When it comes to Empress Dou of the Han Dynasty, many people first think of Dou Yifang, the empress of Liu Heng, the Emperor of Han Wen in the Western Han Dynasty, but in fact, during the entire Han Dynasty, including the Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties, there were three Empress Dou. In addition to Dou Yifang, there were Dou Shi, the empress of Liu Qi, the Emperor of Han Zhang, and Dou Miao, the empress of Liu Zhi, the Emperor of Han Huan.
So, what is the relationship between these three Empress Dou? Although the time span of the existence of the three people is very large, more than three hundred years, but they are really close to each other, in fact, they are all from the same family, that is, the dou family, the rise of the Dou family all depends on Empress Xiaowen Dou, that is, the folk legend of Dou Yifang.
The name Dou Yifang does not appear in the historical records, and here she is called by this name. Dou Yifang was a native of Qinghe Guanjin, who was elected to serve Lü in the palace as a son of a good family in his early years, named Dou Ji, and later after Liu Bang's death, Lü Hou's son Liu Ying took the throne, and Lü Hou came to the throne, leaving the palace to send five to each princely state and each prince.
Dou Ji was also on the list of people who left the palace, she had considered that King Zhao was close to home, so she wanted to go to the Zhao Kingdom, and specially let the eunuch in charge pay attention to this matter, but the eunuch forgot, and then Dou Ji was sent to the DaiGuo. Dou Ji cried and refused to go after knowing it, but she still forced her to go.
It is also said that Dou Ji was lucky, it was this yin and yang mistake that gave her a different kind of life, to know that the King of Zhao at that time was simply a spell, Liu Bang's three sons were successively named the King of Zhao, and as a result, they all died of death, and Liu Heng, the son of the King, became the later Emperor Wen of Han, which was not lucky for Dou Ji.
More fortunately, Dou Ji was very favored by Emperor Wen of Han, and once she was a special favorite, she gave birth to a daughter and two sons in succession, and in the rebellion of ZhuLu, Liu Heng's queen and four concubines all died. After Liu Heng ascended the throne, Dou Ji's eldest son Liu Qi was naturally made crown prince, and Dou Ji's mother was made empress by virtue of her son Gui.
At this moment, the Dou family became foreign relatives, but at that time, Empress Dou's parents had died, and Empress Bo had a heart, so that Empress Dou's father was An Chenghou and her mother was Lady Ancheng, and from then on, this ordinary family could no longer become a foreign relative family.
Although Empress Dou's parents died relatively early, she also had an older brother named Dou Changjun and a younger brother named Dou Guangguo. Dou Changjun is easier to find and has been staying in Guanjin with his parents, but Dou Guangguo's whereabouts are unknown. When Dou Guangguo was four or five years old, because his family was poor, he was plundered and sold to other places, and he went to more than ten homes, and finally arrived in the Yiyang area, and whose home he was sold to, even Dou Guangguo's parents did not know.
Speaking of which, this Dou Guangguo is also lucky, he grew up for the master to burn charcoal in the mountains, one night, Dou Guangguo and more than a hundred people lay under a cliff to sleep and rest, the result of the cliff collapsed, more than a hundred people at the bottom of the cliff were all smashed to death, only Dou Guangguo because he slept on the edge to escape the disaster.
As the saying goes, if it is difficult not to die, there will be a blessing, Dou Guangguo also specially made a gua for himself, the gua elephant shows that he can be crowned marquis, which is strange, although Dou Guangguo did not pay attention to it, but still followed the master into Chang'an, as soon as he arrived in Chang'an, he heard that Empress Dou of the mother Yi world was actually a Guanjin person, and it seemed that it was his long-lost sister.
Although Dou Guangguo was sold at the age of four or five, he still remembered his hometown and surname, and even more remembered that he had fallen from a tree by picking mulberry leaves with Empress Dou, and he wrote these in a letter and presented them to Empress Dou.
Empress Dou wondered if it was really her own brother? So he told Liu Heng, and Liu Heng asked Empress Dou to identify it carefully. Empress Dou summoned Dou Guangguo, and in Empress Dou's eyes, the man in front of her was completely unfamiliar, after all, when they separated, Dou Guangguo was only four or five years old, and Empress Dou was already a teenage girl at that time, and her appearance had not changed much over the years, and dou Guangguo recognized that this was her own sister.
Empress Dou was afraid that someone would impersonate her, and asked Dou Guangguo to provide strong evidence, and Dou Guangguo described the scene when the two were separated, saying: "When my sister went to my west, she decided with me in the transmission house. ”
This sentence evoked empress Dou's memories, she knew that this was her own brother, and the two recognized each other. When the ministers of the DPRK saw that Empress Dou had suddenly added two brothers, it felt quite uncomfortable, after all, the affairs of the Lü family had just passed.
In order not to let them follow in the footsteps of the Lü family, some ministers in the court asked to choose elderly warriors and disciplined people to accompany the two to educate and give them advice, and with Empress Dou's advice, the two really became humble gentlemen.
It was just that Dou Changjun died early, and after Empress Dou survived to the empress, only Dou Guangguo was left, so he was named the Marquis of Zhangwu, with a noble status but not a high position, coupled with Dou Guangguo's own low profile, it can be regarded as a very good foreign relative.
Dou Guangguo's branch has been developing well in the Han Dynasty, dou Rong in the "Dou Rong returned to Han" incident in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty was the seventh grandson of Dou Guangguo, Dou Rongqi had been an official in the Eastern Han Dynasty since the Wang Mang period, and Empress Zhang Dou was Dou Rong's great-granddaughter.
Empress Zhang Dedou initially entered the palace with her sister, and as a result, she was made empress the following year, and her sister became a nobleman, but neither of them was childless. Emperor Zhang of Han made Liu Qing, the son of Song Guiren, crown prince, and later Empress Dou framed Song Guiren for her position, causing Song Guiren to commit suicide, and Liu Qing was deposed, followed by Liang Guiren's son Liu Zhao, who was made crown prince.
Empress Dou also designed to frame Liang Guiren's father, causing him to be killed, and Liang Guiren also died of grief, while Liu Zhao was raised at the knee of Empress Dou and later became Emperor He of Han, Empress Dou became Empress Dou, and Liu Zhao was only ten years old when she ascended the throne, so Empress Dou was in power.
The Dou family was prominent, even to the point of conspiracy, but after it was discovered, Empress Dou's brothers were killed, and Empress Dou's own behavior was criticized by the courtiers, and when she died, many people were reluctant to let Empress Dou and Emperor Hanzhang be buried together, or Han and Dili contributed to the joint burial of Empress Dou and Emperor Zhangdi.
After Empress Zhang Dedou, the Dou family produced another Empress Dou, who was also after Dou Rong, that is, Dou Miao. Dou Miao's father, Dou Wu, was Dou Rong's grandson. Dou Miao entered the palace in 165, first becoming a nobleman, and a few months later was crowned empress.
Dou Miao was the third empress of Liu Zhi, the Emperor of Han Huan, and although she seemed to have a revered status and a motherly mother, she was not favored by Liu Zhi, and Dou Miao's more tragic point was that Liu Zhi had no sons, so Dou Miao directly became empress dowager after being empress for two years, and then had to choose an heir to the throne from Liu Clan's relatives, and she and her father Dou Wu finally chose Liu Hong, the grandson of Emperor Zhang of Han.
As soon as the Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong ascended the throne, Dou Miao, the empress dowager, went on a killing spree, first killing Tian Sheng, and then wanting to kill Liu Zhi's nobles, although she was eventually stopped, her cruelty still angered many people, and Dou Wu also tried to plot to kill the eunuchs, only to be found and killed. After a series of events, Dou Miao was ostracized and placed under house arrest in The Nangong Yuntai, while many members of the Dou family were exiled.
After Dou Miao was placed under house arrest, Liu Hong welcomed his own mother into the palace and became Empress Xiaoren of Yongle Palace, in fact, the empress. Empress Dou was only known as an empress dowager, but she was always under house arrest, and although there were people in the court who cried out for her, they were more in revenge with her, so the situation that Dou Miao later faced did not change much until his death in 172.
This woman who had been the empress dowager for more than four years really had the power of the empress dowager for less than a year, even if she died, Zhongchang Shi Cao Jie and others still hated her to the bone, wanted to use the courtesy of a noble person to bury Empress Dou, and even thought of burying her elsewhere, rather than burying her with Emperor Huan of Han, fortunately, Emperor Ling of Han finally thought that Dou Miao had a merit to him, and there was advice from courtiers, so Empress Dou was finally buried with Liu Zhi.
When we look at the three empresses from the Dou family, they are really smart, but when it comes to the world of motherhood, dou Yifang is still the most suitable for the identity of an empress and empress.