Empress Dowager Hu (Northern Wei) facts for kids

Empress Dowager Hu (her personal name is not known) was a powerful woman who lived in ancient China. She was an empress dowager of the Northern Wei dynasty, a kingdom ruled by the Xianbei people. She was a concubine (a type of wife) of Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei.

After Emperor Xuanwu died in 515, her young son, Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, became the new emperor. Because he was only five years old, Empress Hu became the regent. This meant she ruled the empire in his place. She was known for being smart, but also for being too easygoing, which led to problems. During her time as regent, there were many farmer rebellions and a lot of corruption among government officials.

Becoming an Empress Dowager

We don't know exactly when Empress Dowager Hu was born. Her father, Hu Guozhen, was a noble, but he didn't hold important government jobs at first. Empress Hu's aunt was a famous Buddhist nun. She often gave talks inside the palace to Emperor Xuanwu, who was also a strong Buddhist.

During one of these talks, the nun mentioned how beautiful her niece was. Emperor Xuanwu heard this and decided to take Hu Guozhen's daughter as a consort. Because her aunt was a Buddhist nun, Consort Hu also knew a lot about Buddhism. People said she was smart and could make quick decisions.

At that time, the Northern Wei dynasty had a sad tradition: if an imperial consort gave birth to a crown prince (the next emperor), the mother would be put to death. Because of this, many consorts prayed not to have a crown prince. But Consort Hu prayed differently. Emperor Xuanwu didn't have a son yet, and she didn't want the empire to be without a future ruler. She was willing to take the risk.

In 510, she gave birth to a son, Yuan Xu. Emperor Xuanwu had lost several sons before, so he was very careful with Yuan Xu. He chose experienced women to be Yuan Xu's wet nurses and didn't let Consort Hu or his main wife, Empress Gao, see him for a while. In 512, Yuan Xu was made crown prince. But Emperor Xuanwu decided to change the old tradition and spared Consort Hu's life. This was a big change!

In 515, Emperor Xuanwu suddenly died. Yuan Xu became Emperor Xiaoming. At first, Emperor Xuanwu's main wife, Empress Gao, was honored as empress dowager. Consort Hu was given a lower title. Empress Dowager Gao wanted to harm Consort Hu. However, powerful officials like Yu Zhong and Cui Guang, along with the general Hou Gang and the eunuch Liu Teng, protected her.

Soon, Yu Zhong and some imperial princes took power from Empress Gao. They killed Empress Gao's powerful uncle, Gao Zhao. Then, they replaced Empress Gao with Consort Hu as the empress dowager. Empress Dowager Hu became the regent for the five-year-old Emperor Xiaoming.

First Time as Regent

Empress Dowager Hu was intelligent and could understand things quickly. But she was also too kind and allowed corruption to happen. For example, in 515, a corrupt governor named Yuan Mi caused a rebellion by killing people for no reason. Even though he was removed from his job, Empress Dowager Hu made him a minister when he returned to the capital, Luoyang, because his wife was her niece.

During Emperor Xiaoming's childhood, Empress Dowager Hu's power was very strong. She allowed people to criticize her and even rewarded officials for speaking their minds. However, she was slow to stop corruption. Empress Dowager Hu was a very religious Buddhist. During this time, she built beautiful temples in Luoyang. One temple, built for her father Hu Guozhen after he died in 518, was especially grand. Because of her influence, Emperor Xiaoming also became a dedicated Buddhist.

In 519, a big riot happened in Luoyang. An official suggested that soldiers should not be allowed to become government officials. The soldiers got angry and attacked the government office and the official's home. They killed the official's father and hurt his brothers. Empress Dowager Hu arrested eight leaders of the riot and executed them, but she pardoned the rest to calm things down. She also decided not to change the rules for soldiers. Many people saw this event as the beginning of the problems that would eventually break apart the Northern Wei dynasty. Even with these issues, Empress Dowager Hu continued to allow corruption. She often gave out too many rewards to officials, which emptied the treasury. She also ordered every province to build a tower for Buddhas, which put more strain on the people and the empire's money.

Around 520, Empress Dowager Hu became very close to Emperor Xiaoming's uncle, Yuan Yi. Yuan Yi was liked by many people because he was capable and humble. He tried to fix the government and reduce corruption. He especially tried to limit the power of Empress Dowager Hu's brother-in-law, Yuan Cha, and the eunuch Liu Teng. Because of this, Yuan Cha falsely accused Yuan Yi of treason. Yuan Yi was found innocent after an investigation. Fearing revenge, Yuan Cha and Liu Teng convinced Emperor Xiaoming that Yuan Yi was trying to harm him. They then carried out a sudden takeover, killing Yuan Yi and putting Empress Dowager Hu under house arrest. Yuan Yong became the official regent, but Yuan Cha was the real power behind the throne.

Under House Arrest by Yuan Cha

Yuan Cha was not a good ruler. He and Liu Teng became even more corrupt once they were in power. Yuan Cha didn't care much about governing; he spent most of his time feasting, drinking, and with women. He put his father and brothers in important positions, and they were just as corrupt.

Yuan Cha's poor leadership and corruption, along with the corruption Empress Dowager Hu had allowed, made people very unhappy. Many farmer revolts began. The first revolt was by Yuan Xi, a prince who was friends with both Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Yi. He tried to get revenge for Yuan Yi and bring Empress Dowager Hu back to power, but Yuan Cha quickly stopped his rebellion.

In 521, another general, Xi Kangsheng, tried to restore Empress Dowager Hu, but he also failed and was put to death by Yuan Cha.

In 523, an official named Li Chong saw that the people in the six northern military garrisons (military bases) were unhappy. These people, mostly Xianbei, had been forced to stay at these garrisons for generations to defend against attacks from the Rouran people. Li Chong suggested that these garrisons should become regular provinces and that the people there should have the same rights as other citizens. Yuan Cha refused this idea.

Later that year, the people in two of these garrisons rebelled. The Northern Wei forces couldn't stop these rebellions quickly, and they soon spread across almost the entire empire. In 525, Yuan Faseng, a governor who had been close to Yuan Cha, also rebelled. He believed Yuan Cha would soon fall from power. After some initial defeats, he surrendered his city to the Southern Liang Dynasty, a rival kingdom.

By this time, Yuan Cha had become less careful about Empress Dowager Hu, especially after Liu Teng died in 523. He no longer saw her as a threat. Empress Dowager Hu, Emperor Xiaoming, and Yuan Yong saw their chance to plan against Yuan Cha. Empress Dowager Hu first tricked Yuan Cha by talking about how he had trusted Yuan Faseng too much, which made Yuan Cha feel apologetic. Then, with his agreement, she removed him from his command of the imperial guards.

In summer 525, she suddenly took action and declared herself regent again. She had most of Yuan Cha's and Liu Teng's friends arrested and put Yuan Cha under house arrest. At first, she didn't want to punish Yuan Cha further because of her relationship with his sister. However, since most people wanted Yuan Cha to die, she eventually forced him and his brother Yuan Gua to step down, and they later died. She still gave him many honors after his death.

Second Time as Regent

After Empress Dowager Hu became regent again, she allowed her close friend Zheng Yan to gain a lot of power. While Yuan Yong and Yuan Lüe (Yuan Xi's brother) were trusted and held high positions, Zheng Yan and his friend Xu Ge were even more powerful.

The farmer and other rebellions continued. During these years, some of the main rebel leaders included:

• Xianyu Xiuli, whose rebellion was in the area of modern Baoding, Hebei. After Xianyu died, his general Ge Rong took over and became very strong, even calling himself the Emperor of Qi.
• Xiao Baoyin, who tried to restart the Southern Qi dynasty. His rebellion was centered around Chang'an.
• Xing Gao, whose rebellion was near modern Weifang, Shandong.
• Moqi Chounu, whose rebellion was near modern Guyuan, Ningxia.

Empress Dowager Hu sent many generals to fight these rebels, but they didn't have much success. Xiao Baoyin was defeated by his own men and had to flee, but other major rebels were not defeated by Northern Wei generals. To make things worse, Empress Dowager Hu didn't like to hear bad news about rebel victories. So, her attendants often made up good news, which made her refuse generals' requests for more soldiers. Several times, Emperor Xiaoming said he would lead armies against the rebels himself, but he never actually did. Meanwhile, with all these internal problems, the Liang Dynasty (Northern Wei's southern rival) took advantage and captured several border cities, including the important city of Shouyang.

The only real military success for Northern Wei during this time happened in late 525. They were able to recapture Pengcheng from Liang. This success was lucky because a Liang prince named Xiao Zong, who believed he was actually the son of a previous Southern Qi emperor, surrendered to Northern Wei. This caused his own army to fall apart, allowing Northern Wei to take back Pengcheng.

During this second time as regent, Empress Dowager Hu wanted to make her family even more important. She arranged for a daughter of her cousin, Hu Sheng, to marry Emperor Xiaoming and become his empress. However, Emperor Xiaoming preferred his concubine, Consort Pan, and didn't show much favor to Empress Hu or his other consorts. In 528, Consort Pan gave birth to a daughter. But Empress Dowager Hu falsely announced that the child was a son and ordered a general pardon across the empire.

By this time, Emperor Xiaoming, who was 18 years old, was tired of his mother controlling his government. He also disliked Zheng Yan and Xu Ge. So, he secretly sent messages to a general named Erzhu Rong, who controlled the area around modern central Shanxi. He asked Erzhu Rong to march on Luoyang to force Empress Dowager Hu to remove Zheng and Xu. After Erzhu Rong advanced, Emperor Xiaoming suddenly changed his mind and sent messages to stop him. But the news leaked out. Zheng Yan and Xu Ge then advised Empress Dowager Hu to have Emperor Xiaoming killed. She did so. After first announcing that Consort Pan's "son" would be the next emperor, she admitted that the child was actually a daughter. Instead, she chose Yuan Zhao, a two-year-old boy, to succeed Emperor Xiaoming.

Death

Erzhu Rong refused to accept Yuan Zhao as emperor. With support from his friend Yuan Tianmu, he issued a strong statement accusing Zheng Yan and Xu Ge of killing Emperor Xiaoming. Empress Dowager Hu sent Erzhu Rong's cousin, Erzhu Shilong, to try to convince him to change his mind. But Erzhu Shilong instead encouraged him to continue his resistance. Erzhu Rong prepared to march south. Meanwhile, he sent messages to Emperor Xuanwu's respected cousin, Yuan Ziyou, asking him to become the new emperor. Yuan Ziyou agreed. As Erzhu Rong approached Luoyang, Yuan Ziyou and his brothers secretly left Luoyang to join Erzhu's army. Erzhu declared Yuan Ziyou the new emperor (Emperor Xiaozhuang).

As soon as news of Emperor Xiaozhuang's ascension reached Luoyang, the city's defenses collapsed. Zheng Yan and Xu Ge abandoned Empress Dowager Hu and fled. Other generals surrendered to Erzhu Rong.

When Empress Dowager Hu heard the bad news, she ordered all of Emperor Xiaoming's consorts to become nuns. She herself cut her hair short like a nun, but she didn't officially declare herself one. Erzhu ordered the government officials to welcome Emperor Xiaozhuang into the capital, and they obeyed. Erzhu then sent soldiers to arrest Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Zhao. They were brought to his camp near Luoyang. When Empress Dowager Hu met Erzhu, she tried to explain and defend her actions over and over again. Erzhu became impatient. He left suddenly and ordered that Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Zhao be thrown into the Yellow River, where they tragically died.

Shortly after Empress Dowager Hu's death, her body was found. Her sister, Hu Xuanhui, took her body and kept it at a temple. In 533, during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, she was buried with the honors due an empress and given the posthumous name "Ling" (meaning spirit).