Speaking of ancient empresses, most people think of Lü Yan and Wu Cao, who are both female Zhuge figures, brave and strategic, and not worse than their husbands Liu Bang and Li Zhi.
The two were not only extremely far-sighted in politics, Lü Yan came to the court to listen to the government, and after Liu Bang's death, he was once called the new ruler of the Han Dynasty. Wu Zetian became the first female emperor in history and changed the name of the country to Zhou. But the evaluation of these two people has been mixed by later generations, as if once a woman is related to politics, she can no longer be associated with a good reputation.
In fact, the empresses who came to the dynasty to listen to the government were not only these two, but the empresses of the Song Dynasty often had the act of bowing the curtain to listen to the government, but the evaluation of these empresses in history was not bad, on the contrary, most of them sang praises their virtues.
Song Zhenzong, Zhao Heng (968–1022)
1. Most of the empresses who bowed to the government followed the pre-system and did not have much willingness
There were a total of eighteen emperors in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, and according to historical records, there were nine empresses (including imperial concubines) who bowed to the government, and in such a dynasty that only existed for more than three hundred years, there were indeed many of them. After the death of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, he issued an edict ordering Empress Zhang Xian, his empress Dowager Liu, to assist the young emperor in handling government affairs, so the ministers discussed a system for the empress dowager to listen to the government: "The empress dowager and the emperor are five days and one imperial palace, the emperor is left, the empress dowager is right, and the curtain is decided." It also opened a precedent for the Empress of the Song Dynasty to bow to the government.
Therefore, later Empress Cao of Song Renzong, Empress Gao of Song Yingzong, Empress Xiang of Song Shenzong, Empress Meng of Song Zhezong, Empress Wu of Song Gaozong, Empress Yang of Song Ningzong, Empress Xie of Song Lizong, and Concubine Yang of Song Duzong all had to bow to the government.
However, most of them were borrowed from the pre-system of Empress Dowager Zhangxian's obedience to the government, so if the heirs of the former emperor died, if the heirs were young, they needed the empress to assist in handling government affairs. It is as if in life your grandmother got a bracelet from your grandmother, and your mother inherited this bracelet from your grandmother, of course your mother will think that when you marry your daughter-in-law, this bracelet should also be left to her.
Above_ Empress Cao of the Cisheng Guangxian Clan (1016–1079), the second empress of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty
Empress Cao only bowed the curtain for thirteen months before withdrawing the curtain and returning to Yingzong. Empress Shenzong did not listen to the empress dowager for a long time, and when Emperor Huizong of Song took the throne, he specially asked the empress dowager to listen to the government, "Quan Tong punished military and state affairs, resigned, Emperor Gu asked, nai cong."
Empress Xiang had quite a thought, and for the administration of the country, according to the history book "Song Shi Liechuan Second Concubine Xia", "order the outsiders not to avoid family secrets, not to establish birthday names, not to make the Liao state, and to assist the ministers not to play in the small hall." It was only June, that is, the return of government." Therefore, the ambitious Empress Xiang only had six months to listen to the government and returned to power. It is enough to see that in fact, the empress is only forced by the situation, and they themselves do not have the heart to become a female emperor.
Secondly, because the successors were still young, they obeyed the edict to prevent their courtiers from causing trouble due to the young age of the emperor, and single-mindedly for the sake of the world that their husbands had guarded.
Zhao Tuo (1082-1135), also known as Emperor Huizong of Song
2. Born into a famous family, the influence of acceptance and traditional female morality is great
For example, Empress Dowager Cao was the granddaughter of Cao Bin, the founding hero of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Empress Cao was once evaluated by Zeng Gong, one of the eight great masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, as "having assisted Qiankun into cultivation, and finally fulfilling the sun and moon following Guanghua". Empress Gao of Song Yingzong was the niece of Empress Cao, from a noble family, and she had been known as the empress dowager, but was evaluated by posterity as "Female Yao Shun". Empress Xiang was the granddaughter of the Prime Minister, and Empress Meng and Empress Xie were also from a family of famous officials and eunuchs, and they had learned poetry and education from an early age, and had quite a cultural literacy.
Other empresses of unknown origin were also mostly learned, accepting poetry etiquette and traditional cultural indoctrination, and observing the three virtues and four virtues. The "three subordinates" we often say are from the Book of Rites. Mourning. Zixia Zhuan refers to "unmarried from the father, married to the husband, and the husband dies from the son". The "Four Virtues" are published in the Zhou Li. Tianguan. The Nine Concubines records that it refers to the four virtues of "women's morality, women's speech, women's appearance, and women's skills". Obeying the three from the four virtues was the basic skill of the ancient boudoir woman, and it was also the basic operation of becoming an empress.
Gao Taotao (1032-1093), empress of Emperor Yingzong of Song and mother of Emperor Shenzong of Song
In addition, the Song Dynasty Cheng Zhu Lixue prevailed, this new Confucianism attaches importance to the control and suppression of people's personality and selfish desires, requires people to "save heaven and destroy human desires" and puts forward a sense of discipline for women, requiring women to attach importance to chastity, thus suppressing women's demands. Empresses of origin and intellectual attainment, as models of nations, attached great importance to personal words and deeds. He was also deeply influenced by the science of science when he was listening to the government, and often discussed military affairs with his assistant ministers, rather than arbitrarily and arbitrarily judging.
Therefore, the ancient traditional female morality and theory of science are also a major criterion for regulating the behavior of the queen.
Liu E (968–1033), Empress Zhang Xianmingsu, Empress Zhao Heng of Song Zhenzong
3. Although the curtain is bowed to the government, but the power is not large
Although the empress was given the role of listening to the government after becoming a curtain listener, the empress was given the role of listening to the government, helping the young new monarch to handle government affairs, and had a certain amount of power, but she was still limited by various factors and could not become the center of power in the Song Dynasty.
Empress Dowager Liu of Song spent 11 years at the mercy of Empress Dowager Liu, and it was not until her death that the 23-year-old Emperor Renzong of Song took charge of the government. However, when Empress Liu was in power, she was extremely eager for politics, and Song Chen was worried that she would "carry out the story of Wu Hou", that is, she was afraid that something similar to Wu Zetian's claim to the emperor would appear again, so they all tried their best to block it. Under the obstruction of the courtiers, Liu E could only suppress her own heart, and only became an empress dowager who listened to the government instead of a female emperor. However, when Empress Liu was dying, she even planned to make Emperor Zhenzong of Song's Concubine Yang continue to listen to the government, and the courtiers could only conceal the edict and eventually return the power to Song Renzong.
Song Renzong, Zhao Zhen (1010–1063)
Later, the empress dowagers who listened to the government were all restricted more because of such a precedent, and most of the later empresses did not have the ambition of Liu E to monopolize power, and they also had an attitude toward politics that was what a group of courtiers said, and although the power sounded big, they did not care much, and when the emperor was old or the inspection period was over, they would return the government to the emperor. So it's a happy and harmonious scene.
As for some empresses who like to listen to the government in a big package, the little emperors and the courtiers are very tolerant, and the little emperors only need to stay up until the empress dowager finally dies to return the power to themselves, although this is quite a bit of a lying salary, but they will also say all good things to the empress, after all, they are the wives of their own fathers or grandfathers.
For the ministers, as long as they are willing to return the government to the emperor in the end, the empress is a good empress, if there is still something to benefit the people, why can't she say that she is virtuous.
Text: Rachel
References: History of the Song Dynasty, Book of Rites. Mourning. ZiXia Biography", Zhou Li. Tianguan. Nine Concubines
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author