao survived, and Consort Wu later gave birth to Li Qi, Prince of Sheng, Princess Xianyi, and Princess Taihua. In total she bore four sons and three daughters.

Seeking the Position of Empress

Emperor Xuanzong's favor toward Consort Wu remained strong, and at one point he wished to install her as empress. The censor Pan Haoli submitted a memorial opposing the proposal. He argued that Wu Sansi, a distant great-uncle of Consort Wu, and Wu Yanxiu, a distant uncle, had disrupted the court and were widely detested. He also noted that Crown Prince Li Ying was not Consort Wu's son and warned that, if she became empress, private interests might endanger the crown prince's position. Emperor Xuanzong accepted the remonstrance and did not install Consort Wu as empress.

Framing the Crown Prince and the Incident of the Three Commoners

Before favoring Consort Wu, Emperor Xuanzong had favored Consort Zhao, Lady Huangfu, and Lady Liu. They respectively bore Crown Prince Li Ying, Li Yao, Prince of E, and Li Ju, Prince of Guang. After Consort Wu gained the emperor's favor, the three women successively lost favor. Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju often resented the decline in their mothers' standing.

Yang Hui, Consort Wu's son-in-law and the husband of Princess Xianyi, sought to discern her wishes. He observed Crown Prince Li Ying's faults and reported them to her. Consort Wu wept before Emperor Xuanzong and accused the crown prince of forming a faction for private ends and of wishing to harm her and her son. Enraged, Emperor Xuanzong considered deposing the crown prince. Secretariat Director Zhang Jiuling cited the stories of Lady Li, Jiang Chong, Jia Nanfeng, and Empress Wenxian to argue that the crown prince should not be deposed, and the matter was temporarily dropped.

Soon afterward Zhang Jiuling was removed from the chancellorship and was replaced by Li Linfu. Li Linfu understood Consort Wu's wishes and frequently praised Li Mao, Prince of Shou, in her presence, earning her respect. In April 737, Yang Hui again accused the three princes before Consort Wu, claiming that they had conspired with Xue Xiu, elder brother of the crown princess. Consort Wu then arranged for the three princes to be summoned into the palace, falsely reporting that thieves had entered and asking them to come to her assistance. After they complied, she reported to Emperor Xuanzong that the crown prince and the two other princes had entered the palace in armor to rebel. Emperor Xuanzong sent men to inspect them and found them wearing armor, then consulted Chancellor Li Linfu. Li Linfu replied that it was the emperor's family affair and not a matter in which ministers should intervene. Emperor Xuanzong then resolved to reduce the three princes to commoner status and ordered Xue Xiu to die. Not long afterward, all three former princes were killed, and people throughout the realm regarded their deaths as unjust.

Death from Fear

Although the source portrays Consort Wu as ruthless, it also states that her courage fell far short of that of her grandaunt Wu Zetian. After bringing about the deaths of the three princes, she repeatedly believed that she saw their ghosts haunting her. She became frightened and seriously ill. She summoned shamans to perform rituals at night, had the three princes reburied, and even used executed people as burial attendants, but none of these measures helped. On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month of the twenty-fifth year of the Kaiyuan era (January 1, 738), Consort Wu died from illness in the front courtyard of Xingqing Palace in Chang'an at about forty years of age.

Posthumous Honors and Reversal

The day after Consort Wu's death, Emperor Xuanzong ordered the responsible officials to carry an imperial commission and confer on her the posthumous title Empress Zhenshun. Li Cong, one of Emperor Xuanzong's sons, asked whether all imperial princes and princesses should observe mourning according to the rites for an empress. Emperor Xuanzong did not approve this, instead following the mourning rites for an imperial consort and requiring only her own children to mourn. In the second lunar month of 738, Consort Wu was buried at Jingling and a temple was established for her worship. Her role in the deaths of the three princes, however, was widely known. During the Qianyuan era, Emperor Suzong of Tang abolished all of her posthumous cult honors as empress.

Major Activities

Exclusive Palace Favor and Empress-like Treatment

Consort Wu was Emperor Xuanzong's most favored consort during the Kaiyuan era. The degree of favor she enjoyed greatly exceeded that of other consorts, and she was accorded honors in the palace equivalent to those of an empress. Emperor Xuanzong was deeply grieved by the miscarriages and early deaths of her children and arranged for Li Mao, Prince of Shou, to be fostered by Prince Ning, demonstrating the importance he attached to her family. She bore four sons and three daughters, making her one of Emperor Xuanzong's consorts with the largest number of children.

Controversy over Installing Her as Empress

Emperor Xuanzong once wished to install Consort Wu as empress, but abandoned the proposal because of the political reputation of the Wu family and opposition from court officials. Censor Pan Haoli's remonstrance exposed the Wu family's negative political image and reflected the court's vigilance toward possible political intervention by the Wu clan.

Framing the Crown Prince: the Incident of the Three Commoners

This was the political episode with the greatest impact on Consort Wu's life. Through her son-in-law Yang Hui she gathered allegations against Crown Prince Li Ying, denounced him before Emperor Xuanzong, and then lured the three princes into the palace in a scheme that created the appearance of rebellion. This ultimately led to Crown Prince Li Ying, Li Yao, Prince of E, and Li Ju, Prince of Guang, being reduced to commoner status and killed. The affair marked a high point in palace struggle during the Kaiyuan era and had a major effect on the later succession arrangements under Emperor Xuanzong.

Supporting Li Mao, Prince of Shou

Consort Wu long sought to have her own son Li Mao, Prince of Shou, made crown prince. She aligned herself with Li Linfu, who frequently praised Li Mao in her presence. After the Incident of the Three Commoners, Li Mao for a time became a leading candidate for the position of crown prince. Consort Wu died soon afterward, however, and Li Mao was ultimately not selected. Emperor Xuanzong instead made Li Yu, Prince of Zhong, the crown prince; he later became Emperor Suzong of Tang.

Jingling and the Recovery of Cultural Relics

Consort Wu was buried at Jingling, located west of Pangliu Village, Dazhao Township, Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. In 2004, Jingling was looted, and a stone sarcophagus weighing twenty-six tons was smuggled to the United States. In April 2010, after repeated negotiations between Xi'an police and the American side, the sarcophagus was recovered and returned to China. After restoration it was transferred to the Shaanxi History Museum for preservation and display. In May 2011, five murals stolen from Jingling were also recovered.

The stages of her life were as follows: in 724 (twelfth year of Kaiyuan), with Empress Wang deposed, she was created Consort Hui and her treatment was for a time equal to an empress's, though she was never installed as empress in her lifetime; about 726 (around the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan) Xuanzong wished to make her empress but desisted in the face of opposition from the ministers; in 737 (twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan) the crown prince Li Ying and the princes of E and Guang were deposed and killed, an affair which traditional histories connect with her machinations; on 1 January 738 (seventh day of the twelfth month of the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan) she died in the Xingqing Palace at Chang'an, and the next day Xuanzong granted her posthumously the title Empress Zhaoshun. Her life lay at the centre of the palace and succession struggles of the early Kaiyuan period: though never formally empress, her son Li Mao, Prince of Shou, came near the succession, and the deaths of the three princes brought her conflict with the crown prince's line to its height. These events are recorded chiefly in later histories and notes, and the part concerning her machinations is still discussed as to its sources; the entry sets out what the sources say side by side.

Her position in the palace in the early Kaiyuan period and the struggle over the succession were two sides of one matter: in the dozen years from the deposition of Empress Wang to her death the empress's place remained vacant while her treatment equalled an empress's, an arrangement unusual in the Tang palace system; her son Li Mao, Prince of Shou, came near the succession, and the death of the three princes brought her conflict with the crown prince's line to its height; after death she was granted posthumously the title Empress Zhaoshun, which stands in contrast with her position in life. The relevant records are scattered through the Old and New Books of Tang and the Comprehensive Mirror, and the claim of her machinations, on which later historical opinion mostly rests, is here set out as the sources give it rather than judged sentence by sentence.

After her death her son Li Mao, Prince of Shou, and his line gradually receded from the succession.

What is peculiar in her standing is that she was never installed as empress in life yet treated as one, and received the posthumous title after death, a contrast unusual among Tang palace cases.

Her position in the early Kaiyuan palace also shaped the court appointments of the later Kaiyuan period: from the deposition of Empress Wang to her death the empress's place stood vacant for more than a decade, and only when her son Li Mao, Prince of Shou, lost the succession and Li Heng, Prince of Zhong, was made crown prince, did the relation between palace and eastern palace settle again. The differences among the records show that later knowledge of the inner court in this period comes chiefly from retrospective accounts, whose reliability must be checked against their sources.

The affair of the three princes holds a prominent place in the traditional histories, though the standpoints of the accounts differ widely.

The posthumous honours were decided by Xuanzong himself and were of high rank.

Her entry to the palace, creation as consort and posthumous honours are recorded in the biographies of empresses in the Old Book of Tang and the relevant annals of the Comprehensive Mirror, while her connection with the affair of the three princes appears chiefly in later historical comment and notes, the two being of different kinds as evidence.

Personal Relations

• Wu Zetian: grandaunt and symbol of the Wu family's political power
• Wu Youzhi: father, Prince of Heng'an
• Lady Yang: mother, Lady of Zheng
• Wu Zhong (Wu Xinzhong): full younger brother, rose to Chancellor of the Imperial University and Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial
• Wu Xin (Wu Xinzhong): full younger brother, held an equivalent-ranking post as Director of the Palace Library
• Wu Xianyi: female cousin
• Li Yi: Prince Daoxiao of Xia, died young
• Li Min: Prince Aihuai, died young
• Princess Shangxian: died young
• Li Mao: Prince of Shou, former husband of Yang Guifei
• Li Qi: Prince of Sheng
• Princess Xianyi: married Yang Hui
• Princess Taihua
• Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji: husband, who greatly favored her and posthumously honored her as Empress Zhenshun
• Li Linfu: chancellor who allied with Consort Wu and supported Li Mao, Prince of Shou
• Yang Hui: son-in-law and husband of Princess Xianyi, who gathered accusations against the crown prince for Consort Wu
• Zhang Jiuling: chancellor who opposed deposing the crown prince and stood politically against Consort Wu
• Empress Wang: deposed empress; Consort Wu benefited from her removal
• Crown Prince Li Ying: framed by Consort Wu and killed
• Li Yao, Prince of E, and Li Ju, Prince of Guang: framed and killed together with the crown prince
• Consort Zhao, Lady Huangfu, and Lady Liu: lost favor after Consort Wu rose to prominence

Historical Assessment

Tang / Contemporary

• The Old Book of Tang, Biographies of Empresses and Consorts records that Consort Wu gained favor through her beauty and that the honors and ritual treatment she received in the palace were the same as those of an empress. It thus acknowledges the degree of favor she enjoyed while also recording her role in framing the crown prince.
• Censor Pan Haoli criticized the Wu family by pointing to Wu Sansi and Wu Yanxiu as relatives who had violated political norms and disrupted the court, emphasizing the family's political stigma.
• Contemporary opinion regarded the deaths of the three former princes as deeply unjust; historical accounts state that people throughout the realm believed them wronged.

Song and Yuan Periods

• The New Book of Tang, Biographies of Empresses and Consorts gives a more detailed account of Consort Wu and compares her with Wu Zetian, describing her as similarly skilled in scheming and implying that she inherited the political methods associated with the Wu family.
• Song historian Fan Zuyu, in The Tang Mirror, discussed the Incident of the Three Commoners and argued that Emperor Xuanzong's decision to kill his sons after listening to a favored consort marked an important point in the transition from the prosperity of the Kaiyuan era toward the disorder of the Tianbao era.
• In the Song compilation Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, Sima Guang recorded the process by which Consort Wu framed the crown prince in detail, treating it as a cautionary example of intervention in politics from within the palace.

Ming and Qing Periods

• The late-Ming and early-Qing thinker Wang Fuzhi, in Discussions from Reading the Comprehensive Mirror, criticized Emperor Xuanzong for allowing his judgment to be overwhelmed by favoritism toward Consort Wu after she slandered and brought about the deaths of three sons.
• Qing historian Zhao Yi, in Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories, discussed palace disasters in the Tang and placed Consort Wu alongside Wu Zetian and Empress Wei, arguing that repeated political intervention by women of the Wu family was a notable feature of Tang politics.
• The Qing compilation Complete Prose of the Tang includes Xu Anzhen's Funerary Register for Empress Zhenshun, which praises her virtues in sharp contrast with historical narratives, reflecting the tension between official commemorative documents and historical accounts.

Modern and Contemporary

• Modern historian Cen Zhongmian, in History of the Sui and Tang, regarded the framing of the crown prince by Consort Wu as the beginning of Li Linfu's dominance and as one of the signs that politics under Emperor Xuanzong shifted from clarity toward corruption.
• Huang Yongnian, in Twelve Lectures on Tang History, argued that Consort Wu's death deprived Li Mao, Prince of Shou, of his political backing. Emperor Xuanzong then made the Prince of Zhong crown prince, a change that had far-reaching consequences for the political configuration before and after the An Lushan Rebellion.
• Contemporary research on Consort Wu has focused largely on her role as a palace woman in Tang politics and on the significance of archaeological discoveries at Jingling for the study of court life and burial institutions in the High Tang.