1
25%肅宗張庶人肅宗廢後庶人張氏，鄧州向城人，家徙新豐。 祖母竇，昭成皇后女弟也。 玄宗幼失昭成，母視姨，鞠愛篤備。 帝即位，封鄧國夫人，親寵無比。 五息子，曰去惑、去疑、去奢、去逸、去盈，皆顯官。 去盈尚常芬公主。 去逸生後。
Zhang the Commoner Consort of Emperor Suzong. The deposed consort Zhang came from Xiangcheng in Dengzhou; her family had resettled in Xinfeng. Her grandmother was Lady Dou, a younger sister of Empress Zhaocheng. Xuanzong lost his mother Empress Zhaocheng in childhood and treated this aunt as his mother; she raised him with unstinting affection. Once he became emperor, he made her Lady of Deng, and no one else enjoyed such intimate favor. She bore five sons—Quhuo, Quyi, Qushe, Quyi, and Quying—each of whom rose to prominent office. Quying took Princess Changfen as his wife. It was Quyi who gave birth to the future empress.
2
肅宗為忠王時，納韋元珪女為孺人。 既建太子，以孺人為妃，後為良娣。 妃兄堅為李林甫構死，太子懼，請與妃絕，毀服幽禁中。 安祿山反，陷於賊，至德中薨。
While Suzong was still Prince of Zhong, he took Wei Yuangui's daughter as a consort. Once he was named heir, she was raised to consort and later to the rank of worthy companion. Her brother Jian was framed and executed by Li Linfu. Fearing guilt by association, the crown prince asked to break with her; she put on mourning garb and was kept in seclusion. Caught up in An Lushan's rebellion, she fell into rebel hands and died during the Zhide years.
3
始，妃既絕，良娣得專侍太子，慧中而辯，能迎意傅合。 玄宗西幸，娣與太子從，度渭，民鄣道乞留復長安，太子不聽。 中人李輔國密啟，娣又贊其謀，遂定計北趣靈武。 時軍衛單寡，夕次，娣必寢前，太子曰：「暮夜可虞，且捍賊非婦人事，宜少戒。」 對曰：「方多事，若倉卒，妾自當之，殿下可徐為計。」 駐靈武，產子三日，起縫戰士衣，太子敕止，對曰：「今豈自養時邪？」 乾元初，冊拜淑妃，贈其父尚書左仆射，姊妹皆封號，弟清、潛尚大寧、延和二郡主。 遂立為皇后，詔內外命婦悉朝光順門。
After he cut ties with the consort, the worthy companion alone attended him—clever, articulate, and skilled at reading his mood and winning his favor. When Xuanzong fled west, she went with the crown prince. Crossing the Wei River, crowds blocked the road pleading to turn back to Chang'an, but the heir refused. The eunuch Li Fuguo urged the move in secret, and she backed his plan, so they resolved to press north to Lingwu. With the guard understrength, she insisted on sleeping in front of him each night. The prince said, "Nights are dangerous, and fighting off raiders is no woman's work—you should be more careful." She answered, "In such troubled times, if trouble strikes suddenly, I will meet it myself while Your Highness takes your time to decide." At Lingwu she gave birth; on the third day she was up sewing soldiers' clothes. When the prince told her to stop, she said, "Is this a time to think only of myself?" Early in Qianyuan she was made Shufei; her father was posthumously appointed Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs; her sisters received titles; her brothers Qing and Qian married the Daning and Yanhe princesses. She was then made empress, and an edict required all titled women of the court to present themselves at Guangshun Gate.
4
後能牢寵，稍稍豫政事，與李輔國相助，多以私謁橈權。 親蠶苑中，群命婦相禮，儀物甚盛。 二年，群臣上帝尊號，後亦諷群臣尊己號「翊聖」，帝問李揆，揆爭不可。 會月蝕，帝以咎在後宮，乃止。 又與輔國謀徙上皇西內。 端午日，帝召見山人李唐，帝方擁幼女，顧唐曰：「我念之，無怪也。」 唐曰：「太上皇今日亦當念陛下。」 帝泫然涕下，而內制於後，卒不敢謁西宮。 帝不豫，後自箴血寫佛書以示誠。
She held the emperor's favor firmly and gradually intervened in affairs of state; working with Li Fuguo, she often bent authority through private audiences. She personally tended the silkworms in the palace park; titled ladies exchanged ceremonial courtesies in a lavish display of ritual. In the second year, as ministers proposed an honorific for the emperor, she urged them to honor her as "Assistant Sage." The emperor asked Li Kui, who firmly objected. A lunar eclipse occurred, and the emperor blamed the inner palace—so the plan was dropped. She also conspired with Fuguo to move the retired emperor into the Western Palace. On the Dragon Boat Festival he summoned the recluse Li Tang. Holding a young daughter, he said to Tang, "I miss him—don't be surprised." Tang replied, "The retired emperor must be thinking of you today as well." The emperor wept, yet constrained by the empress within, he never dared visit the Western Palace. When the emperor fell ill, she pricked her finger and wrote sutras in her own blood to show her devotion.
5
初，建寧王倓數短後於帝，上皇在蜀，以七寶鞍賜後，而李泌請分以賞戰士，倓助泌請，故後怨，卒被譖死。 繇是太子深畏，事後謹甚。 後猶欲危之，然以子〓早世而侗幼，故太子得無患。 寶應元年，帝大漸，後與內官硃輝光等謀立越王系，而李輔國、程元振以兵衛太子，幽後別殿。 代宗已立，群臣白帝請廢為庶人，殺之。 清、潛與舅竇履信皆流放，支黨伏誅。 肅宗章敬吳皇后肅宗章敬皇后吳氏，濮州濮陽人。 父令珪，以郫丞坐事死，故後幼入掖廷。
Prince Jianning Tan had often criticized the empress to the emperor. In Shu the retired emperor gave her a saddle studded with seven treasures; Li Bi asked that it be broken up to reward the troops, and Tan backed him—so the empress hated Tan and eventually had him slandered to death. From then on the crown prince lived in deep fear and treated the empress with extreme deference. She still meant to harm him, but her son Shao had died young and Tong was still a child, so the heir remained unthreatened. In Baoying 1, as the emperor lay dying, the empress and the eunuch Zhu Huiguang plotted to put Prince Yue Xi on the throne. Li Fuguo and Cheng Yuanzhen guarded the heir with troops and confined her in a separate hall. Once Daizong was enthroned, the ministers urged the dying emperor to depose her as a commoner and have her executed. Qing, Qian, and their uncle Dou Lüxin were exiled; their associates were put to death. Empress Zhangjing Wu of Emperor Suzong. Lady Wu of Zhangjing came from Puyang in Puzhou. Her father Lingui died while serving as magistrate of Pi for a legal offense, so she entered the inner palace as a girl.
6
肅宗在東宮，宰相李林甫陰構不測，太子內憂，鬢髮班禿。 後入謁，玄宗見不悅，因幸其宮，顧廷宇不汛掃，樂器塵蠹，左右無嬪侍，帝愀然謂高力士曰：「兒居處乃爾，將軍叵使我知乎？」 詔選京兆良家子五人虞侍太子，力士曰； 「京兆料擇，人得以藉口，不如取掖廷衣冠子，可乎？」 詔可。 得三人，而後在中，因蒙幸。 忽寢厭不寤，太子問之，辭曰：「夢神降我，介而劍，決我脅以入，殆不能堪。」 燭至，其文尚隱然。 生代宗，為嫡皇孫。 生之三日，帝臨澡之。 孫體攣弱，負姆嫌陋，更取他宮兒以進，帝視之不樂，姆叩頭言非是。 帝曰：「非爾所知，趣取兒來！」 於是見嫡孫，帝大喜，向日視之，曰：「福過其父。」 帝還，盡留內樂宴具，顧力士曰：「可與太子飲，一日見三天子，樂哉！」
While Suzong was crown prince, Li Linfu secretly plotted against him; the heir lived in constant dread until his temples went patchily bald. When she came to pay homage, Xuanzong looked displeased and visited the heir's quarters: the courtyard unswept, instruments dusty and moth-eaten, no concubines in sight. He said bleakly to Gao Lishi, "My son lives like this—and you never told me?" He ordered five respectable girls from Jingzhao to attend the prince. Lishi said, " "Choosing from Jingzhao gives people grounds for gossip. Would it not be better to take daughters of officials already in the inner palace?" The emperor agreed. Three were chosen, Wu among them, and she won the prince's favor. Once she fell into a sleep from which she could not be roused. When the prince asked why, she said, "I dreamed a spirit in armor and sword cut open my side to enter—I could hardly endure it." By candlelight the mark was still faintly visible. She bore Daizong, the legitimate imperial grandson. On the third day the emperor came in person to bathe the infant. The infant looked frail; the wet nurse thought him homely and substituted another palace child. The emperor was displeased, and the nurse kowtowed, insisting this was not the right baby. The emperor said, "You don't understand—bring the child at once!" When he saw the true grandson, he was overjoyed, held the child up to the sun, and said, "His fortune exceeds his father's." On his way back he left all the palace musicians and feast gear and told Lishi, "Share a drink with the prince—in one day I have seen three emperors. What joy!"
7
後性謙柔，太子禮之甚渥，年十八薨。 代宗即位，群臣請以後祔肅宗廟，乃追尊為皇后，上謚，合葬建陵。 啟故窆，貌澤若生，衣皆赭色，見者嘆異，謂有聖子之符雲。 代宗貞懿獨孤皇后代宗貞懿皇后獨孤氏，失其何所人。 父穎，左威衛錄事參軍。
Gentle and modest by nature, she was treated with exceptional honor by the prince; she died at eighteen. After Daizong's accession the ministers asked that she be enshrined in Suzong's temple; she was posthumously made empress, given a posthumous title, and interred with him at Jianling. When the old tomb was opened, her face looked as if she were alive and her robes were ochre; onlookers marveled, calling it a sign that she had borne a sage son. Empress Zhenyi Dugu of Emperor Daizong. Her place of origin is unknown. Her father Ying served as recording secretary in the Left Majestic Guard.
8
天寶中，帝為廣平王，時貴妃楊氏外家貴冠戚裏，秘書少監崔峋妻韓國夫人以其女女皇孫為妃。 妃生子偲，所謂召王者。 妃倚母家，頗騎媢。 諸楊誅，禮浸薄，及薨，後以姝艷進，居常專夜。 王即位，冊貴妃，生韓王回、華陽公主。
During Tianbao, while he was Prince of Guangping, Consort Yang's kin dominated the court. Lady of Han, wife of Vice Director Cui Xun, married her daughter to him as consort. She bore Si, known as the Prince of Zhao. Relying on her mother's clan, she grew quite arrogant. After the Yang clan was destroyed, her standing faded; when she died, Dugu entered by beauty and usually held the emperor's nights to herself. When he became emperor, she was made noble consort and bore Prince Han Hui and Princess Huayang.
9
大歷十年薨，追號為皇后，上謚。 帝悼思不已，故殯內殿，累年不外葬。 後三年，始詔於都左治陵，欲朝夕望見之。 補闕姚南仲諫而止，乃葬莊陵。 詔宰相常袞為哀冊，帝於後厚，故送終華廣，務稱其情，袞極道淒婉，以中帝意。 又詔群臣為挽辭，帝擇其尤悲者令歌之。
She died in Dali 10 and was posthumously made empress with a posthumous title. The emperor could not stop grieving, so her coffin remained in the inner hall for years without burial. Three years later he ordered a tomb built west of the capital so he could see it each day. Remonstrance Secretary Yao Nanzhong dissuaded him, and she was buried at Zhuangling. He ordered Chancellor Chang Gun to write the lamentation. Because his love for her ran deep, the funeral was lavish and Chang's text was piercingly mournful—exactly what the emperor wanted. He also ordered ministers to write dirges and chose the most sorrowful to be sung.
10
初，後愛遇第一，官其宗叔卓少府監，兄良佐太子中允。 代宗睿真沈皇后代宗睿真皇后沈氏，吳興人。 開元末，以良家子入東宮，太子以賜廣平王，實生德宗。
At the height of her favor, her uncle Zhuo was made superintendent of the palace storehouses and her brother Liangzuo crown prince's attendant. Empress Ruizhen Shen of Emperor Daizong. Lady Shen of Ruizhen came from Wuxing. Late in Kaiyuan she entered the Eastern Palace as a respectable girl; the crown prince gave her to Prince Guangping, and she bore Dezong.
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天寶亂，賊囚後東都掖廷。 王入洛，復留宮中。 時方北討，未及歸長安，而河南為史思明所沒，遂失後所在。 代宗立，以德宗為皇太子，詔訪後在亡，不能得。
During the Tianbao rebellion the rebels held her in the Luoyang inner palace. When the prince entered Luoyang, she remained in the palace. He was campaigning north and had not returned to Chang'an when Henan fell to Shi Siming, and her whereabouts were lost. After Daizong's accession, with Dezong as heir, edicts went out to learn whether she lived or had died—but she could not be found.
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德宗即位，乃先下詔贈後曾祖士衡太保，祖介福太傅，父易直太師，弟易良司空，易直子震太尉。 一日封拜百二十七人，詔制皆錦翠池飾，以廄馬負載賜其家。 易良妻崔入謁，帝易服，召王、韋美人出拜，詔崔勿答。
On Dezong's accession he first enfeoffed her forebears posthumously: great-great-grandfather Shiheng as Grand Guardian, great-grandfather Jiefu as Grand Tutor, father Yizhi as Grand Preceptor, brother Yiliang as Minister of Works, and Yizhi's son Zhen as Grand Marshal. In a single day 127 relatives were enfeoffed; the edicts were ornamented with brocade and kingfisher motifs and sent to her kin on palace horses. When Yiliang's wife Cui came to court, the emperor changed clothes, had the Wang and Wei ladies bow to her, and told Cui not to return the bow.
13
建中元年，乃具冊前上皇太后尊號，帝供張含元殿，具袞冕，出自左序，立東方，群臣在位，帝再拜奉冊，欷歔感咽，左右皆泣。 於是中書舍人高參上議：「漢文帝即位，遣薄昭迎太后於代。 今宜用漢故事，令有司擇日分遣諸沈行州縣物色咨訪，以述宣皇帝孝思意，冀上天降休，靈命允答。 須審知皇太后行在，然後遣大臣備法駕奉迎。」 帝乃以睦王述為奉迎使，工部尚書喬琳副之，昇平公主侍起居，使者分行天下。
In Jianzhong 1 he held the full ceremony to honor her as empress dowager in advance at Hanyuan Hall, wearing full regalia and standing to the east while ministers looked on. He bowed twice presenting the document, weeping until all around him wept. Central Secretariat drafter Gao Can then proposed: "When Emperor Wen of Han took the throne, he sent Bo Zhao to welcome the empress dowager from Dai. We should follow Han precedent: have officials choose a day and send envoys to every prefecture and county along her likely routes to search, expressing the emperor's filial devotion in hope Heaven will answer. Once her whereabouts are confirmed, great ministers with the full imperial escort should be sent to welcome her." The emperor appointed Prince Mu Shu welcoming envoy, with Minister of Works Qiao Lin as deputy and Princess Shengping to attend her; envoys fanned out across the empire.
14
故中官高力士女頗能言禁中事，與女官李真一嘗從後遊。 李見高，疑問之，含糊不堅，而年狀差似後。 又後嘗削脯哺帝，傷左指，高亦嘗剖瓜傷指。 是時宮中無識後者。 於是迎還上陽宮，馳以聞。 帝喜，群臣皆賀。 力士子知非是，具言其情，詔貸之。 帝謂左右：「吾寧受百罔，冀一得真。」 於是自謂太后者數矣，及索驗左，皆辭窮，終帝世無聞焉。 貞元七年，詔贈外高祖琳為司徒，封徐國公，為立五廟，以琳為始祖，詔族子房為金吾將軍，奉其祀。
A daughter of the former eunuch Gao Lishi knew much of palace affairs; she and the palace woman Li Zhenyi had once accompanied the empress. Li questioned Gao, who answered vaguely, though her age and looks roughly matched the empress. The empress had once cut dried meat for the emperor and hurt her left finger; Gao too had cut a melon and hurt her finger. No one in the palace could recognize the empress at that time. She was brought to Shangyang Palace and word was rushed to the emperor. The emperor rejoiced and the ministers offered congratulations. Lishi's son knew she was an impostor and explained fully; an edict pardoned the deception. The emperor told his attendants, "I would endure a hundred false leads for one true find." Several more women claimed to be the empress dowager, but when asked to show the left finger, each was exposed; she was never found in Dezong's lifetime. In Zhenyuan 7 her maternal great-great-grandfather Lin was posthumously made Minister of Education and Duke of Xu; five ancestral temples were founded with Lin as founder, and clansman Fang was made Golden Guards general to tend the rites.
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憲宗即位，有司建言：「皇太后沈氏厭代二十有七年，大行皇帝至孝，哀思罔極，建中時，發明詔，遣使者奉迎，凡舟車所至罔不逮，歲推月遷，參訪理絕。 請因大行皇帝啟殯，詔群臣為皇太后發哀肅章內殿，中人奉廞衣置幄坐，宮中朝夕上食，告天地宗廟，上太皇太后謚冊，作神主祔代宗廟，備法駕，奉袆衣，納於元陵祠至。」 詔曰「可」。 德宗昭德王皇后德宗昭德皇后王氏，本仕家，失其譜系。 帝為魯王時納為嬪，生順宗，尤見寵禮。 既即位，冊號淑妃，贈其父遇揚州大都督，子姓姻出悉得官。
On Xianzong's accession officials proposed: "Empress Dowager Shen has been gone twenty-seven years. The late emperor's filial grief was boundless; in Jianzhong he sent envoys everywhere boats and carts could go, yet year after year the search failed. We ask that when the late emperor's coffin is opened, ministers mourn the empress dowager in the inner hall, eunuchs set out her funerary garments, the palace offer food morning and evening, Heaven and Earth and the ancestors be notified, her posthumous title as grand empress dowager presented, a spirit tablet enshrined in Daizong's temple, and her robes placed in the Yuanling shrine." The edict read, "Approved." Empress Zhaode Wang of Emperor Dezong. She came from an official family, but her lineage is unknown. While he was Prince of Lu he took her as a consort; she bore Shunzong and enjoyed exceptional favor. On his accession she was made Shufei; her father Yu was posthumously made Grand Governor of Yangzhou; sons and affinal kin all received posts.
16
貞元三年，妃久疾，帝念之，遂立為皇后。 冊禮方訖而後崩，群臣大臨三日，帝七日釋服。 將葬，後母郕國鄭夫人請設奠，有詔祭物無用寓，欲祭聽之。 於是宗室王、大臣李晟渾瑊等皆祭，自發塗日日奠，終發引乃止。 葬靖陵，置令丞如它陵臺。 立廟，奏《坤元之舞》。 敕宰相張延賞、柳渾等制樂曲，帝嫌文不工； 李紓上謚冊曰「大行皇后」，帝又謂不典。 並詔翰林學士吳通玄改撰，冊曰「咨後王氏」。 然議者謂岑文本所上文德皇后冊言「皇后長孫氏」為得禮。 永貞元年，改祔崇陵。 德宗韋賢妃德宗賢妃韋氏，戚裏舊族也。 祖濯，尚定安公主。 初為良娣，德宗貞元四年，冊拜賢妃。 宮壺事無不聽，而性敏淑，言動皆有繩矩，帝寵重之，後宮莫不師其行。 帝崩，自表留奉崇陵園。 元和四年薨。 順宗莊憲王皇后順宗莊憲皇后王氏，瑯邪人。 祖難得，有功名於世。 代宗時，後以良家選入宮，為才人。 順宗在籓，帝以才人幼，故賜之，為王孺人，是生憲宗。 王在東宮，冊為良娣。 後性仁順，宮中化其德，莫不柔雍。 順宗即位，疾已綿頓，後侍醫藥不少怠。 將立後，會病棘而止。 憲宗內禪，尊為太上皇后。 元和元年，乃上尊號曰皇太后。
In Zhenyuan 3, long ill, she so moved the emperor that he made her empress. The investiture had barely ended when she died; ministers mourned three days and the emperor ended mourning on the seventh day. As the burial drew near, the Empress's stepmother, Lady Zheng of Zheng, asked to set up funeral offerings. The court replied that mourners need not lodge ritual goods in temporary quarters along the route—any who wished to sacrifice might do so. Then the imperial princes and great ministers—Li Sheng, Hun Jian, and the rest—all came to sacrifice. From the day the coffin was placed on the hearse they made offerings daily, and did not cease until the procession at last moved on. She was interred at Jingling, with a tomb-office magistrate and deputy appointed there as at the other imperial mausoleums. A spirit temple was erected, and the dance "Kun Yuan" was performed. The emperor charged Chancellor Zhang Yanshang, Liu Hun, and others with composing the ceremonial lyrics, but found their wording crude and unsatisfactory. Li Shu presented a posthumous-title scroll calling her "Grand Empress-in-Passing," which the emperor likewise rejected as improper. Both drafts were set aside, and Hanlin Academician Wu Tongxuan was ordered to rewrite the scroll, which then read "Empress Wang of Zi." Commentators held, however, that Cen Wenben's posthumous scroll for Empress Wende—"Empress Changsun of the Changsun clan"—had been the ritually correct form. In the first year of the Yongzhen era, her tablet was moved to be enshrined with the emperor at Chongling. Consort Xian of Emperor Dezong, née Wei, belonged to an old family connected to the throne by marriage. Her grandfather Wei Zhuo had married Princess Ding'an. She began as a Lady of Excellent Character; in the fourth year of Zhenyuan, Dezong enfeoffed her as Consort Xian. Nothing in the inner palace escaped her notice. Quick-witted and gentle, she measured every word and act by strict decorum. The emperor favored her deeply, and every woman of the harem looked to her as a model. After the emperor's death she memorialized on her own, asking to remain and tend the grounds of Chongling. She died in the fourth year of Yuanhe. Empress Zhuangxian of Emperor Shunzong, née Wang, came from Langya. Her grandfather Nan De had won distinction in his generation. During Daizong's reign she was selected from a respectable household for the palace and made a Talented Lady. While Shunzong still held his princely fief, the emperor gave him the young Talented Lady as consort. She became Lady Wang of the princely household and bore the future Xianzong. After Wang entered the Eastern Palace as heir, she was enfeoffed as Lady of Excellent Character. Benevolent and yielding by nature, she softened the whole inner palace; under her influence every woman grew gentle and harmonious. By the time Shunzong took the throne his illness had already worn him down. The empress nursed him at his bedside and never flagged in tending his medicine. Plans to install her as empress were under way when his illness turned grave, and the ceremony was abandoned. When Xianzong yielded the throne in an inner abdication, she was honored as Grand Empress. In the first year of Yuanhe she received the formal honorific title of Empress Dowager.
17
後謹畏，深抑外家，無豪絲假貸，訓厲內職，有古後妃風。 十一年崩，年五十四。 遺令曰：「皇太后敬問具位。 萬物之理，必歸於有極，未亡人嬰霜露疾，日以衰頓，幸終天年，得奉陵寢，誌願獲矣，其何所哀。 易月之典，古今所共。 皇帝宜三日聽政，服二十七日釋。 天下吏民，令到臨三日止。 宮中非朝暮臨，無輒哭。 無禁昏嫁、祠祀、飲食酒肉。 已釋服，聽舉樂。 侍醫無加罪。 陪祔如舊制。」 有司上謚，葬豐陵。 憲宗懿安郭皇后憲宗懿安皇后郭氏，汾陽王子儀之孫。 父曖，尚昇平公主，實生後。 憲宗為廣陵王，娉以為妃。 順宗以其家有大功烈，而母素貴，故禮之異諸婦，是生穆宗。 元和元年，進冊貴妃。 八年，群臣三請立為後，帝以歲子午忌，又是時後廷多嬖艷，恐後得尊位，鉗掣不得肆，故章報聞罷。
Cautious and self-restrained, she kept her maternal relatives on a tight rein and would not lend them so much as a thread of favor. She drilled the inner palace in duty with the stern grace of the great consorts of antiquity. She died in the eleventh year of Yuanhe, at the age of fifty-four. Her final testament read: "The Empress Dowager respectfully addresses all officials in their stations. All things in their course must come to an end. I, who remain behind, am stricken with illness as with frost and dew and weaken day by day. I have been blessed to live out my years and to rest beside the imperial tomb; my heart's wish is granted—what cause is there for grief? The rite of ending the first month of mourning and changing garments is observed alike in ancient times and today. The emperor should resume hearing affairs after three days, and lay aside mourning after twenty-seven. Officials and common people throughout the realm should observe mourning visits for no more than three days. Within the palace, weeping is permitted only at the morning and evening observances—not at every hour. Do not forbid weddings, ancestral rites, feasting, or the eating of meat. After mourning garments are laid aside, music may again be performed. The physicians who attended me are not to be punished. My enshrinement beside the emperor shall follow established precedent." The proper offices submitted her posthumous title, and she was buried at Fengling. Empress Yi'an of Emperor Xianzong, née Guo, was the granddaughter of Guo Ziyi, Prince of Fenyang. Her father Guo Ai had married Princess Shengping, and it was he—not the princess—who was her true parent. When Xianzong was still Prince of Guangling, she was betrothed to him as his principal consort. Shunzong treated her with honors unlike those shown other daughters-in-law, for her house had rendered great service to the state and her mother had long stood in high esteem. She bore the future Muzong. In the first year of Yuanhe she was promoted and enfeoffed as Noble Consort. In the eighth year the ministers thrice petitioned to make her empress. The emperor declined: the year carried taboos on the zi and wu days, and besides, the rear palace then swarmed with favored beauties. He feared that once she held the empress's rank she would tighten her grip and they would no longer roam free—so he received the memorials and let the matter drop.
18
穆宗嗣位，上尊號皇太后，贈曖太尉，母齊國大長公主，擢兄釗刑部尚書，鏦〗金吾大將軍。 後移禦興慶宮，凡朔望三朝，帝率百官詣宮門為壽。 或歲時慶問燕饗，後宮戚裏內外婦，車騎駢壅，環佩之聲滿宮。 帝亦豪矜，朝夕供禦，務華衍侈大稱後意。 後嘗幸驪山，登覽裴回，詔景王督禁甲從，帝自到昭應奉迎，留帳飲數日還。 帝崩，中人有為後謀稱制者，後怒曰：「吾效武氏邪？ 今太子雖幼，尚可選重德為輔，吾何與外事哉？」
When Muzong succeeded, she was honored as Empress Dowager. Her father Guo Ai was posthumously made Grand Marshal; her mother was raised as Grand Princess of Qi; her brothers Zhao and Cong were appointed Minister of Justice and Grand General of the Golden Valiant Guard. The Empress Dowager took up residence in Xingqing Palace. On the first and fifteenth of each month, at the three regular audiences, the emperor led the full court to the palace gates to wish her long life. At seasonal celebrations and felicitations, palace ladies and imperial kinswomen from within and without arrived in such numbers that carriages choked the roads and the chiming of jade pendants filled the halls. The emperor himself grew proud and prodigal, supplying her morning and night with ever more lavish and extravagant comforts that delighted her completely. Once she visited Mount Li, climbed to take in the view, and lingered long. The Prince of Jing was ordered to lead the palace guard in attendance; the emperor himself rode out to Zhaoying to welcome her. They encamped there and feasted for several days before returning. After the emperor's death, some eunuchs urged the Empress Dowager to rule in her own name. She flared in anger: "Do you think I mean to imitate Empress Wu? The crown prince may be young, but worthy men of heavy moral weight can be chosen to guide him. What affair of state is mine to command?"
19
敬宗立，號太皇太后。 寶歷倉卒，後召江王嗣皇帝位，是為文宗。 文宗性謹孝，事後有禮，凡羞果鮮珍及四方奇奉，必先獻宗廟、三宮，而後禦之。
When Jingzong took the throne, she was styled Grand Empress Dowager. When Baoli died suddenly, the Grand Empress Dowager summoned the Prince of Jiang to the throne—he became Wenzong. Wenzong was dutiful and reverent by nature. In serving the Grand Empress Dowager he observed every propriety. Whenever choice fruit, fresh delicacies, or rare tribute from the four quarters arrived, he first presented them at the ancestral temple and the Three Palaces—only then did he taste them himself.
20
武宗喜畋遊，角武抃，擇五坊小兒得出入禁中。 它日問後起居，從容請曰：「如何可為盛天子？」 後曰：「諫巨章疏宜審覽，度可用用之，有不可，以詢宰相。 毋拒直言，勿納偏言，以忠良為腹心，此盛天子也。」 帝再拜，還索諫章閱之，往往道遊獵事，自是畋幸稀，小兒武抃等不復橫賜矣。
Wuzong loved the hunt, wrestlers, and acrobatic performers, and chose boys from the Five Wards who were allowed to come and go within the inner palace. One day, while asking after her health, he said at ease: "What must a ruler do to become a truly great Son of Heaven? She answered: "Read the memorials of your remonstrating ministers with care. Use what is sound; where you are unsure, ask your chancellor. Do not turn away honest speech, and do not heed partial counsel. Make loyal and upright men the core of your rule—that is how a ruler becomes great. The emperor bowed twice in assent, then went back and gathered up the remonstrance memorials. Many rebuked his hunting—after that his excursions grew rare, and the boys, wrestlers, and acrobats no longer received lavish rewards.
21
宣宗立，於後，諸子也，而母鄭，故侍兒，有曩怨。 帝奉養禮稍薄，後郁郁不聊，與一二侍人登勤政樓，將自隕，左右共持之。 帝聞不喜，是夕後暴崩。 有司上尊謚，葬景陵外園。 太常官王暤請後合葬景陵，以主祔憲宗室，帝不悅，令宰相白敏中讓之。 暤曰：「後乃憲宗東宮元妃，事順宗為婦，歷五朝母天下，不容有異論。」 敏中亦怒，周墀又責謂，暤終不橈，墀曰：「暤信孤直。」 俄貶暤句容令。 懿宗咸通中，暤還為禮官，申抗前論，乃詔後主祔於廟。 憲宗孝明鄭皇后憲宗孝明皇后鄭氏，丹楊人，或言本爾硃氏。 元和初，李锜反，有相者言後當生天子。 锜聞，納為侍人。 锜誅，沒入掖廷，侍懿安后。 憲宗幸之，生宣宗。 宣宗為光王，後為王太妃。 及即位，尊為皇太后。 太后不肯別處，故帝奉養大明宮，朝夕躬省候焉。
When Xuanzong came to the throne, he was her son like the others by lineage, yet his mother was Lady Zheng—once a palace maid—and old grievances lay between them. The emperor's care grew noticeably thin. Despondent and weary of life, she climbed Qinzheng Tower with one or two attendants, intending to cast herself down; those beside her seized her and would not let go. When word reached the emperor he took offense—and that very night the Grand Empress Dowager died suddenly. The proper offices submitted her honorific posthumous title, and she was buried in the outer park of Jingling. Wang Hao of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices petitioned that the Grand Empress Dowager be buried jointly at Jingling and her tablet placed in Xianzong's spirit chamber. The emperor was angered and ordered Chancellor Bai Minzhong to rebuke him. Hao replied: "The Grand Empress Dowager was Xianzong's first consort of the Eastern Palace, Shunzong's daughter-in-law, and for five reigns mother to the empire. On such a matter there can be no dispute. Minzhong grew angrier still, and Zhou Chi added his own reproof—but Hao would not yield. Chi said at last, "Hao is stubbornly honest, it is true." Soon afterward Hao was demoted to magistrate of Jurong. In the Xiantong period under Yizong, Hao returned to office as a ritual official and pressed his old argument once more. An edict was then issued ordering the Grand Empress Dowager's tablet enshrined in the ancestral temple. Empress Xiaoming of Emperor Xianzong, née Zheng, came from Danyang; some said her original clan was Erzhu. Early in Yuanhe, when Li Qi rose in rebellion, a diviner declared that this woman was destined to bear a Son of Heaven. Li Qi heard this and took her into his household as a serving woman. After Li Qi's execution she was seized into the palace women's quarters and assigned to attend Empress Yi'an. Xianzong took her to his bed, and she bore the future Xuanzong. When Xuanzong was Prince of Guang, she was made Royal Consort to the prince. At his accession she was honored as Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager would not live apart from him, so the emperor kept her in Daming Palace and visited her himself morning and evening.
22
懿宗立，尊後為太皇太后。 咸通三年，帝奉後宴三殿，命翰林學士侍立結綺樓下。 六年崩，移仗西內，上謚冊，葬景陵旁園。 穆宗恭僖王皇后穆宗恭僖皇后王氏，越州人，本仕家子。 幼得侍帝東宮，生敬宗。 長慶時，冊為妃。 敬宗立，上尊號為皇太后，贈後父紹卿司空，母張追封趙國夫人。 文宗時，稱寶歷太后。 大和五年，宰相建白以太皇太后與寶歷太后稱號未辨，前代詔令不敢斥言，皆以宮為稱，今寶歷太后居義安殿，宜曰義安太后。 詔可。 會昌五年崩，有司上謚，葬光陵東園。 穆宗貞獻蕭皇后穆宗貞獻皇后蕭氏，閩人也。 穆宗為建安王，後得侍，生文宗。 文宗立，上尊號曰皇太后。
When Yizong took the throne, she was honored as Grand Empress Dowager. In the third year of Xiantong the emperor gave a banquet for her in the Three Halls and had Hanlin academicians stand in attendance beneath Jieqi Tower. She died in the sixth year. The court moved to the Western Inner Palace to mourn; her posthumous scroll was submitted, and she was buried in the side park of Jingling. Empress Gongxi of Emperor Muzong, née Wang, came from Yuezhou and was born into an official household. While still young she entered the Eastern Palace to serve the heir and bore the future Jingzong. During the Changqing era she was enfeoffed as princess consort. When Jingzong succeeded, she was honored as Empress Dowager. Her father Shaoqing was posthumously made Director of Works, and her mother Lady Zhang was posthumously enfeoffed as Lady of Zhao. Under Wenzong she was known as the Baoli Empress Dowager. In the fifth year of Dahe a chancellor observed that the titles of Grand Empress Dowager and Baoli Empress Dowager were easily confused. Earlier edicts had seldom named such ladies directly, calling them instead by the palace where they dwelt. Since the Baoli Empress Dowager now lived in Yian Hall, he proposed she be styled Yian Empress Dowager. The proposal was approved by edict. She died in the fifth year of Huichang. The proper offices submitted her posthumous title, and she was buried in the eastern park of Guangling. Empress Zhenxian of Emperor Muzong, née Xiao, came from Min. When Muzong was Prince of Jian'an she entered his service and bore the future Wenzong. When Wenzong took the throne, she was honored as Empress Dowager.
23
初，後去家入長安，不復知家存亡，惟記有弟，帝為訪之。 俄有男子蕭洪因後姊婿呂璋白見之，太后謂得真弟，悲不自勝。 帝拜洪金吾將軍，出為河陽三城節度使，稍徙坊。 始，節度自神策出者，舉軍為辨裝，因三倍取償。 洪所代未及償而死，軍中並責償於洪，洪不許，左軍中尉仇士良憾之。 會閩有男子蕭本又稱太后弟，士良以聞，自坊召洪下獄按治，洪乃代人，詔流驩州，不半道，賜死。 擢本贊善大夫，寵贈三世，帝以為真，不淹旬，賜累鉅萬。 然太后真弟庸軟莫能自達，本紿得其家系，士良主之，遂聽不疑。 歷衛尉卿、金吾將軍。 會福建觀察使唐扶上言，泉州男子蕭弘自言太后弟，御史臺參治非是，昭義劉從諫又為言，請與本辨，有詔三司高元裕、孫簡、崔郇雜問，乃皆妄。 本流愛州，弘儋州，而太后終不獲弟。
Long ago, after she left home for Chang'an, she lost all word of her family's fate. She remembered only that she had a younger brother, and the emperor ordered a search on her behalf. Before long a man named Xiao Hong, introduced by the Empress Dowager's brother-in-law Lü Zhang, came forward and was presented at court. She took him for her true brother and wept beyond restraint. The emperor made Hong a General of the Golden Valiant Guard, then sent him out as military commissioner of Heyang Three Cities, and later transferred him to Fang. By custom, when a commander left the Shence Army for a provincial post, the entire army furnished his travel expenses—and then collected repayment at three times the cost. The officer Hong replaced had died before the debt was settled, and the army now pressed Hong to pay what remained. Hong refused. Qiu Shiliang, commander of the Left Shence Army, took this as a personal affront. Then a man from Min named Xiao Ben also claimed to be the Empress Dowager's brother. Shiliang reported it, had Hong recalled from Fang and thrown into prison for investigation, and proved him a fraud. An edict sentenced Hong to exile in Huanzhou, but before he had gone half the distance he was ordered to die. Ben was promoted to Palace Companion and showered with honors extending three generations of his line. The emperor took him for the real brother—in less than ten days the gifts he received mounted into the tens of thousands. Yet the Empress Dowager's real brother was timid and ineffectual and could not press his claim. Ben had tricked out the family genealogy; Shiliang managed the affair behind the scenes—and so the court heard the tale and never doubted it. He rose in turn to Minister of the Court of Ceremonial and General of the Golden Valiant Guard. About then, Tang Fu, observation commissioner of Fujian, reported that a Quanzhou man named Xiao Hong had declared himself the Empress Dowager's brother. The Censorate looked into it and said he was not. Liu Congjian of Zhaoyi spoke up for him again and asked that he be examined face to face with the real brother. The throne ordered Gao Yuanyu, Sun Jian, and Cui Xun of the Three Offices to question them together—and both men were frauds. The real brother was exiled to Aizhou and Hong to Danzhou, and the Empress Dowager never got her brother back.
24
初，大和中，懿安太后居興慶宮，寶歷太后居義安殿，後居大內，號「三宮太后」。 帝每五日問安及歲時慶謁，率繇復道至南內，群臣及命婦詣宮門候起居。 有司獻四時新物送三宮，亦稱賜，帝曰：「上三宮，何可言賜？」 遽索筆滅「賜」為「奉」。 開成中，正月望夜，帝禦鹹泰殿，大然鐙作樂，迎三宮太后，奉觴進壽，禮如家人，諸王、公主皆得侍。
At first, in the Dahe years, Empress Dowager Yi'an lived in Xingqing Palace and Empress Dowager Baoli in Yi'an Hall; later they moved into the inner palace and were called the Three-Palace Empresses Dowager. Every five days the Emperor asked after them; at the year's feasts he went in person to pay his respects, always taking the covered way into the southern inner palace. Ministers and ladies of rank waited at the palace gates for news of how the empresses dowager were faring. The offices sent the Three Palaces gifts of each season's new produce and called it a bestowal. The Emperor said, When one presents things to the Three Palaces, how can that be called bestowing? He called at once for a brush and struck out the word "bestow," writing "present" in its place. In the Kaicheng years, on the full moon of the first month, the Emperor held court at Xiantai Hall, kindled a great blaze of lamps and raised music, and received the Three-Palace Empresses Dowager with cups raised for long life. The ceremony had the ease of a household gathering, and every prince and princess was permitted to wait upon them.
25
武宗時，徙積慶殿，又號積慶太后。 大中元年崩，上今謚。 穆宗宣懿韋皇后穆宗宣懿皇后韋氏，失其先世。 穆宗為太子，後得侍，生武宗。 長慶時，冊為妃。
In Wuzong's reign she was moved to Jiqing Hall and took the additional title Empress Dowager Jiqing. She died in the first year of Dazhong, and the reigning Emperor granted her a posthumous name. Empress Xuanyi of Muzong, of the Wei clan—her forebears are unknown. While Muzong was heir apparent she entered his service and bore Wuzong. In the Changqing era she was invested as consort.
26
武宗立，妃已亡，追冊為皇太后，上尊謚，又封後二女弟為夫人。 有司奏：「太后陵宜別制號。」 帝乃名所葬園曰福陵。 既又問宰相：「葬從光陵與但祔廟孰安？」 奏言：「神道安於靜，光陵因山為固，且二十年，不可更穿。 福陵崇築已有所，當遂就。 臣等請奉主祔穆宗廟便。」 帝乃下詔：「朕因誕日展禮於太皇太后，謂朕曰：『天子之孝，莫大於承續。』 今穆宗皇帝虛合享之位，而宣懿太后實生嗣君，當以祔廟。」 繇是奉後合食穆宗室。 宋若昭尚宮宋若昭，貝州清陽人，世以儒聞。 父廷芬，能辭章，生五女，皆警慧，善屬文。 長若莘，次若昭、若倫、若憲、若荀。 莘、昭文尤高。 皆性素潔，鄙薰澤靚妝，不願歸人，欲以學名家，家亦不欲與寒鄉凡裔為姻對，聽其學。 若莘誨諸妹如嚴師，著《女論語》十篇，大抵準《論語》，以韋宣文君代孔子，曹大家等為顏、冉，推明婦道所宜。 若昭又為傳申釋之。
By the time Wuzong took the throne the consort was already dead. She was posthumously made Empress Dowager and given a lofty temple name; her two younger sisters were enfeoffed as Ladies as well. The offices reported that the Empress Dowager's mausoleum should receive its own name. The Emperor thereupon named the burial ground Fukangling. He then asked his chief ministers whether it would be better to bury her beside Guang Mausoleum or to install her tablet in the ancestral temple alone. They answered that the spirit path rests best in stillness; Guang Mausoleum is anchored in its mountain and has stood twenty years—it cannot be opened again. Work on Fukangling's mound is already well advanced and ought to be finished as planned. Your servants ask only that her spirit tablet be brought to Muzong's temple for enshrinement. The Emperor then promulgated an edict: On my birthday I paid homage to the Grand Empress Dowager, and she said to me, "For a Son of Heaven, no filial act surpasses carrying on the succession. Muzong's place at the shared offering table stands empty, yet Empress Dowager Xuanyi truly bore the heir who reigns—she should take her place in the temple." From that time her tablet was installed and she received joint offerings in Muzong's shrine. Song Ruozhao, Palace Preceptress—Song Ruozhao of Qingyang in Beizhou came from a house renowned for scholarship for generations. Her father Tingfen excelled at letters and had five daughters, each quick-witted and accomplished in prose. The eldest was Ruoxin; then came Ruozhao, Ruolun, Ruoxian, and Ruoxun. Ruoxin and Ruozhao stood highest in literary talent. They were all austere by nature, scorning perfume and painted faces, unwilling to marry and intent on winning renown through study. The family, for its part, would not pair them with men from poor villages of no distinction, and left them to their books. Ruoxin taught her sisters as a strict master might and wrote ten chapters of the 《Analects of Women》, taking the 《Analects》 as her model, setting Lady Wei the Expositor in Confucius's place and Lady Cao and others in the roles of Yan and Ran, and laying out what the wife's path requires. Ruozhao in turn composed a commentary to explain and unfold its meaning.
27
貞元中，昭義節度使李抱真表其才，德宗召入禁中，試文章，並問經史大誼，帝咨美，悉留宮中。 帝能詩，每與侍臣賡和，五人者皆預，凡進禦，未嘗不蒙賞。 又高其風操，不以妾侍命之，呼學士。 擢其父饒州司馬、習藝館內教，賜第一區，加谷帛。
In the Zhenyuan years Li Baozhen, military commissioner of Zhaoyi, commended their gifts to the throne. Dezong called them into the inner palace, examined their essays, and questioned them on the weightier themes of the classics and histories. The Emperor was delighted and kept them all within the palace. The Emperor himself wrote poetry and often exchanged verses with his courtiers; the five sisters always joined in, and every offering they made to him won praise. He honored their character as well and would not rank them among the concubine attendants, addressing them as Academicians instead. He raised their father to Vice Magistrate of Raozhou and Inner Instructor at the Hall of Practicing the Arts, granted a residence, and added grain and silks to the gift.
28
元和末，若莘卒，贈河內郡君。 自貞元七年，秘禁圖籍，詔若莘總領，穆宗以若昭尤通練，拜尚宮，嗣若莘所職。 歷憲、穆、敬三朝，皆呼先生，後妃與諸王、主率以師禮見。 寶歷初卒，贈梁國夫人，以鹵簿葬。
Near the close of Yuanhe, Ruoxin died and was posthumously ennobled Lady of Henei Commandery. From the seventh year of Zhenyuan the palace archives were entrusted to Ruoxin by imperial order. Muzong, finding Ruozhao the more seasoned, made her Palace Preceptress to succeed her sister's charge. Under Xianzong, Muzong, and Jingzong alike she was addressed as "Master"; empresses, consorts, princes, and princesses all received her with a pupil's deference. Early in the Baoli reign she died and was posthumously made Lady of Liang, buried with the full imperial funeral train.
29
若憲代司秘書，文宗尚學，以若憲善屬辭，粹論議，尤禮之。 大和中，李訓、鄭註用事，惡宰相李宗閔，譖言因駙馬都尉沈〓厚賂若憲求執政。 帝怒，幽若憲外第，賜死，家屬徙嶺南。 訓、註敗，帝悟其讒，追恨之。 若倫、若荀早卒。 廷芬男獨愚不可教，為民終身。 敬宗郭貴妃敬宗貴妃郭氏，右威衛將軍義之子，失義何所人。 長慶時，後以容選入太子宮。 太子即位，為才人，生晉王普。 帝以早得子，又淑麗冠後廷，故寵異之。 逾年，為貴妃，贈義禮部尚書，兄環少府少監，賜大第。 文宗立，愛晉王若己子，待妃禮不衰。 亡其薨年。 武宗王賢妃武宗賢妃王氏，邯鄲人，失其世。 年十三，善歌舞，得入宮中。 穆宗以賜潁王。 性機悟。 開成末，王嗣帝位，妃陰為助畫，故進號才人，遂有寵。 狀纖頎，頗類帝。 每畋苑中，才人必從，袍而騎，校服光侈，略同至尊，相與馳出入，觀者莫知孰為帝也。 帝欲立為後，宰相李德裕曰：「才人無子，且家不素顯，恐詒天下議。」 乃止。
Ruoxian acted as director of the Palace Library. Wenzong prized learning; because Ruoxian wrote with grace and argued with clarity, he treated her with particular respect. In the Dahe years Li Xun and Zheng Zhu were in power and hated the chancellor Li Zongmin. They accused him of having secured Ruoxian's support for his appointment through lavish bribes from the imperial son-in-law Shen Cai. The Emperor flew into a rage, had Ruoxian confined in an outer residence, and ordered her to die; her kin were exiled to the far south. After Xun and Zhu's fall the Emperor saw through their lies and was left with bitter remorse. Ruolun and Ruoxun died young. Tingfen's only son was too slow to educate and lived out his days as a commoner. Honored Consort Guo of Jingzong—Guo, honored consort of Jingzong—was daughter of Yi, a general of the Right Majestic Guard; Yi's origins are not recorded. In the Changqing era her looks won her entry into the heir's inner quarters. When the heir became emperor she was made a Talented Lady and bore Prince Pu of Jin. The Emperor had longed for an early heir, and she was the most graceful woman in the inner palace, so he favored her above the rest. Before a year had passed she was raised to Honored Consort; her father Yi was posthumously made Minister of Rites, her brother Huan Vice Director of the Palace Workshops, and a great house was bestowed on the family. When Wenzong took the throne he cherished Prince Jin as his own and showed the consort undiminished honor. The year of her death is not recorded. Worthy Consort Wang of Wuzong—Wang, worthy consort of Wuzong, was from Handan; her family background is unknown. At thirteen she was accomplished in song and dance and was brought into the palace. Muzong gave her to Prince Ying. She was sharp by nature. Near the end of Kaicheng the prince came to the throne; the consort had aided him behind the scenes, and was promoted to Talented Lady and soon won his favor. She was tall and slight of build, and bore a strong likeness to the Emperor. Whenever the Emperor hunted in the park the Talented Lady rode beside him in hunting dress, her mount and trappings as splendid as his own. They dashed in and out together, and those who watched could not tell which rider was the Son of Heaven. The Emperor wished to make her empress. Chancellor Li Deyu said, "The Talented Lady has borne no son, and her house has never been eminent—Your Majesty will invite the realm's censure. The Emperor abandoned the plan.
30
帝稍惑方士說，欲餌藥長年，後寢不豫。 才人每謂親近曰：「陛下日燎丹，言我取不死。 膚澤消槁，吾獨憂之。」 俄而疾侵，才人侍左右，帝熟視曰：「吾氣奄奄，情慮耗盡，顧與汝辭。」 答曰：「陛下大福未艾，安語不祥？」 帝曰：「脫如我言，奈何？」 對曰：「陛下萬歲後，妾得以殉。」 帝不復言。 及大漸，才人悉取所常貯散遺宮中，審帝已崩，即自經幄下。 當時嬪媛雖常妒才人專上者，返皆義才人，為之感動。 宣宗即位，嘉其節，贈賢妃，葬端陵之柏城。 宣宗元昭晁皇后宣宗元昭皇后晁氏，不詳其世。 少入邸，最見寵答。 及即位，以為美人。 大中中薨，贈昭容，詔翰林學士蕭寘銘其窆，具載生鄆王、萬壽公主。 後夔、昭等五王居內院，而鄆獨出閣。 及即位，是為懿宗。 外頗疑帝非長。 寘出銘辭以示外廷，乃解。 帝追冊昭容為皇太后，上尊謚，詔後二等以上親悉官之，配主宣宗廟，自建陵曰慶陵，置宮寢。 懿宗惠安王皇后懿宗惠安皇后王氏，亦失所來。 咸通中，冊號貴妃，生普王。 七年薨。 十四年，王即位，是為僖宗。 追尊皇太后，冊上謚號，祔主懿宗廟，即其園為壽陵。 後屬緦以上，帝悉官之。 懿宗郭淑妃懿宗淑妃郭氏，幼入鄆王邸。 宣宗在位，春秋高，惡人言立太子事。 王以嫡長居外宮，心常憂惴。 妃護侍左右，慰安起居，終得無恙。 生女未能言，忽曰：「得活。」 王驚異之。 及即位，以妃為美人，進拜淑妃。
The Emperor came under the spell of alchemists who promised longevity through elixirs, and soon took to his bed in failing health. The Talented Lady often told those close to her, "His Majesty spends each day refining cinnabar, swearing he will cheat death. Yet his flesh withers and dries—I alone am afraid. Before long the sickness deepened. The Talented Lady kept vigil at his side. The Emperor gazed at her a long while and said, "My breath is thin and my mind spent—I must bid you farewell." She answered, "Your Majesty's great fortune is not yet exhausted—why speak such ill-omened words?" He said, "If it should be as I say, what then?" She replied, "When Your Majesty's myriad years are fulfilled, this humble servant may follow you in death." The Emperor said nothing more. As he lay dying she gave away everything she had hoarded to the women of the palace. When she knew the Emperor was gone, she hanged herself beneath the bed-curtain. Even the consorts who had most resented her hold on the Emperor's affection now called her righteous and wept at her deed. When Xuanzong came to the throne he honored her constancy, posthumously made her Worthy Consort, and buried her in the cypress grove of Duan Mausoleum. Empress Yuanzhao of Xuanzong—Chao, empress Yuanzhao of Xuanzong—her origins are not recorded in full. She entered the prince's household while young and won his deepest affection. When he took the throne she was made a Beautiful Lady. In the Dazhong years she died and was posthumously made Shining Lady. The Emperor ordered Hanlin Academician Xiao Zhi to compose her tomb inscription, stating plainly that she had borne Prince Yun and Princess Wanshou. Later, when princes Kui, Zhao, and five others still lived in the inner court, Yun alone was sent out to establish his own household. When he succeeded to the throne he became Yizong. Outside the palace many doubted that he was the eldest son. Xiao Zhi published the inscription for the outer court to read, and the doubts were laid to rest. The Emperor posthumously made Shining Lady Empress Dowager and gave her a posthumous honorific, ordered that every kinsman on her mother's side within the second degree of mourning be given office, installed her tablet beside Xuanzong in the ancestral temple, named her tomb Qingling, and built a palace lodge at the site. Empress Huian of Yizong—Wang, empress Huian of Yizong—her birth and lineage are likewise unknown. In the Xiantong era she was made Honored Consort and bore Prince Pu. She died in the seventh year of the reign. In the fourteenth year Wang took the throne—he who became Xizong. He posthumously honored her as Empress Dowager, invested her with a temple name, paired her tablet in Yizong's shrine, and named her burial ground Shouling. Every relative of hers within the degree of mourning marked by the coarsest hemp, the Emperor placed in office. Worthy-and-Gentle Consort Guo of Yizong—Guo, worthy-and-gentle consort of Yizong—entered Prince Yun's household as a girl. While Xuanzong still reigned, he was advanced in years and could not bear talk of naming an heir. The prince, legitimate eldest son, lived in the outer palace and lived in constant dread. The consort watched over him day and night, easing his days, and in the end he escaped harm. A daughter who could not yet speak suddenly said, "Will live. The prince was astonished and took it for an omen. When he became emperor the consort was made Beautiful Lady and then raised to Worthy-and-Gentle Consort.
31
女為同昌公主，下嫁韋保衡。 保衡處內宅，妃以主故，出入娛飲不禁，是時嘩言與保衡亂，莫得其端。 僖宗立，保衡緣它罪為人所發，且汙舊謗，卒貶死。 妃猶處禁中。 黃巢之難，天子出蜀倉卒，妃不及從，遂流落閭裏，不知所終。 懿宗恭憲王皇后懿宗恭憲皇后王氏，其出至微。 咸通中，列後廷，得幸，生壽王而卒。 王立，是為昭宗，追號皇太后，上謚，祔主懿宗室，即故葬號安陵，召後弟〓官之。
The daughter became Princess Tongchang and was given in marriage to Wei Baoheng. Baoheng dwelt in the inner palace; because of the princess the consort came and went for feasting without restraint. Rumor then clamored that she and Baoheng were intimate, but no one could prove it. After Xizong's accession Baoheng was denounced on another charge; the old gossip was dragged into the case as well, and he was demoted until he died. The consort remained in the inner palace. When Huang Chao's rebellion broke out the Son of Heaven fled west to Shu in haste. The consort could not keep pace and was lost among the common streets; nothing more is known of her end. Empress Gongxian of Yizong—Wang, empress Gongxian of Yizong—came from the humblest origins. In the Xiantong years she entered the inner palace, won the Emperor's favor, bore Prince Shou, and died. When Wang took the throne as Zhaozong he posthumously made her Empress Dowager, gave her a temple name, installed her tablet in Yizong's shrine, and kept her existing tomb as Anling; he also summoned her younger brother Min and gave him office.
32
景福初，〓位任浸重，帝亦以外家倚之，為中尉楊復恭所媢，表為黔南節度使。 〓之鎮，道吉柏江，復恭密喻楊守亮覆其家。 昭宗何皇后昭宗皇后何氏，梓州人，系族不顯。 帝為壽王，後得侍，婉麗多智，恩答厚甚。 既即位，號淑妃。 從狩華州，詔冊為皇后。
Early in Jingfu, Min's posts and influence grew heavy, and the emperor leaned on him as kin—until Commander Yang Fugong, jealous, had him sent out as military commissioner of Qiannan. As Min traveled to his post along Lucky Cypress River, Fugong secretly told Yang Shouliang to wipe out his family. Empress He of Emperor Zhaozong. Lady He came from Zizhou, from an undistinguished lineage. While he was Prince of Shou she entered his service—graceful, clever, and deeply cherished. Once he became emperor, she was made Shufei. During the imperial hunt at Huazhou, an edict made her empress.
33
光化三年，帝獵夜歸，後遣德王還邸，遇劉季述，留王紫廷院。 明日，季述等挾王陳兵召百官，脅帝內禪。 後恐賊臣加害天子，即取璽授季述，與帝同幽東宮。 賊平，反正。
In Guanghua 3 the emperor came back from a night hunt; the empress sent Prince De to his quarters, where Liu Jishu seized him and held him in Ziting Court. The next day Jishu marched the prince before the officials at the head of armed men and forced the emperor to abdicate. Fearing the rebels would harm the emperor, she handed over the imperial seal to Jishu and was shut up with him in the Eastern Palace. Once the rebels were crushed, the emperor was restored.
34
天復中，從帝駐鳳翔，李茂貞請帝勞軍，不得已，後從禦南樓。 會硃全忠逼帝東遷，後謂帝曰：「此後大家夫婦委身賊手矣！」 涕數行下。 帝奔播既屢，威柄盡喪，左右皆悍逆庸奴，後侍膳服，無須臾去側。 至洛，帝憂，忽忽與後相視無死所。 已而遇弒。
During Tianfu she followed the emperor to Fengxiang. Li Maozhen pressed him to review the troops; unable to refuse, she went with him to the Southern Tower. When Zhu Quanzhong forced the court east, she told the emperor, "From this day we husband and wife are delivered into the hands of our enemies!" Tears ran down her face. The emperor had been driven from capital to capital until all real power was gone; those around him were brutal, servile men. The empress waited on his meals and dress and never left his side. At Luoyang the emperor was sunk in dread; he and the empress exchanged hollow glances, as if no place remained even to die. Soon afterward he was murdered.
35
哀帝即位，尊為皇太后，宮中不敢哭，徙居積善宮，號積善太后。 帝將禪天下，後亦遇害。 初，蔣玄暉為全忠邀九錫，入喻，後度不免，見玄暉垂泣祈哀，以母子托命。 宣徽使趙殷衡譖於全忠曰：「玄暉等銘石像瘞積善宮，將復唐。」 全忠怒，遂遣縊後，以醜名加之，廢為庶人。
When Emperor Ai took the throne, she was honored as empress dowager; mourning was forbidden in the palace, and she was moved to Jishan Palace as the Jishan Empress Dowager. As the emperor prepared to abdicate the realm, she too was killed. Earlier, Jiang Xuanhui came on Quanzhong's behalf to press for the Nine Bestowals. The empress dowager knew she could not escape; she wept before Xuanhui and begged him, entrusting mother and son to his mercy. Palace Secretariat Commissioner Zhao Yinheng told Quanzhong, "Xuanhui and his party have set up inscribed stones and buried effigies at Jishan Palace—they mean to restore the Tang." Quanzhong flew into a rage, had her strangled, heaped a shameful epithet on her, and degraded her to commoner status.