Li Chunyan facts for kids
Li Chunyan (Chinese: 李春燕 or 李春鷰) was an empress during a time in Chinese history called the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. She was the wife of Wang Jipeng, who later became known as Emperor Kangzong. She likely died around August 29, 939.
Early Life and Marriage
We don't know much about when or where Li Chunyan was born, or about her family. We do know that she worked in the palace of Wang Jipeng's father, Wang Lin. She was a "lady in waiting," which means she was a helper or attendant in the royal household.
Li Chunyan was known for being very beautiful. Wang Jipeng, who was then called the Prince of Fu, fell in love with her. In the year 935, he asked his stepmother, Empress Chen Jinfeng, to help him. Empress Chen spoke to Wang Lin, and he agreed to let Li Chunyan marry his son, even though he wasn't very happy about it.
Wang Jipeng's younger brother, Wang Jitao, was not pleased by this. It seems he might have also been interested in Li Chunyan.
Later in 935, there was a sudden change in power. Wang Lin, Empress Chen, and Wang Jitao lost their lives in this event, which was led by an officer named Li Fang and Wang Jipeng himself. After this, Wang Jipeng became the new ruler and changed his name to Wang Chang.
When Wang Chang became emperor, he gave Li Chunyan the special title of Xianfei, which was a high rank for an imperial consort. His first wife, Lady Li, only had the title of Lady of Liang. Wang Chang spent almost all his time with Li Chunyan. They would even ride in the same carriage and sit on the same couch.
His advisor, Ye Qiao, tried to remind him that Lady Li was his official wife and came from an important family. Lady Li was the daughter of Wang Chang's aunt and his advisor, Li Min. However, Wang Chang did not listen to Ye Qiao and eventually made him retire.
Becoming Empress
In 936, Wang Chang made Consort Li the empress. At the same time, he honored his grandmother, Empress Dowager Huang, by giving her the title of Grand Empress Dowager.
In 937, Wang Chang built a grand new palace called Ziwei Palace. It was decorated with beautiful crystals and took much more effort to build than even his father's impressive Baohuang Palace. This new Ziwei Palace became the home of Empress Li.
End of Her Life
Wang Chang had a new group of special guards called the Chenwei Corps. He favored them more than two older guard groups, the Gongchen and Anhe Corps, which his father had preferred. This made the older guard groups worried and angry.
In 939, Wang Chang suspected one of the commanders of the older guards, Lian Chongyu, of being involved in a fire at the northern palace. He thought about punishing Lian. When Lian Chongyu heard this, he started a sudden uprising later that year. He declared Wang Chang's uncle, Wang Yanxi, as the new emperor.
Wang Chang had to flee, but he was captured and lost his life. It is believed that Empress Li, Wang Chang's sons, and his younger brother Wang Jigong also lost their lives during this time.
