Sui and Tang · Consort and Royal Family Member

Empress Yuanzhen 元貞皇后張氏

Yuanzhen huanghou

First attested AD 875; died AD 904

Passages: 16
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Empress Yuanzhen was a consort and Royal Family Member.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Posthumous name	Empress Dowager Yuanzhen	元貞皇太后

Life and dates

Death

AD 904 天祐元年
Cause Illness
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 54

Attested activity

AD 875 to AD 904 太祖少以婦聘之…天祐元年后以疾卒
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 37, 54

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Last Emperor of Later Liang (梁末帝)
mother 母 · maternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 37
Kin of Wife of Zhu Jin (朱瑾妻)
sister-in-law 姒
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 49
Spouse of Taizu of Later Liang (梁太祖)
wife 婦 · Primary marriage
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 37

Career and standing

Lady of Wei 魏國夫人
Enfeoffed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 38
Empress Dowager Yuanzhen 元貞皇太后
AD 913 末帝立 · Posthumously honored
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 56
Worthy Consort 賢妃
AD 907 太祖即位 · Posthumously honored
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 55

Places and affiliations

At Quetingli, Dangshan County, Shanzhou 單州碭山縣渠亭里
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 36
At Runse Township, Kaifeng County 開封縣潤色鄉 · Relation Buried at
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 56
At Xuanling 宣陵 · Relation Enshrined at
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 56

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · With Zhu Youyu (朱友裕) · Mode named-speech Speaker Empress Yuanzhen (元貞皇后張氏)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 46
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · With Wife of Zhu Jin (朱瑾妻) · Mode named-speech Speaker Empress Yuanzhen (元貞皇后張氏)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 49-50

Events and relationships

Advised on state affairs
Political · Counselor · With Taizu of Later Liang (梁太祖)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 40
Recalled from campaign
Military · Summoner · With Taizu of Later Liang (梁太祖)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 42
Rescued from execution
Political · Protector
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 41
Supplied food and clothes
Personal · Provider · With Wife of Zhu Jin (朱瑾妻)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 52
Relation Rescued · Person Zhu Youyu (朱友裕)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 45-47

Assessments and attributes

Assessment worthy, keen, and exact in ritual propriety; even Taizu feared her · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 39

References in the histories

Search passages

History

16 passages

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 13Volume 13: The Later Liang Imperial Family · 16 passages

元貞皇后張氏 Empress Yuanzhen, of the Zhang clan

太祖元貞皇后張氏，單州碭山縣渠亭里富家子也。 Taizu’s Empress Yuanzhen was a Zhang of Quetingli in Dangshan, Shanzhou, born to a rich household.

太祖貴，封魏國夫人。 When Taizu’s star rose, she was created Lady of Wei.

后賢明精悍，動有禮法，雖太祖剛暴，亦嘗畏之。 Worthy, keen, and exact in deportment, she could awe even the brutal Taizu.

太祖每以外事訪之，后言多中。 He often asked her counsel on state matters, and she was usually right.

太祖時時暴怒殺戮，后嘗救護，人賴以獲全。 When Taizu raged and killed, she often intervened; many lived because of her.

太祖嘗出兵，行至中途，后意以為不然，馳一介召之，如期而至。 Once Taizu had marched halfway on campaign when the empress decided the move was wrong and sent a lone rider to call him back; he returned on the day she named.

后陰使人教友裕脫身自歸，友裕晨馳入見太祖，拜伏庭中，泣涕請死，太祖怒甚，使左右捽出，將斬之。 The empress secretly coached Youyu to give himself up; at dawn he rode in, threw himself on the courtyard stones, wept, and asked to die. Taizu ordered him dragged out for execution.

后聞之，不及履，走庭中持友裕泣曰：「汝束身歸罪，豈不欲明非反乎？」 The empress heard, ran barefoot into the yard, clutched Youyu, and wept: “You came back in bonds to clear yourself—was that not proof you never rebelled?”

太祖已破朱瑾，納其妻以歸，后迎太祖於封丘，太祖告之。 After Taizu broke Zhu Jin and brought Jin’s wife away, the empress met him at Fengqiu and he told her what he had done.

后遽見瑾妻，瑾妻再拜，后亦拜，淒然泣下曰：「兗鄆與司空同姓之國，昆仲之間，以小故興干戈，而使吾姒至此； The empress went straight to Jin’s wife; Jin’s wife bowed low, and the empress bowed in return, weeping: “Yan and Yun share our house’s surname; brothers drew swords over a trifle, and your plight could have been mine—

太祖為之感動，乃送瑾妻為尼，后嘗給其衣食。 Taizu was touched and had Jin’s wife tonsured; the empress often sent her food and clothes.

天祐元年，后以疾卒。 In Tianyou 1 the empress died of illness.

太祖即位，追冊為賢妃。 At Taizu’s accession she was posthumously created Worthy Consort.

初葬開封縣潤色鄉，末帝立，追謚曰元貞皇太后，祔於宣陵。 She was first buried at Runse in Kaifeng; the Last Emperor later gave her the posthumous title Empress Dowager Yuanzhen and placed her tablet in Xuanling.

后已死，太祖始為荒淫，卒以及禍云。 After her death Taizu turned to debauchery, and disaster followed—or so the record runs.