Empress Wang (Jingtai) Explained

Empress Xiaoyuanjing
Succession:Empress consort of the Ming dynasty
Reign:22 September 1449 – May 1452
Reign-Type:Tenure
Predecessor:Empress Xiaozhuangrui
Successor:Empress Suxiao
Birth Date:1427
Xuande 2
(宣德二年)
Birth Place:Shuntian
Death Date:
Zhengde 1
(正德元年)
Burial Place:Jingtai Mausoleum
Issue:Princess Gu'an
Second daughter
Posthumous Name:Empress Xiaoyuan Suyi Zhenhui Anhe Futian Gongsheng Jing (孝淵肅懿貞惠安和輔天恭聖景皇后)
House:Wang (汪)
House-Type:Clan
Father:Wang Ying (汪瑛)

Empress Wang (1427–1507) was a Chinese empress consort of the Ming dynasty, married to the Jingtai Emperor.

Wang was married to Jingtai in 1449. When the elder brother of Jingtai was taken prisoner by the Mongols later that year, Jingtai became emperor, and Wang was given the position of empress by his side. Empress Wang had two daughters with the emperor, but no son. In May 1452, Jingtai declared the son of his secondary Consort Hang heir to the throne. At the same time, he promoted Hang to the position of empress, being the mother of the crown prince, and demoted Wang and stripped her of the title.

After her demotion, the ex-empress Wang lived a quiet life outside of the palace walls. She survived the deposition and death of Jingtai in 1457, when the rest of his concubines and spouses were ordered to commit suicide. The reason for this was possibly because she had assisted the nephew of her spouse, the future Chenghua Emperor, to hide from Jingtai.[1]

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Notes and References

  1. Goodrich L. Carington; Fang Chaoying, et al., Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644 . New York: Columbia University Press, 1976. xxi + 1751 s. (1 vol.) 023103833X (vol. 2)