Empress Dou of the Western Han Dynasty was dou, the wife of Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, and empress dowager Dou of the Eastern Han Dynasty was the wife of Emperor Liu Of Han. Both of them were prominent figures in the Han Dynasty and had a very great influence on the imperial power at that time, but they had no relationship, the only relationship was that they were both surnamed Dou.
Empress Dowager Dou of the Western Han Dynasty
She was born in Guanjin County, Qinghe County, an ordinary peasant girl, born a commoner. Life was not good when she was a child, and after Emperor Hui of Han succeeded to the throne, Empress Lü took power, and she entered the Han Palace as a son of a good family to serve Empress Lü, known as Dou Ji. Later, Lü Hou was ready to release a group of palace people to the princes, and Dou Ji was arranged to go to the Daiguo. The king of the Daiguo was Liu Bang's son named Liu Heng, who was very fond of her, and the two had a daughter and two sons, the daughter was Liu Yan, and the eldest son was Liu Qi, and the second son Liu Wu.
After Lü Hou's death, the Xulu War broke out, the little emperor was deposed, Chen Pingren supported li daiwang as emperor, and Liu Qi became the crown prince. Dou Ji became empress, and after her son ascended the throne he became empress dowager.
But unlike Lü Hou, she did not have authority. On the contrary, her daughter used her reputation to do evil in the outside world, and even played a very important role in the choice of the successor of the Han Jing Emperor.
However, because Liu Qi was very filial to his mother, Empress Dou was also considered to be a power opponent at that time. After Liu Qi's death, Liu Che ascended the throne and honored the empress dowager as empress dowager. In the sixth year of Emperor Jianyuan of the Han Dynasty (135 BC), Empress Dou collapsed.
Empress Dowager Dou of the Eastern Han Dynasty
In fact, the Eastern Han Dynasty had two empresses surnamed Dou, one was Empress Zhangdi of Han and the other was Empress Dou of Huan.
Empress Dowager Hanzhang was the great-granddaughter of Dou Rong the Great Sikong, and her mother was Princess Xiangyang, the daughter of Liu Jiang, the eldest son of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu. Empress Dou entered the palace with her sister, but because of her good looks, Emperor Zhang of Han did not take long to make her empress.
However, she had no sons, so she was jealous of the concubines who gave birth to the crown prince, and said bad things about them, which caused them to be snubbed by the emperor, and some of them committed suicide. She adopted Liu Zhao, the crown prince born of Liang Gui, and with her efforts, Liu Zhao became the crown prince and successfully succeeded him as emperor.
Liu Zhao was still young when he ascended the throne, so Empress Dowager Dou was in power. At that time, her brother Dou Xian plotted rebellion and leaked the news. As a result, Empress Dowager Dou was also placed under house arrest and was not allowed to participate in political affairs. In the ninth year of Yongyuan (97), Empress Dou died.
Empress Dowager Dou of Huan was named Dou Miao, the eldest daughter of the great general Dou Wu, but she was not favored after entering the palace, and the reason why she was able to become an empress was also because of her background. Therefore, even if she became an empress, she was rarely favored by Emperor Huan of Han.
After Emperor Han Heng's death, he had no sons, so Dou Miao's father Dou Wu let Liu Hong succeed him, that is, Emperor Ling of Han. In this way, Dou Miao came to the dynasty, Dou Wu was a great general, and the imperial court was controlled by Dou Shi.
But not long after, Dou Lost Power, Dou Miao was placed under house arrest, and Dou Wudu was killed.
The two Dou empresses of the Eastern Han Dynasty have nothing to do with the Dou empresses of the Western Han Dynasty, but the two empresses of the Eastern Han Dynasty are very related. Empress Dou of the Han Zhang Emperor was the great-granddaughter of Dou Rong the Great Sikong, and Dou Wu, the father of Empress Dou of the Han Huan Emperor, was Dou Rong's grandson.