The Empress Every Emperor Wished They Had; The Greatest Empress Zhangsun ¦ Tea With Amy

Emperor Taizong is considered by many to be one of China's greatest emperors, as the man who built the Golden Age of the Tang Dynasty. But did he really do it all on his own? As the saying goes, behind every great man is a great woman. For Emperor Taizong, that woman was Empress Wende, the first living empress of the Tang Dynasty, born from the noble Zhangsun family. Previously, we talked about several other famous women of the Tang Dynasty, from the female emperor Wu Zetian to the brilliant scholar-official Shangguan Waner, and the political strategist Princess Taiping, and even the corrupt Princess Anle. However, before all of these women, Empress Wende shaped history in a completely different way. In an interesting contrast, she did not seek power for herself. She was not a ruler who demanded a throne, but a mirror that allowed the emperor to see his own flaws. She is remembered today as the virtuous empress of a thousand years, Qian Gu Xian Hou. In a world where the imperial harem was often a theater of political infighting and competition for favor, she maintained an environment of stability through her own virtue and her refusal to allow her own family to monopolize power. Hey everyone, and welcome to Tea with Amy. Today, we tell the story of Empress Wende. She was the empress of Emperor Taizong, and she was a stabilizing force of the early Tang Dynasty court. Empress Wende was born in 601 CE during the Sui Dynasty. Her actual name was not recorded in historical records. In modern fiction and sea dramas, her name is sometimes referred to as Zhangsun Wugou, where wugou translates to stainless or pure, likely as a reference to the empress' renowned virtue. In some anecdotes, she is referred to as Guan Yingbi, a reference to the Buddhist deity of mercy. For this video, let's refer to her as Lady Zhangsun. Her family was from the Xianbei, a nomadic warrior ethnic group from the north, renowned for their martial skills and horseback riding and archery. Her ancestors was believed to be the Tuoba imperial family of the Northern Wei Dynasty, who later changed their family name to Zhangsun. Her father was the powerful general Zhangsun Shen of the Sui Dynasty. Historical records describe that he was so skilled with the bow that the Turkic khans feared its sound. Some believed that his bow skills inspired the famous Chinese idiom yi qian shuang diao, which means to kill two birds with one arrow. Legends even claim that when he shot his bow, the sky itself cracked like thunder, and that the Zhangsun family estate became known as the Pilitang, or the Thunderbolt Hall. In 609 CE, when Lady Zhangsun was around 8 years old, her legendary father passed away. Her older half-brother, Zhangsun Anye, inherited the legal rights to the Zhangsun family's properties and fortune. Zhangsun Anye was described as a man of poor character, who was not interested in supporting his secondary relatives and expelled them from the family estate. And so, Lady Zhangsun, her brother, Zhangsun Wuji, and their mother, Lady Gao, were suddenly displaced from the life of a powerful noble family and were taken in by her maternal uncle, Gao Shilian. It was during these years that her character was forged. While other women of noble families focused on embroidery, she studied books, history, maps, and biographies. Gao Shilian quickly recognized that his niece was no ordinary child. She was proper in her actions and had a habit of frugality. He saw a girl who possessed the internal strength of a leader and the external grace of a diplomat. Gao Shilian was closely connected with the powerful and noble Li family. He used his relationship with the Li family to recommend Lady Zhangsun as a woman of exceptional character and upbringing, a perfect addition to their family. Around 613 CE, a marriage was arranged between Lady Zhangsun and a 15-year-old boy named Li Shimin of the noble Li family, who would later become the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty. While Li Shimin developed his skills on the battlefield, the young Lady Zhangsun developed her skills in the inner court. She learned how to manage a household under pressure and how to navigate a world of powerful men. In 618 CE, the Sui Dynasty collapsed and the Tang Dynasty was formed. Her father-in-law Li Yuan became the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty as Emperor Gaozu. Lady Zhangsun was now the Qin Wangfei, the Princess of Qin. Before we continue with our story about Lady Zhangsun, we need to first understand the state of the imperial harem at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty adopted a highly structured imperial harem system that was adapted from the Sui Dynasty. This system was designed as a mirror of the civil government. Just as there were ministers for the state, there were reigned consorts for the palace. At the top sat one empress who held legal authority over all other consorts. Below her were the four named consorts, the nine concubines, and dozens of lower-ranking ladies. To learn more about the imperial harem structure of the Tang Dynasty, check out my previous video about it. This hierarchy was meant to ensure stability, and it relied entirely on the empress being a figure of moral and legal authority. However, the Tang Dynasty began with a unique problem. The seat of the empress was empty. Back around 588 CE, before becoming Emperor Gaozu, Li Yuan married his primary wife, Lady Dou, from the noble Dou family. A famous legend tells the story of how Lady Dou's father, the general Dou Yi, believed that his daughter was too special for an ordinary man. In order to find a worthy husband for her, he set up an archery challenge. He painted two peacocks on a screen and announced that whoever could shoot an arrow into the eye of each peacock from a distance could win his daughter's hand in marriage. Many suitors tried and failed, until Li Yuan tried and perfectly hit both peacock eyes with two arrows. Li Yuan described his victory as a sign that their marriage was destined by heaven. While most marriages between noble families of this time period were political in nature, some accounts describe the marriage between Li Yuan and Lady Dou as a loving relationship. It is said that Lady Dou and Li Yuan loved and respected each other deeply and accompanied each other everywhere. These records also describe Lady Dou as one of Li Yuan's political strategists, advising him to hide his ambitions and power during the height of the Sui Dynasty. It is said that the empress served the emperor, following his will without failing in the way of a wife. Whenever the emperor had a major affair of state, he held secret consultations with the empress, who used her full strength to assist him. Li Yuan and Lady Dou would have four sons and one daughter. Their sons were Li Jiancheng, who would become the crown prince, Li Shiming, the future emperor Taizong, Li Xuanba, who died young, and Li Yuanji, who would become a fierce supporter of their eldest brother. They also had a daughter, the princess Pingyang, a legendary military commander who I covered in another video. Unfortunately, Lady Dou passed away in 613 CE due to illness. Li Yuan was devastated and never named another primary wife. After establishing the Tang Dynasty and becoming Emperor Gaozu in 618 CE, he posthumously named Lady Dou as his empress, as Empress Mu, which meant the solemn or reverend empress. Later, after their son Li Shiming became the next emperor, he added the character Tai to his mother's title, symbolizing greatness, naming her the empress Tai Mu that we know her as today. By naming the deceased Lady Dou as his only empress, Emperor Gaozu made it clear that no living woman could replace her. This left the position of the head of the harem empty and created a power vacuum that would be filled by two powerful concubines, Consort Zhang and Consort Ying. It was within this unstable inner court that Lady Zhangsun found herself on an invisible front line. While her husband was away fighting battles for the Tang Dynasty, she was trapped in a palace with powerful consorts who wanted him dead. The background of Consort Zhang and Consort Ying are not clearly documented, but they appeared to have entered the palace in 618 CE, the very year the Tang Dynasty was founded. It is believed that they were the daughters of former Sui Dynasty officials who had surrendered and were offered to secure their family's status in the new dynasty. Their entire survival depended on the emperor's favor and, more importantly, on who would succeed him. They knew that if the brilliant war hero Li Shiming became emperor, he would prioritize his own generals and his own wife, and their influence would vanish. On the other hand, the crown prince Li Jianchen promised to secure their positions, send them lavish gifts, and gave them his political support. This created a deadly alliance, and these consorts became the gatekeepers to Emperor Gaozu's year. They constantly whispered their complaints into the emperor's ear at night, attempting to paint Li Shiming as a disloyal son. One story describes how Consort Zhang requested a plot of land captured by Li Shiming to be granted to her father, but Li Shiming had already granted that land to one of his generals, and he refused to take the land back. So Consort Zhang told the emperor, your imperial decree is not as powerful as the Prince of Qin's order. The lands you granted have all been seized by him. This rivalry was sharpened by a dangerous irony. Emperor Gaozu owed a large part of his throne to the very son he now feared. While the crown prince handled politics in the capital, it was Li Shiming who was leading the armies and defeating rivals and warlord forces. Every time Li Shiming returned to the city in a victory parade, he became increasingly more popular. The more the empire grew because of Li Shiming's sword, the more the crown prince and his supporters felt that they had to destroy Li Shiming before it was too late. But Lady Zhangsun did not retaliate with anger or plots. Instead, she practiced a strategy of extreme filial piety. She treated the hostile consorts with the utmost respect, personally serving them and the emperor to neutralize their complaints. She became the stabilizing force for her husband's faction, softening the emperor's heart through her own virtuous behavior. But despite Lady Zhangsun's effort to maintain peace, the rivalry turned physical in the summer of 626 CE. Some accounts say during a feast at the crown prince's palace, Li Shiming was served wine that had been poisoned. Li Shiming narrowly survived this assassination attempt. But the gloves were off. Any pretense of an amicable brotherly relationship was over. The crown prince Li Jiancheng pushed his advantage and convinced the emperor to remove Li Shiming from command of his military troops. Li Shiming was backed into a corner and was left with no choice. If he did not act, he would certainly be killed. On July 2, 626 CE, he chose to strike first, staging an ambush against the crown prince at the northern entrance of the palace, which would become the infamous Xuanwu Gate incident. Surprisingly, Lady Zhangsun chose to break court protocols in order to inspire the troops. According to the historical records, during the Xuanwu Gate incident, the empress personally appeared to comfort and encourage the soldiers. The officers or men were all deeply moved and inspired. The ambush was successful, and the crown prince Li Jiancheng and their younger brother Li Yuanji were killed during this conflict. But the victory wasn't complete. With blood still fresh on the palace floor, Li Shiming's forces surrounded the emperor. They told the emperor that the crown prince and his brother had rebelled and been executed. They suggested that for the safety of the empire, the emperor should hand over all military and civil power to Li Shiming. Under the threat of Li Shiming's forces, the emperor had no choice and named Li Shiming as the new crown prince. Two months later, Emperor Gaozu abdicated the throne and retired. It is not recorded what happened to Consul Zhang and Consul Ying, but they were likely forced to retire alongside the effectively deposed emperor. On September 4, Li Shiming ascended the throne as Emperor Taizong, and just 13 days later, on September 17, he officially named Lady Zhangsun as his empress, creating the first living empress of the Tang Dynasty. Empress Zhangsun had seen how the inner court could destroy a dynasty. She decided that her role of empress would be one of correction. She transformed the palace into a place of frugality and intellectual discipline. She would do everything she could to ensure that the Tang Dynasty did not repeat the mistakes of the past. She was famously never without a book. This wasn't for entertainment. She was trying to set an example and build an important president. According to the Old Book of Tang, the empress was frugal by nature. In her leisure time, she would read books and study history, even while combing her hair and applying her makeup. The books never left her hand. And the empress constantly prioritized frugality and urged the emperor to accept criticism, to keep distance from extravagance, and to return to simplicity. She used her knowledge of history to act as the mirror for Emperor Taizong, cooling his temper before it could lead to tyranny. Historical records say that she delighted in historical texts, using the good and evil of the past as a mirror. The most famous example for this was the ceremonial robe incident involving the blunt critic Wei Zhen. One day, the emperor returned from court angry, shouting that he would eventually kill him. Instead of arguing, the empress retreated to her chambers and returned in her most formal high ceremonial gown. Historical records say that the emperor was surprised and asked her the reason. The empress replied, I have heard that only when the emperor is enlightened will his ministers be honest. Today, Wei Zhen is honest because your majesty is enlightened. How can I not congratulate you? And the emperor was pleased. By framing the minister's criticism as a tribute to the emperor's own greatness, she saved Wei Zhen and the emperor's reputation. However, while she tried to help guide the emperor towards virtue, she made sure that she was not directly involved in politics and matters of state. Whenever the emperor tried to discuss specific rewards, punishments, or state affairs with her in public, her standard response was to refuse. But her virtue wasn't just for the emperor. It was for the entire inner court. She treated the other concubines with such genuine care that there were no notable scandals of inner court fighting during her rule as empress. Historical records say that when other consorts fell ill, she would send them her own personal supply of medicine. She even personally took care of imperial daughters whose consort mother had passed away, raising them as if they were her own biological child. However, there was one area where the empress was more stern, and that was with her own relatives. She lived in constant fear of her own family seizing power that didn't belong to them. She repeatedly objected to the emperor's attempt to promote her brother, Zhangsun Wuji. When the emperor insisted on making him a chancellor, she wrote a desperate plea. I already have the greatest honor of being here in the inner court. I do not wish to see my brothers and nephews wield power in the court. The noble families Lyu and Huo of the Han dynasty are constant reminders of the corruption that I can lead to. I beg your majesty to not make my brother chancellor. She was the rare empress who fought against her own family's wealth and success. In her own way, she was building a wall of virtue to protect them. She knew that in the imperial court, the higher you rose, the harder you fell. Empress Zhangsun gave birth to seven children. Li Chenqian was the eldest son and was named the crown prince. Li Tai was the second son, scholarly and openly favored by their father. Li Zhi was the third son, described as gentle and kind. Among their daughters, Princess Changle was the eldest. It is said that Emperor Taizong loved her so much that he wanted to give her a dowry twice the standard amount, but was stopped by Empress Zhangsun's insistence on frugality. The second daughter, Princess Chenyang, unfortunately, lived a life of scandal and was actually the inspiration for the fictional Li Yanle in the drama The Long Ballad, which I covered in another video. The third daughter, Princess Jingyang, was said to have inherited her mother's peaceful temperament, but she tragically died around 12 years old. And then there was the youngest daughter, Princess Xingchen, who was famously buried with the honors of an empress. Even though she was just a princess. By 634 CE, following the birth of her youngest daughter, Empress Zhangsun's body was beginning to fail. She had long suffered from a chronic respiratory condition known as qi qi, which modern historians believe was a form of severe asthma. In the summer of 634 CE, at the Zhouchen Palace summer retreat, the empress became gravely ill. Worried, Emperor Taizong did something unprecedented. He abandoned the retreat and rushed the empress back to Chang'an, indicating that the empress's condition had become serious. In 635 CE, Empress Zhangsun's mother, Lady Gao, passed away. As a part of the standard practice of mourning, the empress was involved in an exhausting ordeal of fasting and ritual, which was believed by some to have triggered a terminal decline in her own illness. As she lay in the Li Zhen Hall, struggling for breath, Emperor Taizong fell into a state of panic. The man who had conquered the four corners of the world could not accept the fate he could not fight with a sword. A da she, or general amnesty, was proposed in hopes of buying divine mercy for the empress's life. But the empress refused to let the emperor's love corrupt his justice. She told the emperor that his duty to the law was higher than his duty to his wife, and that a general amnesty should never be used for personal gain. According to the historical records, the empress said, Death and life are matters of fate, not something that could be bargained by human efforts. If divine merit could actually extend life, I have not committed evil. If doing good deeds does not extend my life, then what is the point of begging for it? A general amnesty is a serious matter of the state. One must not disturb the laws of the empire for the sake of a single woman. Even on her deathbed, she was worried about her family becoming a problem for the empire. She did not ask the emperor to take care of her family. Instead, she begged him to keep them away from power. She believed that the only way to protect her brother, Zhangsun Wuji, was to keep him out of the crosshairs of court politics. She told the emperor, As for my own family, do not put them in positions of real power. It is enough for them to simply hold honorary titles as my relatives. They will be fortunate if they can keep their status without the burden of power. She also gave the emperor her final advice. I wish for your majesty to cherish virtuous men while keeping distant from flattery, to always accept honest criticism while ignoring slander, and to reduce excessive labor while avoiding the waste of luxury. On July 28, 636 CE, Empress Zhangsun passed away. Her final request was for a simple burial. She wanted no jewels, no extravagance, only using wood and clay to spare the people's labor. Emperor Taizong wept before his court. She was always able to correct me and make up for my own shortcomings, and I will never hear her wise words again. I have lost my greatest partner, and my heart is filled with sorrow. After her death, Empress Zhangsun's secret legacy was discovered. In her final days, she had produced her most significant intellectual contribution, the nǚ zé, or Examples for Women. This was a compilation of biographies of ancient women that she had found either worthy of imitation or warnings to avoid. It analyzed the success and failures of famous women in history, especially criticizing the corruption and undeserved power of imperial in-laws. She had written this in secret as a reminder and a guide for her own conduct, and not as admonition for others. Emperor Taizong himself praised this work by claiming, the Empress' book is enough to set a standard for a hundred generations. I understand that her death cannot be changed, and my grief serves no purpose. But now, when I enter the palace, I no longer hear her corrective words. I have lost a great partner, and I cannot forget her. After her death, Emperor Taizong granted her the posthumous title of Wén Dé, with wén referring to civil or cultured, and dé representing virtue, formally naming her the Cultured and Virtuous Empress. She died as she had lived, a scholar of virtue and propriety, who used her final breath to try to ensure that the Tang Dynasty would remain a land of laws, even in her absence. With the passing of the Empress Wén Dé, a light went out in the heart of the Tang Dynasty court. Emperor Taizong did not just lose a wife, he lost his moral compass. For the rest of his reign, he would remain in a state of eternal mourning, refusing to name another Empress. Before her death, many imperial tombs were massive, earthen mound structures. Empress Wén Dé had viewed these as a waste of resources, which led to her request for a simple burial. But a simple burial could not satisfy Emperor Taizong's need to honor her. So he found a loophole. He would use a mountain, by tunneling directly into the solid rocks of Mount Jiuzhong to create the burial chamber. He claimed he was fulfilling her wish for a simple grave that did not require building a massive imperial tomb. Ironically, the scale was anything but simple. What started as a single tomb for a beloved wife eventually expanded into the massive Zhaolin Mausoleum complex, which would become one of the largest imperial burial grounds of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong missed his Empress so much that he built a high-observation tower, the Cénguān, from where he could see the place of her burial from the imperial palace. He was so consumed by this ritual that he would drag his ministers up the tower to weep with him. However, this obsession eventually drew a sharp rebuke from one of the critics the Empress had spent her life protecting, Wei Zhen. In a famous exchange known as Wànglín Huǐguān, the Emperor asked the minister if he could see the beauty of the Empress' tomb from the tower. Wei Zhen pretended to not be able to see it, claiming that he could only see the Xianlín, the tomb of the Emperor's father. Attempting to remind the Emperor that he should not draw on the Empress' death, the Emperor wept and had the tower demolished. Without his mirror to steady him, the Emperor's judgment began to waver. In his grief, his affection for his children became unbalanced. He openly favored her second son, Lǐ Tài, which made the eldest son and crown prince, Lǐ Qiánchéng, feel abandoned and insecure. In 643 CE, this overindulgence backfired, and a succession crisis broke out between the two brothers. In a desperate play for power, the crown prince launched a failed coup against the Emperor, resulting in the exile of both Lǐ Chénqián and Lǐ Tài. Left with no other choice, the Emperor turned to Lǐ Zhì as the next crown prince. This paved the way for Lǐ Zhì to later become the third Emperor of the Tang Dynasty as Emperor The Empress had warned that virtue is more important than power, but in her absence, her children became lost in the very luxury and ambition she had fought to suppress. Back in 637 CE, just one year after the Empress' death, a young girl named Wǔ Zhào, who would later be known as Wǔ Zetian, entered the harem as a low-ranking concubine, at the rank of cairen. While Empress Wéndé represented the civil and virtuous power of restraint, Wǔ Zetian represented the rise of raw ambition. The standard of virtue started to give way to the standard of power. Now, remember how Empress Wéndé had tried to keep her family out of positions of power to protect them? Unfortunately, her brother, Zhangsun Wújì, was so capable that he kept rising in ranks after the Empress' death. In fact, he became so powerful that he was named as regent over the young Emperor Gaozong, after Emperor Taizong passed away in 649 CE. Zhangsun Wújì would then effectively rule the Tang Dynasty for the next 10 years, becoming one of the most powerful imperial in-laws of the entire dynasty. However, just as Empress Wéndé feared, this power would not come without its own cost. In 655 CE, Wǔ Zetian became the new Empress of Emperor Gaozong, and they were ready to take back their rightful power. Zhangsun Wújì's position and power had become an obstacle. In 659 CE, Zhangsun Wújì was accused of treason and was forced to take his own life. Tragically, fulfilling Empress Wéndé's greatest fear. History remembers Empress Wéndé as the standard against which many other imperial women in Chinese history are measured. As the historical records say, the Empress' virtue was like the earth, carrying all things without bound. She was truly the mother of the empire. The story of the Empress Wéndé is a rare example in Chinese history where a woman's power was defined by how much she gave up. Some historians argue that her presence was the secret ingredient that made Emperor Taizong a great emperor instead of just another conqueror. She understood that a position can be given, but true authority must be earned through virtue. What do you think? Was she truly the greatest empress of the Tang Dynasty? Let me know in the comments and if you enjoyed today's topic, don't forget to like and subscribe. Thanks again for watching and I'll see you in the next one.