Sui and Tang · Consort and Royal Family Member

Empress Wenhui 文惠皇后王氏

Wenhui huanghou

First attested AD 875; died AD 891

Passages: 12
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Empress Wenhui was a consort and Royal Family Member.

Life and dates

Death

AD 891 大順二年秋
Cause Illness · At Wugou 午溝
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 31-33

Attested activity

AD 875 to AD 891 攜其三子傭食…卒於午溝
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 17, 31, 33

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Zhu Quanyu (朱全昱)
mother 母 · maternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 16
Parent of Zhu Cun (朱存)
mother 母 · maternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 16
Parent of Taizu of Later Liang (梁太祖)
mother 母 · maternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 15-16
Spouse of Emperor Mu (穆皇帝)
wife 妻 · Primary marriage · Widowed
Strongly inferred · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 17, 26

Kinship Role sons · Count 3
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 16

Career and standing

Grand Lady of Jin 晉國太夫人
c. AD 883 封晉國太夫人 · Enfeoffed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 24
Empress Wenhui 文惠皇后
Posthumously honored
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 34
Entered
Widow
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 17

Places and affiliations

At Shanfu, Shanzhou 單州單父
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 15
At Wugou 午溝 · Relation Died at
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 33
At Xiao County 蕭縣 · Relation Resided at
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 17, 22

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · Mode named-speech Speaker Empress Wenhui (文惠皇后王氏)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 23, 27-28

Events and relationships

Checked killings
Political · Admonisher · With Taizu of Later Liang (梁太祖)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 30
Fell ill and returned home
AD 891 大順二年秋 · Medical · Patient
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 31-32
Hired out sons
Domestic · Mother · At Liu Chong household, Xiao County 蕭縣劉崇家 · With Liu Chong (劉崇)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 17

Assessments and attributes

Assessment conduct and righteousness may not equal the father · Mode named-speech Speaker Empress Wenhui (文惠皇后王氏)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 27

References in the histories

Search passages

History

12 passages

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 13Volume 13: The Later Liang Imperial Family · 12 passages

文惠皇后王氏 Empress Wenhuì, of the Wang clan

梁太祖母曰文惠皇后王氏，單州單父人也。 Taizu of Liang’s mother, posthumously Empress Wenhuì, was a Wang of Shanfu in Shanzhou.

后少寡，攜其三子傭食蕭縣人劉崇家。 Widowed young, she hired out her three sons as laborers in the household of Liu Chong of Xiao County.

乃遣人以車馬之蕭縣，迎后於崇家。 He then sent carriages and escorts to Xiao County to fetch the empress from the Chong household.

使者至門，后惶恐走避，謂劉氏曰：「朱三落魄無行，作賊死矣，何以至此邪！」 At the knock on the door the empress shrank back in terror and told the Lius: “Zhu the Third was a good-for-nothing who turned bandit—he must be dead. Why have you come?”

使者具道太祖所以然，后乃驚喜泣下，與崇母俱載以歸，封晉國太夫人。 The envoy told the whole story; the empress wept for joy. She and Chong’s mother rode back together, and she was created Grand Lady of Jin.

太祖置酒太夫人前，舉觴為壽，歡甚。 Taizu spread a feast before the Grand Lady, raised his cup to her long life, and made merry.

后惻然良久曰：「汝能至此，可謂英特，然行義未必得如先人也！」 The empress was silent a long while, then said: “You have risen far—one might call you extraordinary—but your deeds may not match your father’s.”

太祖莫知其故，后曰：「朱二與汝俱從黃巢，獨死蠻嶺，其孤皆在午溝，汝今富貴，獨不念之乎？」 Taizu did not understand; the empress said: “Your brother Zhu the Second followed Huang Chao with you and died alone in the south; his children still live at Wugou—are you too grand now to remember them?”

太祖剛暴多殺戮，后每誡之，多賴以全活。 Taizu was brutal and bloodthirsty; the empress often checked him, and many owed their lives to her.

大順二年秋，后疾，卜者曰：「宜還故鄉。」 In the autumn of Dashun 2, the empress fell ill; diviners said, “She should return to her native place.”

太祖即位，立四廟，追尊皇考為穆皇帝，后曰文惠皇后。 After Taizu’s accession he founded four temples, raising his father to Emperor Mu and his mother to Empress Wenhuì.